The names listed below are arranged alphabetically by last name. Where applicable, the maiden name is listed first followed by the current married name in parentheses. I have decided to do this because for the most part I believe the maiden name would be more recognizable to those of you who knew each other as children.

Capozzoli Family - A narrative describing life on Oxford Avenue for the Capozzoli's and their friends and relatives.

Anonymous - An in depth look at North Hill in the 1920's and 1930's through the eyes of a child. North Hill's stores and vendors and the surrounding area are described in detail. Congrats to this writer who even gives us a description of some of the things that weren't idyllic in regards to North Hill's ethnic diversity and the prejudices that existed. Maybe we have progressed some, I like to think so.

Batdorff, Emerson - Harris Grade School • Jennings Junior High • graduated from North High School 1936

Boyce (Allen), Debra - Forest Hill Elementary 1972 - 1979 • Jennings Junior High • graduated from North High School

Deisz, Louis A. - Bryan Elementary 1920 - 1928 • graduated from South High School 1932

Ebner ( Huston ), Peg - St. Martha's Grade School 

Fresh (Smith), Darlene - Harris Grade School • Jennings Junior High • graduated from North High School 1956

Giustino, Joseph - St. Hedwig's Grade School • graduated from North High School 1972

Harris, Steve  - Jackson Elementary • Jennings Junior High • graduated from North High School 1972

Horoschak (Letta), Helen - Findlay Elementary • Jennings Junior High • graduated from North High School 1945

Letta, Albert -

Schember, David M. - Jackson Elementary September 1963 - June 1964 • St. Anthony's Grade School 1964-1972 • graduated from North High School 1976

Seigman, George F. - Forest Hill Elementary 1926-1930 and St.. Martha's 1931-1935 • graduated from North High School 1939

Shields (Mason), Louise Joyce - Jackson Elementary • Jennings Junior High • graduated from North High School 1956

Smith, Elwood O., Sr. - Jackson Elementary 1939 - 1947 • Jennings Junior High 1947 - 1949 •

Vogenitz, Richard B. - Harris, Jackson, Findley, and Zion Lutheran Church Elementary • graduated from North High School 1940

Weaver, James A. - graduated from North High School 1956

  Raffaele  (Ralph) Capozzoli, and his wife, Anna Marie Santamauro, immigrated to the United States from the mainland of Italy, near Salerno.  Anna Marie, daughter of Antonio and Angeline Santomauro, was of a prosperous family with five brothers and a sister.  Only she and one brother would immigrate to the U.S.  Her sister would immigrate to South America.  Raffaele (Ralph) was an only child, the son of Camilla (Gruccio) and Dominic Capozzoli.  After his father’s untimely death, Ralph became a restless young man, often running off to visit the Isle a Capri.  Eventually he decided that America held opportunities for him that Italy could not offer.  He brought his wife, Anna Marie, to West Virginia, where he worked in a coal mine.  Opportunity eventually beckoned in Akron, Ohio, and he moved his young family (Anthony, Dominic, Camilla, Angela, and Ida) to a house on Oxford Avenue in North Hill, well known as being an Italian neighborhood.  His wife was immediately happy being in a more “civilized” area.  They moved in 1925, and remained until Ralph died in 1978.  His wife preceded him in death in 1975.  The fifty plus years they lived on Oxford Avenue were filled with memories and the makings of a solid foundation for each of their children.   
  Ralph got a job working at Quaker Oats, which was significant because he was able to continue working throughout the Depression years, when others lost their jobs.  There was always food on the Capozzoli table.  Neighbors, friends and relatives would visit and eat from the Capozzoli table which was always filled with spaghetti, pasta soup, salad, and other Italian recipes Anna Marie brought with her from Italy.  Her very best friend, Mary Palumbo, lived nearby, and the Palumbo children (Nick, Phil, Dena, Hilda, Anne, and Irene) would be regular visitors.  Phil and Nick would bring their instruments, and music would fill the house, along with laughter and stories.  The Palumbo and Capozzoli kids grew up together and would go out on the town together as they grew up.  It was no surprise that Phil eventually became a professional entertainer and moved on to Las Vegas, and eventually returned to entertain as a regular at Tangier’s, and eventually in his own restaurant.  He always remembered the tunes he played as a kid in North Hill, and those numbers became the most frequently requested tunes in his show.
  Ralph and Anna Marie had one son who was handicapped.  Dominic was unable to talk or walk very well, and his parents and siblings took complete care of him.  He was always front and center in all family gatherings, and all the people who visited the Capozzoli house would also spend time visiting and talking with Dominic.  Back then, diagnosis was never done, let alone treatments for handicaps, however it was eventually learned that Dominic had cerebral palsy.  Typically children with this problem lived very short lives.  Dominic, however, lived in the care of his parents until their passing, then was taken into his sister, Camilla (Connie’s) home, and he lived until age 83, a testament to how love and nurture can outperform institutionalized care.  The love and nurture Dominic came to know was not only from his family, but from all the North Hill relations, friends, and visitors. 
    Households at that time were not just of the immediate family.  The Capazzoli family also raised Anna Marie’s two nephews, Anthony and Jimmy (James Vincent) Santomauro, after their mother died.  There was always room for visitors to stay as well.  Relatives, cousins, aunts, and many friends would frequent the house and the Capozzoli table.  The DeSantis family lived a few doors down, and they, too, were frequent visitors at the Capozzoli house.  The Baltrinic girls (Katherine and Mary) would often visit from Empire, Ohio.  Later, their brother, Michael, came to visit the Capazzoli’s, and ended up falling in love and marrying Camilla (Connie.)  Mike’s good friend, Carmen Scaccio, ended up marrying another Capazzoli girl, Ida.
  Many stories got passed down through the years.  One showed the depth of devotion to friends.  Mary Palumbo once came to visit her good friend, Anna Marie.  She was in tears because they were being forced to move out of their home.  Anna Marie marched down to a realtor and demanded that a house be found for her friend.  She scraped together the necessary down payment so that her friend would have a place to stay.  All the friends chipped in toward the down payment.  That’s the way friendships were back then.  Another favorite story was about the Depression years, when many lost their jobs.  Ralph was very fortunate to have a job that held during those trying times.  His table was often filled during those years with extra mouths to feed.  This was done cheerfully and without any expectation from anyone. 
    They say that all memories are mixed with familiar aromas.  If you ever spend time in North Hill, you have to know DeVitis, an Italian deli.  Ralph would walk there several times a week to purchase the pungent cheeses, meats, and pasta that would become the main ingredients of Anna Marie’s kitchen.  Fast food back then was a deli sandwich with fixings from DeVitis.
  The Capozzoli children, and all their friends, would walk to high school, North High School.  This is not so unusual until you realize that walking to school meant walking across a huge field, which is now Route 8!  On Sundays, everyone attended mass at St. Martha’s on Tallmadge Avenue.  St. Martha’s would witness many First Communions, weddings, and funerals of these immigrant families from North Hill.  Those people who grew up back “in the day” remember St. Martha’s as being a beautiful ornate church.  Today it has gone through the transition that many city churches have faced and the once opulent interior is now streamlined and simplified.
   Throughout the years, North Hill saw many Italian families.  Front porches were filled with friends enjoying the evening air, along with visitors who stopped to share stories, songs, and news.  So many of these Italians lived, loved, and have now gone to a better place, although it is hard to imagine that any place could replace the place they called home:  North Hill!

Anonymous Merchandising on North Hill took place in a large number of "corners" scattered through the area. If one was going down to the "corner" it was probably only a block away where various types of stores were concentrated. My "corner" was Temple Square located at the intersection of Main St. and Cuyahoga Falls Ave. There was an Acme grocery, an Isaly's Ice Cream Store, Yount's Hardware, a poolroom, Schmidt's drug store, a green grocer's, a butcher shop, the office of Dr. Wharton who did everything including house calls, a dentist, Henry B Ball jewelers, and other assorted specialty stores and offices. Other "corners" on North Hill were similarly constituted so that your needs could be met within a reasonable walking distance of your house. Just as today everything is located in a "mall" within reasonable driving distance of your car.
The Acme store clerk served you from in back of a counter where he retrieved the various merchandise from the store shelves, sometimes with the aid of a long handled set of tongs or by climbing up a ladder that rolled the length of the shelves. Green groceries and bulk foods (like cookies) were on the other side of the store and the clerk portioned them out - no self-service. As your order was filled the clerk wrote the price on a 1 1/2 by 4 inch pad of yellow paper. When complete the clerk would total the prices of the items by hand. I was frequently sent to the store with my wooden (not metal) wagon similar in dimension to today's Radio Flyer so that I became a knowledgeable shopper.
My father would take the family to Schmidt's drug store for ice cream (I always had a chocolate soda). We sat at a round table with chairs that had wire backs and legs, the kind much sought after by antique collectors today. One feature of Schmidt's store was the blue "Bromo" dispenser. Men (never women) would come in and order a "Bromo" and when the fizz subsided would drink this concoction. I never understood the reason for this but suspected that the need resulted from some secret indiscretion.
Dr. Wharton's office was memorable to me because my father carried me, dressed in my Dr. Denton's, into the office on the second floor. The doctor removed my tonsils and I was bundled up and taken home.
The poolroom was forbidden territory but I would occasionally go there, open the door and call in to my older brother, "Mama wants you to come home." The police only rarely raided the poker game that attracted my brother who was less embarrassed by the police than he was by summons from Mother.
I bought my first tennis racquet at Yount's Hardware for ninety-nine cents. When it turned out to be inadequate I returned it and was credited ninety-nine cents when I purchased a three dollar model. The necessity for a tennis racquet came about because on Oakland Ave. a building contractor had a "sickly" daughter and to provide her with exercise he built a tennis court on a vacant lot. Oakland Ave. ran north from Cuyahoga Falls Ave. for several blocks and a lot of post World War I children lived on the street. They were referred to as the Oakland Ave. gang. Other kids in the area were included, hence my membership. All the kids regardless of age or sex participated. Besides tennis we had softball and football in season. We would organize teams for the various sports and from two to fifteen participants would gather for any particular day's activity.
There was a similar phenomenon in another area near Iuka Ave. where the kids had baseball, football, and basketball. Basketball was played with a small ball larger than a softball but smaller than a soccer ball. The "basket" was a can of appropriate size tacked on a utility pole in a vacant lot. This was given an abundance of use and helped develop players that made major contributions to two state high school championship teams from North High.
Other purveyors of goods and services existed outside of Temple Square. There was a Chinese Laundry and the Pastime and Nixon theatres. The Dayton theatre was built later in an era when the price was fifteen cents instead of ten. I remember one occasion when the younger of my two brothers and I, armed with ten cents apiece, walked to the Nixon to see the new Charlie Chaplin movie. When we got to the theatre to our chagrin the price because of the special feature had been raised to fifteen cents. We returned home and came back with the extra nickels.
Of course, the usual street vendors worked the streets. Milk and ice were delivered in horse drawn wagons. The horses were usually good enough to move down the street in sync with the deliveryman without need for commands except for an occasional "whoa."
Others who would appear at regular intervals were the scissors and knife sharpener who had a bell that he rang, the strawberry man who would cry, "Berries - berries- straw berries - three quarts for a quarter," and the rag man to whom we occasionally sold iron or paper. The ragman did not make sense to me because his cry sounded to me like, "Raagspopolizepaaper." Only after the ragmen quit plying the street did I realize what they had been saying.
Vending door to door became a part of my growing up experience. About the time of my sixth grade I was signed up to sell the Curtis publications that included Collier's, American and Woman's Home Companion. By going door to door all over North Hill I signed up sufficient customers so that I continued to deliver each week or month. I could not afford a bicycle but I did have a too small tricycle that I used long after I had outgrown it. I also had a paper route while in high school. In those days the carrier had to collect from customers and stand the losses to deadbeats who were not numerous. A delight for me was a little gray haired widow lady who always had the correct change and a smile on Saturday morning and each Christmas had a twenty five-cent bonus for the paperboy.
My mother and father were separated at the depth of the depression and my mother was awarded the house, with a mortgage, and a small amount of child support for me until I attained eighteen years. To make money my mother catered dinners and baked various pastries. (I learned to set a table and to wash dishes.) The star sellers were oatmeal cookies and pecan rolls. At Christmas a rum soaked Boston brown bread and angel food cake were special. I got the job of going from door to door with the various goods and as with the magazines developed a regular set of customers so that door to door was restricted to holidays. Eventually my mother specialized in pies and had a clientele of restaurants. The business lasted long enough to put me through college.
In the winter we would ride our sleds in the street on Oakland Ave hill which tells you something about the abundance of traffic. The lack of street traffic also allowed us to play hockey on roller skates. "Half mile run" provided the best sledding on North Hill. The run was an impassable road south and west of the high level bridge that spanned the Cuyahoga river into the "Falls" (the town of Cuyahoga Falls). The high level bridge was at the northern edge of Akron at the intersection of North Main and Howard St. At the south edge of North Hill on North Main St. was the viaduct built in 1922. I was aware of the viaduct first when I was five years old and sat on the edge of a gravel pit (now St. Thomas Hospital) and watched the centennial parade as it crossed the new viaduct (1925).
The trip from the viaduct to the high level bridge passed through my venue. The route of the dirigible "Akron" on its maiden flight to Cleveland and back followed North Main St. and the "State Rd." In doing so it passed over my house. I, a thirteen-year-old, whooped and hollered, "Akron, Akron." Until then the launching of the Akron was the most exciting event of my life. Some years earlier my father had remarked about a sign on a light post on Main St.; the sign was in the shape of the State of Ohio and contained the number eight. Dad explained that this was a route sign and soon these would be all over the country marking roads so that travelers would be guided in their travels. In my state of unawareness I thought the idea was pretty silly and would never amount to anything.
Main St. was paved within my memory and prior to the paving it was planned to be a boulevard like Broad St. in Cuyahoga Falls. The idea was not carried out although the initial paving showed the center ovals that would have contained the plantings and trees. My street was not paved for many years and since the surface was black cinders it required watering. I would request the job of sprinkling with the garden hose to lay the dust during dry spells. Somehow it must have been fun as was watching the billboards being papered. At my corner of Main St. there were some signs of the "Outdoor Advertising Co." that periodically needed to have the advertisements changed. When the man came to change the signs we would go and sit down and watch him use long poles to slop on the paste, slap on the folded paper that contained the sign, unfold the paper and glue it down using more paste. One particular billboard remains in my memory today. The sign read "The spoon is the enemy of the highball." Since I lived in an anti-alcohol family this had no meaning for me. In later years after the anti-alcohol influence wore off I reasoned that it must have been advertising soda or some other mixer.
The timing of "Prohibition" is not clear in my mind but I was aware that people made their own beer and wine in modest quantities. My grandmother was violently opposed to "demon rum". Even she made grape juice from the grapes that grew on an arbor in the back yard. The folks that lived on North Main St. and whose yard backed up to the lot across the street from our house did not restrain their production of beer. One hot summer day the police came and raided the second story and poured several barrels of beer out the window, over the porch roof and into the back yard where it formed a three inch deep pool that became Odor City! Continuing north on Main St. from my house we could go to the "gorge" to hike, go down the one hundred and some steps to the power house on the Cuyahoga River; walk the water line, cross the river to the Old Maid's Kitchen, hike west through the rocks back to the State Rd. and return across the High Level Bridge. My friends or I were never tempted but periodically some tortured soul would commit suicide by jumping off the bridge. Tortured souls seemed to prefer the High Level to the Viaduct.
Water fountains graced various sidewalk locations throughout the city. The device was essentially a 36-40 inch metal post on a pedestal with about a fifteen-inch flat bowl on top that contained a fountain. To obtain water one stepped on a pedal at the base. My first encounter with the fountains found me sufficiently vertically disadvantaged to operate it. Hence my estimate that they were 36 to 40 inches high. It is difficult to imagine that such devices could exist in our society today. Surely vandalism and litigation would follow the fountain for the rest of its abbreviated life. One of these fountains was located on North Main St. near the High Level Bridge. On one of our hikes to the "gorge" on a hot day my companion and I became thirsty and decided to stop at a lunch counter near the bridge and ask for a drink of water. The proprietor said, "Why don't you try the fountain across the street? His well is deeper than mine." We complied but it was several years later that I understood that diplomacy had been dispensed with a gentle needle.
One could traverse North Hill from north to south on Howard St., which paralleled Main St. and was the main route north before the viaduct was built. At the south end coming out of the Little Cuyahoga Valley, brick paved, "Howard St. Hill" served as a testing ground for automobiles. An auto running in high gear at the bottom and topping the hill without shifting to a lower gear deserved high marks. Some neighbors of ours purchased a new Model A Ford with a rumble seat. An improved model over the original Model A it had to be tested. I got to ride in the rumble seat for this adventure. The car passed with flying colors.
At the foot of Howard St. hill was an area that white folks avoided, especially on Saturday night when there were likely to be persons injured by razors. Such incidents appeared frequently in police reports. If one continued south on Howard St. one would encounter buildings with overly made up ladies visible in windows upon which they rapped with coins. This area was not in the North High school district as far as I know. North Hill had many ethic groups but few blacks. In the adults' minds the blacks were just a separate culture that was to be avoided. That avoidance did not extend enough to deny grisly curiosity. North of Akron a one mile boarded auto racetrack hosted auto races on summer Sundays. Part of the attraction was that there would be accidents, some of which might include a fatality. Certain Sundays the final two races had black drivers. Naturally the black drivers were not allowed to race with the white folks. The Sundays with black drivers attracted large crowds because it was said that the black drivers were more reckless and the likelihood that one would see a fatal accident was increased.
The children of my generation on North Hill were predominately Italian. My friends included Italians, Polish, Hungarians, and WASPS. Many of my friend's parents did not speak English and lots of the children grew up with some other language than English in the home. This did not prevent them from becoming well versed in English and within the children's generation the ethic differences were ignored. Few of us gave any thought about "differences".
The adult generation was not as broad minded. They looked askance at my friendship with a Jewish boy whose parents, while not strict Orthodox, did adhere fairly closely to the various Jewish rituals. Eddie could not participate in some general activities because they clashed with his religious dictates. He often explained some of the Jewish traditions like the mezuzah and the various rituals. I was interested to know about them and never thought of them as being "strange".
My mother became quite upset when I got interested in a little girl of French parentage. She was Catholic and my mother just wasn't at all pleased about the relationship even though I was a sophomore in high school and not about to form any lasting union. My mother was also appalled that I took an Italian girl to the senior prom. My steady girl friend, a WASP, was a junior and was not eligible to go. I'm not sure that the Italian girl's parents were too sure of me. When I called for her the night of the prom I was not invited in to meet Mom or Dad. The two of us were friends because of a mutual admiration of our qualities. I'm sure that prejudice reared its ugly head especially among the adult population but the young generation integrated without a thought. Perhaps in my naiveté, as with the highball ad, I may have not been aware. However, when I review the accomplishments and the community contributions of my peers who grew up on North Hill in Akron during 1925 to 1935 I refuse to believe that racial and religious prejudice interfered with our becoming successful, tolerant human beings.

Batdorff, Emerson - It was in 1934, I think, that a bunch of us were horsing around in the Cuyahoga River Gorge that separates Akron from Cuyahoga Falls, and we got thirsty. The Gorge is a huge, rough valley coarsely forested on its very steep sides and with lots of dangerous rocks to climb. On the north side there are springs that ooze out of caves. It was hot tramping in the Gorge, and our wish was to discover a test to find out if the water was safe to drink. Nobody knew how to make such a test, but during the week I read up on water testing, and someplace I found how to do it. You fill a pint jar with the suspected water, put a tablespoon of sugar in it, cap it, and let it stand for a week. If the sugar doesn't turn black you can drink the water. Bacteria at work would blacken the sugar. The next Saturday I took with me a freshly washed pickle jar with a tablespoon of sugar in it. In the cave I filled it with water and hid it behind some rocks. All week I wondered how the water would turn out, and when we hiked up there the following Saturday I unearthed the jar and checked. The sugar had not turned black. The water was okay, so we drank. None of us died, but I re-hid the jar to check it out again later. What with one thing and another I didn't think of the jar till just the other day when I stood outside the cave more then 50 years after I started the test. It would make a dandy story, I thought, if I went right to the place where I hid the jar and found that the sugar still had not turned black. But it would not be true. I thought of it, certainly, but that gloomy cave was not as enticing as it had been in 1934 or whenever. I merely sighed for my lost youth and scrambled on.

The cave where I made the water test was not the one that was known as the Old Maid's Kitchen. It was another cave, higher up on the wall of the Gorge and about a quarter mile west of the Old Maid's Kitchen. The way I found it the other day was on the path below there is a rustic sign carved in wood. It says "CAVE". The Old Maid's Kitchen, which is a fairly large hollowed-out place in the wall of the canyon, now has a bronze sign dated 1934 dedicating the place to Mary Campbell. She was a little girl who had been kidnapped by Indians on the eastern seaboard and brought here when they migrated, thus becoming the first white girl in these parts. She lived in this cave for some time with the Indian women, the sign says, and she was later reclaimed by her friends and relations. I remember when that sign wasn't there and I remember being quite surprised when in our horsing around one day more than a half century ago we found it fixed to a big boulder. Probably there had been stories in the paper, but I didn't always read all the paper.

In the summer of 1934 I was 15 and most of my playing in the Gorge was over by that time. But the Gorge certainly had been a lot of fun. I lived on Dayton Street in Akron about three blocks form the Gorge, and used to go up there a lot, although there was considerable walking involved. The first time I went to the Gorge, or maybe it was the second, was just before the Depression. At the far east end, almost to Cuyahoga Falls Avenue, I found a small amusement park. There it was with an old Mill, a shooting gallery, a merry-go-round, and other stuff and almost nobody riding on anything. I didn't ride either for I had no money. The next year nobody had any money and this neat little amusement park went out of business. It probably is remembered no more, except by me. As I remember it, it was on the level ground where the authorities of Gorge Reservation of the Akron Metropolitan Parks today urge you to park your car. The Gorge is all civilized these days what with trails and signs and picnic benches and public conveniences. When I was there as a 10 year old, and later, we weren't so fussy.

Something else the Metropolitan Parks people have to answer for is making the trails so much steeper than they used to be. They caused me no trouble then, but today is another matter. Somebody steepened them. And made them slipperier too. On my recent visit I looked somberly at a 12-inch pipe that goes lengthwise through the Gorge, running level by dint of going underground in some places and being high on a trestle in other places to go over stream beds. The reason I looked somberly at this pipe is because I and other kids just as crazy used to walk the pipe to avoid going down in gullies. I suppose at one or two places it is 30 to 40 feet across the gully and about 15 feet down to it in the deepest part. Of course, we would not have hit the ground if we had misstepped; our fall would have been broken by the rocks and boulders there, so we didn't worry. But I do now. My parents didn't worry about it either, because I didn't tell them.

The south side of the gorge is even less accessible today than it was in my day. In my day you just walked up Dayton Street to Riverside Drive where wooden steps led down to the river and the powerhouse. There may have been a million steps; I remember counting them but I don't remember what it came to. I know I got tired legs. The reason for these steps was to let the electric company people down to the power house, where they ground up river water into electricity. The water came in a 4 foot pipe from the dam that was at Cuyahoga Falls Avenue. The dam is still there. The pipe is gone. A pity too; a person could walk on this pipe without any trouble, it being so wide, and many of us did. Way back in the early years I remember people being at the power house, probable supervising the creation of electricity. But we all stayed out of their sight lest we find we weren't allowed there. I checked for the steps on my most recent trip. No steps. Instead a house sits where they started. In fact the whole street is lined with houses where there were once nice fields and grass and, in season, May apples.

Copied from a collection of articles that Mr. Batdorff wrote for the "Western Reserve Magazine"

Boyce (Allen), Debra - My family purchased my grandmother's home at 253 E. Glenwood Avenue in 1969...I was three years old.
We lived between two Annes, one had strawberries that she let us pick every summer, a garden that my cat kept getting into, and a driveway she shared with us. She also had a huge buckeye tree in her front yard, which she allowed my sister, Laurie, my brother, David, and me to collect buckeyes from. This Anne had a daughter who was a nun at the Catholic church at the end of the street by Waters Park.

The other "Anne" was Polish...she, her husband, Frank, and their daughters, were so kind to us...the girls babysat us and one had a gold Camaro which she washed every week. One of the girls gave me a red teddy bear when we moved in, "Teddy", which still lives with me. Their family let us pick pears from their pear tree, didn't get mad when we jumped on the roof of their garage from the roof of our house, bought our "wire" rings which my sister and I made from the brightly colored wire the telephone company would leave on the ground by the box on Fouse. We would collect the wire every school day and make rings which we would sell for 5 cents each. (We were so proud and what gracious clients the Pulaski's were). Frank would always smoke his cigarettes and throw them in our front yard...we had to pick them up every "yard work" day, but it became a tradition for my family..."pick up Frank's cigarette butts" was one of our chores...we would gripe and gripe and gripe, but it was ultimately one of the things that made us adore him even more.

We would sit on our roof and watch the fire works downtown every 4th of July. Sometimes we would sit on top of the hill, in the corner, at Waters Park.

My brother took me to Patterson Park or Waters Park nearly every week to teach me to play basketball, and most of the neighborhood kids would come over all the time to our "back, back" yard to play football, volleyball, badminton, set off bottle rockets (which subsequently caught our yard on fire...hence, no more bottle rockets), kick the can, hide & seek, baseball, throw-the-ball-at-the-bats (real flying bats) at night, and whatever else we could come up with.

We attended Forrest Hill Elementary, where I was a crossing guard and wore the coveted orange belt with the shiny silver badge, and carried my crossing guard flag. This was in 6th grade, 1978. I was the proudest girl that ever lived. Mr. Mann, one of my favorite teachers, bestowed that honor on me, and gave me a little bit of self-worth and confidence that carried me through many years of hard times. No matter what I went through at home or at the hands of the local bully, Mark, I always knew that Mr. Mann thought enough of me to let me be a crossing guard. I also remember when a boy had an untimely and tragic death when he was standing on top of the big slide on the playground, and fell off. That slide was taken down soon after that and we never forgot walking home with his girlfriend, my sister's and my friend, Wendy, the day it happened, hoping she would stop crying because we felt so bad for her, and for him. God bless him.

I remember being able to be room monitor on rainy days and playing 7-Up, and the other games we played on rainy days. I remember Christmas plays, the two twins who sang "Muskrat Love" for one of the yearly talent shows, meeting in the gym for brownie meetings, playing parachute and red-rover, red-rover in gym class, walking home one day with my sister (she is 10 1/2 months older than me) and our friend, Wendy, and my 70's tan, wrap-around-skirt flew off from a big wind by the old gas station on Glenwood, right before the bridge, and the girls laughing so hard that they had to fall on the ground...they helped me get my skirt back on, and the gas station attendant wouldn't let us stand behind the station to put it back on....needless to say, our children know this story now. It's a family legacy.

I remember Jennings Jr. High, before it was changed to Jennings "Middle" School, and 7-1, 8-1, etc. I remember "The Bowl" and that one of our friends was raped, so we never walked alone in "the Bowl" again. I remember having a HUGE crush on John Randall, and passing notes back and forth until our English teacher read it in front of the class. I remember also having to do a "tongue twister" speech in the same class, and choosing "Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers", and being the shyest girl in the school, saying
another choice word in place of "Peppers", accidentally, and then laughing till I cried. From that very moment on, I thoroughly enjoy speaking in front of groups of people...I remember that moment and know that there is nothing at all I can say that would be worse, or funnier than that.

Then there's high school, "NORF", as some called it. I loved North High School, our "rent-a-cop" that we adored...he was cool!, and being the girl who always held up the walls everywhere I went in the school...I regained my shyness and could always be found eating my lunch while holding up the least populated doorways, lunchroom columns or stairwells. I remember sneaking behind the lighting store on Tallmadge avenue to smoke (you know what I mean) with my friends and family (a tradition of the early 80's), and taking driver's ed with the scariest man alive, who was actually pretty cool after we got to meet him. I remember the Driver's Ed trailer which housed the simulator...awesome, prom on West Market Street, where the "Paradise" theme song was played every two minutes...and I went with Mark T., Chris S, Deanna T., Luke T., Twiggy and everyone else...although Mark T. was out of high school, in the Army and didn't want to be there with me, it was still fun. He was insignificant. (or at least his attitude was). I remember IOE, and being the President. I remember Tom & Terry, whom I attended grade school, middle and high school with...(we were in our gang, which consisted of Betty & Bonnie Gearhardt (unfortunately, Bonnie passed years ago, God bless her), me, Tommy & Terry, "Howard Co-Smell", with his "stick" microphone, Edmond, Chrissy and one other certain boy with red hair and freckles.

I remember the Polish Club, Trick-or-Treating with our pillows, the little candy store on Glenwood where my mom worked...my sisters would bring soda (pop) bottled back for the 10 cent refund, (at that time you could exchange a 6-pack carton of the big 16-ounce bottles for empties)...she would bring the empties back and put them in the back on the floor where they belonged, and get the money for them, although she got them by going in the back door of the store, picking up a carton of bottles and bringing them to the counter as
if she brought them from home...bad bad bad. I remember buying our candy for a penny, 5 cents and a dime, and coming home about once a week with all that candy. I remember Lawson's at the corner on Glenwood and buying ice cream there, white bread and chip dip...no one has ever matched Lawson's! Oh, back to the store...I remember it having a beauty shop in the back, and changing
over the years to pizza shops and God knows what else. Now that I live in Goose Creek, SC I have no idea what it is now.

I remember the Gorge, the Mall, Devitis' store and having lunch there all the time, the Donkey Basketball games every year, pep rallies where the football players dressed as cheerleaders, graduating downtown at the theatre, having the best football and basketball teams in town, being rivals with Tallmadge and the major brawls at games, the Rubber Bowl Turkey Day games, summer school and 9-th grade orientation. I remember the bakery (Crest) and Swenson’s, sled riding at the Goodyear Park and Patterson Park, summer programs at Patterson, and I remember taking my son, Darrin, to all the places I went to when I was little and reliving all the joy and innocent times of those days. I rarely have a day that I don't revisit those memories and share with my son. No where that I have lived since has had or will ever have the ethnic mix, the Italians, Polish, German, etc., the family-type home atmosphere or the community feel that North Hill had and still has. If I ever convince my husband to move back home, North Hill is my goal. I LOVE North Hill, and it's culture. The history books should read, if you want to experience America, you must experience Football, baseball, apple pie,
Swenson’s, and North Hill.

All my love and memories to the place where my life was best...North Hill. 1969-1984.


Deisz, Louis A. - I was born in February 1915. As is prevalent in age, memories of remote past comes afresh to our recall, while memories of recent past becomes clouded.

My parents bought a house, after my birth, on Rosalind Court about 1916 or 1917 and my mother's parents bought a house just across the street from them about the same time.

I attended Bryan Elementary, now known as Oriana House, between 1920 and 1928. I spent one semester at the old North High, now Jennings Junior High, Fall of 1928 to January 1929. My father passed away in January of 1927 and after that first semester we moved to a house that my mother had built on Overlook Drive in South Akron. My father and mother had purchased the lot years before. My grandfather, who was a widower by then, came with us as well as my bachelor uncle. I and my two brothers attended Margaret Park School and I graduated from South High in 1932. During the Great Depression, my mother lost the home on Overlook Drive and since she still held the title to the houses on Rosalind Court, we moved back there in January 1933.

So here goes . . . some memories of my boyhood on Rosalind Court:

Before the North Hill viaduct was erected, street cars went up North Howard Street to Chalker's Landing (the intersection of Howard and Cuyahoga Falls Ave.) then proceeded out Cuyahoga Falls Ave. to Riverside Drive, the end of the line. Street cars were numbered, that line was number 28. A small statured Italian fellow, Alex Coscia, lived at the southwest corner of Glenwood and Howard. He was employed by the transportation company and he had the job of keeping the Howard Street car tracks on the hill sanded in order to give the street car traction to climb the hill. He filled his bucket with sand from several sand containers situated from bottom to midway up the hill. He was very well liked, had a way with the school children, he would look skyward and move his finger to his face, as if to remove a bird dropping, look at us children and we would all laugh. One of his daughters, Angeline (Angie), was a fellow classmate of mine at Bryan School.

I recollect, the Italian societies would stage carnivals on the school grounds at Bryan.

One Italian family, on Charles Street, would sell Italian ice in paper containers to all us school children for pennies,

There were two Italian brothers, each of whom had a grocery store, Joe Ruby's store was at the southeast corner of Glenwood and Howard and the other brother, Jim maybe, had a store at the corner of Bass Avenue and Cuyahoga Street. Our family usually dealt with the Joe Ruby store. The store sold all sorts of cheese (hanging overhead), live snails (in baskets), and live lambs (in crates outside in front of the store). I remember once buying a pomegranate and eating it while I walked home from school. When my mother saw me she asked me what it was that I was eating. Joe Ruby and his wife were very volatile and often they would have loud quarrels and close the store in the middle of the day. One time, Mrs. Ruby threw a pair of scissors which lodged in her son's leg.

During the time that St. Thomas Hospital was being planned, I remember attending a carnival on the grounds that the hospital would later cover, sponsored by people raising money to erect the hospital. I remember watching the erection of the tall chimney of the power plant of the hospital from my classroom window on the second floor of Bryan School

I remember an Italian grocery, DeStefano's, abutting Bryan School grounds on the east side of the school. They kept a goat in the backyard, I remember watching it. The boys playground was on the east side of the school because the school offices on the second floor looked out upon the playground and the principal, Miss Waltz, could watch for misdemeanors from her window. The girls playground was on the west side of the school. They were better behaved (of course) than we boys.

I remember Franklin Bros., who sold sand and building materials, located just above the school. They excavated a lot of sand out of the hill. Bryan School erected a low concrete wall on Glenwood Ave. side to deter the side, which would wash through the school grounds after heavy rains.

The hillside above Rosalind Court, up to Frederick Avenue, was covered with a heavy oak tree forest. Lots of huckleberry bushes under the trees. My mother made many a berry pie from berries we boys picked.

Ebner ( Huston ), Peg - Our family moved to Gorge Blvd. on North Hill in 1940 from Cuyahoga Falls so that we could be closer to church, school, and the bus lines. We had great neighbors, made many friends, and enjoyed the peaceful, quiet neighborhood. There were many Italian and Polish families there so we received some education about other peoples customs which enriched our lives. We were a middle class family struggling along just like all the others, we shared their joys and sorrows as they did ours.

By the time the war started I still did not have my own bike and had always ridden those of my brothers, Bob and Jack. I was very determined to have my own some day but of course all the metal was used for more important things for the war so I saved the money during those years. Even though I would be considered old (by today's standards) to be getting my first bike, buy it I did when the war ended and they were once again on the market. I thoroughly enjoyed it and went everywhere on it, often riding all evening. One place my brother and I went that has stuck in my memory is to the railroad roundhouse down around Home Ave.. I was totally fascinated by that place! It truly was awesome! Another favorite daring place was down the steep ramp to the track behind Jennings. It always scared me to do it but the thrill was worth it.

George's Grocery at Dan St. and Glenwood, (Esposito's) Sunoco Gas Station across the street (I believe it was called Jimmy's), Petrosky's Grocery at Patterson and Glenwood, the Lawson's store (same area); the Nixon and Dayton theaters, Albright Lamp, the Chinese Laundry on Cuyahoga Falls Ave.., Waters Park, North Hill Glass (one of my good friends from high school married Paul Thome, son of the owner), Steve Miller Grocery at Tallmadge and Gorge Blvd., The Frosty store (same area but later moved to Tallmadge Ave.. in front of North High School, The Italian/American Hall, Crest Bakery, Salem Potato Chip Co. on North Main St., Charles Chips on Dan St. and The Electric House (an appliance store at the corner of Dayton St. and Cuyahoga Falls Ave.. - where I worked for a couple of years).

Some of the long-time residents I remember are: Heaton family, Esposito, Ritty, Costello, Klug, McCausland (Father Joe's parents and yes, the cider his grandfather made and gave to everyone young and old!! - hard enough to blow your head off!!)

St. Martha's

St. Martha's priests, nuns and other parishioners played a large part in my life and it was there that the teachings shaped me into the person that I am today. I loved the parish and everything about it. Those were happy y times as a young girl. It was the atmosphere of every piece of ground that the parish occupied from church and school to the convent that made you feel reverent and loved by the Lord and all who served Him. The church doors were always open and you could stop in for a visit even if only for a minute.

I started school there in the fall of 1940. There were two classrooms of every grade with about 25 - 30 kids in each room. Of course there were always some who gave the nuns problems but on the whole it was a peaceful environment for learning. They taught us well and they cared about each of us. Being in the fourth grade when I started I was more familiar with the upstairs but I remember well the layout of the downstairs and the area behind the altar and the sacristy. My two brothers were altar boys so I often waited for them back there so we could walk home together (or I would hitch a ride with them on their bike).

One of the things I most remember about the school is the wide corridors and how at the end of the day when the bell would ring we all filed out into the hallway, stood at attention while a patriotic march was played, then with a nod from the principal, Sister Bernadette (I think), we all left the building. Once outside pandemonium could reign but not until then! If you happened to stay after school a familiar sight would be Mr. Rich or Mr. Jones, (the friendly janitors) preparing to sweep the hallway by spreading it with an oily green substance (I always thought it was weird, whatever it was). Anyway it kept the dust from flying around.

When Monsignor McKeever left the rectory during recess time he was immediately surrounded by kids vying for his attention. He loved us all and we loved him back. In the springtime or fall when it became very hot he would come over to the school and tell the nuns to send us all home for the rest of the day - it was too hot to study! No wonder we loved him so much!

The sisters had a great sense of pageantry when the special occasions were to be celebrated with processions several times a year. A white dress was a must for every girl and dark pants and a white shirt for every boy. The barbers did a good business before these occasions and probably the shoe stores also. Every child looked their very best and was so proud. We felt privileged to take part in these events which were well attended by the parish. I can remember times when it was so crowded that people were outside looking in the windows in order to be a part of the occasion.

And, oh, the priests we were fortunate to have - the best! The parish was truly blessed in that respect and also with the number of vocations it fostered in those days with at least 3 or 4 young men from St. Martha's ordained every year.

Those were the days when we: did not have school on Holy Days, fasted from midnight before receiving Communion (and thought nothing of standing in line for 15 - 20 minutes to "receive"), women wore hats or other head coverings, refrained from eating meat on Friday's, and many other things that regrettably have gone by the wayside.

Who could forget the gym back then - nothing great to look at but we did have fun in it learning different games, exercises, and square dancing. Parish card parties were held in there (among others) and CYO dances for the teens were a big attraction also.

Yes, St. Martha's is a place dear to my heart.

Fresh (Smith ), Darlene - Our family moved to North Hill in 1940. Our new home had been a farm house on the top of the hill. Now there many other homes on the old farm land. Some of the families that I remember are the Coxes, Hickernells, Bennets, Moats, Nations, Hughes, and Brumbaughs. The house was a Pennsylvania Dutch style with a single car garage behind. I thought we had the biggest back yard in the world, with apple, cherry, and pear trees and lots of grass and flowers. Revisiting as an adult, I saw its true size, but it didn't alter my childhood perception. There were three bedrooms for four children and the parents. The fourth bedroom had been made into an indoor bathroom with a clothes chute to basement for dirty clothes (do they still make those?). There was a small porch off the bathroom where all the kids would sleep in the summer when it was hot. We purchased the lot next door and grew a Victory garden there and played many games and of course raked leaves and piled them up at the curb and burned them in the fall. That smell of leaves burning reminds me of Collinwood Avenue to this day. I still remember my phone number from back then before there were prefixes - 5229 - then it became WAlbridge 5229 - and then WAlbridge 8 - 5229. Strange the things we remember after all these years. I especially remember being on a party line and everyone listening to everyone else (or so I thought!).

There was front door with a porch and the mandatory swing but everyone used the side door or the back door. We had a kitchen with an ice box that was filled periodically by the ice man. A trash man came up and down the street shouting "Hi Ya Hake." Don't ask me what that meant. In the basement, we had two stationary tubs with a roller wringer and my Dad's amateur HAM equipment. The kitchen had been remodeled from a summer kitchen to one big kitchen and a built-in eating nook. The dining was the scene of Sunday chicken dinners for the whole family. The living room had a fireplace with bookcases on either side. I well remember the first TV set on North Hill. It was said to be in our house! It had a 7 inch screen with a magnifying glass sitting in front of it. It was of course black and white and had a test pattern and wrestling. People would come over just to see the test pattern and be amazed.

About six houses down the street was the Ball Grocery Store. They had wonderful penny candy and let everyone on the street run up a bill for groceries. There was also a grocery store down by Iuka but we didn't go there until we all started school and had money to spend on candy. We all were scared to death to sled down Iuka but we did it anyway. We also went roller skating on Big Falls Avenue. There was only one car per family so of course all us kids walked to school. I've told my own kids that it was three miles to North High but it turned out to be less than one when we tried it in a car during a recent visit to North Hill. Shows you how our memories work.

I remember Collinwood as being tree shaded and filled with kids and people who all knew each other. It was a good place to grow up and still my heart finds a home when I think of North Hill.

I could go on and on about baby sitting jobs, breaking my arm, doctors, stores, banks, the library, ice-cream, Crest Bakery, Dairy Queen, the Dayton Theatre (2 movies for 10 cents), running home for lunch from grade school, Sawyer Avenue, memories of a suicide, Mrs. Bumgartner - the principal at Harris School, Mrs. Russell, Mrs. Corbet, but most of all the Gorge. My spiritual home was the Gorge. I went to Girl Scout Camp there and later took my own children there for birthday parties. What a wonderful place to walk, view the waterfalls, think of the Indians who used to live there, and look up at the High Level Bridge. After a day at the Gorge, a cherry coke or a hot fudge sundae at the drugstore. Ah the memories of sounds, smells, and flavors.

Giustino, Joseph - Although I moved away from the Hill 22 years ago (which is how long I lived on The Hill), I have always looked back on my childhood growing up there with the fondest memories. Ironically, the thing I missed the most in those early days away was listening to "The Numbers Band" and picking up girls in Kent at JB's. DEVO was just starting to make rumblings in downtown dives like the Crypt.

For this contribution to your project, I will relate 2 items. The first is about my grandfather, Nick Scarpitti. Many folks may remember him as the short, stout old man who would walk every morning down York, stopping at the Dayton Cafe at the corner of Dayton, make his way to the Italian Center to meet friends and then proceed to meander over the viaduct to downtown Akron. I don't really know where he went downtown, but he would go religiously every day until he was about 85. He would make his way back and, like clockwork, would have a beer at the Glens on Glenwood and be back in time for supper at 4:30 every day. Sometimes I would see him downtown when I was coming home from St. V's in the early 70s. He raised his family on Charles Street through the depression era and eventually bought a home on Butler Court. He fought in W.W.I and retired from Goodrich, most likely in the early 50s.

The second short item are some memories of The Gorge. As adolescents, we would spend many hours in the woods on the Akron side. At the time, the large bypass pipe below the dam was still in existence. I believe that this pipe was once used to generate hydroelectric power. It was also used to control the water level behind the dam. We spent many a day on, in, or around this structure. When the water was running low in late August, we would traverse the spillway from the Akron to the Cuyahoga Falls side and back. Another favorite spot was the big rock situated about a quarter of a mile below the dam. Someone carved a big butterfly in the rock around 1973. We would do a lot of skinny-dipping off the rock, diving into the deep pool just under it. We really didn't pay much mind to the condition of the water. There was not much to fear toxic wise at that point along the river; it was the storm sewers that made it bad. I was always careful not to swim in the river after a storm. I have seen those manholes down at the Gorge spout sewage like a geyser during storms. Not a pretty site. In the 70's, one could still walk out to the edge of the spillway on the dam. This was one of our favorite drinking spots until Ranger Blazdell busted us sometime around 1975. It has remained locked ever since. I am sure that determined youths could still get out there if they wanted. The clay banks down on Peck Road was another favorite spot. In the 60's and 70's they were much higher. This was a favorite lover's lane and sunset spot. I lost my virginity on those clay banks. I knew there was a lot of history surrounding the Gorge. Just upstream of the big rock were some bridge abutments on both sides of the river. I had read somewhere that these are the remains of a footbridge that once crossed the river. Sometime in the early 70's I discovered the canal ruins on the Akron side behind the Ohio Edison Power Plant. This was a millrace that once ran from Cuyahoga Falls to Akron. I do not know what the exact path was, but it runs for about a half mile. This spot was visited very seldom, for there were only 2 ways to get there. Getting there involved climbing down the sheer sandstone cliff formations common to the Gorge. We would climb up to the various caves that hung on the sandstone face. I remember a Thanksgiving with some friends, cooking up a chicken in one of these caves. There was also a great rope swing that we would use to leap off of the canal wall swing out over the river and drop in. Invigorating. I don't think I caught any bad diseases jumping in at that point, although at the time, the potential sure was there. I had read once that there was some sort of amusement park in this area in the 1800s. The dam and subsequent power plant has wiped away any trace of it.

Harris, Steve  - To me, growing up on North Hill is right out of the book of what childhood memories should be made of. The following thoughts are just some of the things that made this time in my life so special and memorable.

I was born- as was my brother Dave- in Cheyenne, Wyoming. My dad was in the Air Force and I spent my ‘toddling years’ in the land where the antelope population outnumbers the humans. However, it wasn’t long before my North Hill odyssey began.

My parents, Roy and Dee Harris brought us to the “Hill’ in late 1957. I wasn’t yet three and my brother was just an infant. My dad still had to finish his commitment to Uncle Sam, so my brother and I lived with my mom and my paternal grandparents, Ernest and Edith Harris, until his return. We actually lived in the upstairs of the large house on the corner of Clifton and Cuyahoga Falls Avenue, adjacent to Jackson School. (This is the same house that Elwood Smith mentions in his memoirs that had been razed when he looked for it in 1983). Actually, that old house was an artifact in itself. It had a coal burning furnace, complete with the coal chute, and its’ origins trace back to its’ use as an old schoolhouse used for first and second graders. This was prior to the construction of Jackson Elementary. My dad and, my uncle, Ken Harris were both born in that old house.

In July of 1958, my parents embarked upon their own version of the American dream, purchasing a house at 425 Drexel Avenue. My father still lives in the same house, (as did my mother until her passing away in March of 2002). Drexel is a short; non-descript street nestled between Magnolia on the west and Riverside Drive on the east. It was the greatest venue in the world for whiffle ball and football games. There was very little traffic and it was level enough for a decent playing field. We were actually outraged when a car came down the street and interrupted play. It seems like we played out there almost every day. There were scores of kids that turned out, but the ones that come to mind the quickest are; Bob and David Schember, Doug Lott, Billy Barone, Mike Walczak, Shelly Harran, (Shelly died tragically in 1971, however despite being a girl, she was one of the most feared hitters we had) Mike and Rocky Marzuola, the Fanelli brothers, the Vances and of course my brother Dave and myself.

The other two venues for our sporting activities were the Church Field and Jackson School. The Church field was located on Riverside Drive. Most of the area that we used for the field has been converted into a parking area, now. Likewise, the large playing field adjacent to the original playground at Jackson school has been turned into a playground, as well. The only part of the original area that is still pretty much intact is the basketball court.

The baseball field at Jackson was the scene of many favorite moments, as well. This field was used for a practice field for the Hot Stove Braves, as well as some pretty good sandlot games. As a left handed hitter (my dad convinced me at a small age seven, perhaps my only chance of making Chuck Agness’s “H” league Braves was as a lefty- he was right!), I was at a tremendous disadvantage during these games since balls hit to right field were determined to be automatic outs. This was due to the fact that it was a very short distance to Clifton Avenue and to the homes with their picture windows lurking across the street. Balls hit on to the roof of the school in left field were considered to be prodigious blasts and home runs. I actually learned to hit to the opposite field and put a few on the roof, myself. No talk of the field at Jackson would be complete without mentioning the addition of a painted left field foul line across the parking lot and dimensions painted on the side of the school proclaiming that it was 205’ from home plate to the ‘beige monster’. I can’t remember now, who the artist for this masterpiece was, however, it was a great job and really added to the effect of playing there.

The old Highlander golf range across the street from my grandparents’ old house was the place that first infected me with the golf bug that I still carry with me today. It was 85 cents for a large bucket of balls and I almost killed myself striving for a drive out to the 230-yard marker.

I remember walking down to Lee’s drugstore on Cuyahoga Falls Avenue with my brother. They had an old-fashioned soda fountain and I can fondly recall sitting on a stool and debating whether to order a small, or a large Coke. After all, smalls were 6 cents and larges were a whopping 12 cents.

As I grew up, I made a lot of good friends. Dave King, Bob Hall, Guy Manis and Jim “Fritz’ Gellner were among the guys that I hung around with the most. We all started out at Jackson in the fall of 1959 and graduated together from North in 1972.

School day memories wouldn’t be complete with a mention of the days at Jennings Junior High School. Now, most of you reading this can relate to the distance between my house and Jennings, it wasn’t exactly next door. Well, I believe that I can count on two hands the number of rides that I got to school in my three days there. The rest of the time it was ‘hoofing time’. I can remember walking through all kinds of weather and never being the worse for wear. Nowadays, it seems that kids are driven or bussed distances that barely allow the vehicle to shift from low to high (enough editorializing- I am starting to sound like an old fart). Jennings was a neat place. I remember how scary it was changing classes for the first time. I also remember playing soccer down in the ‘bowl’.

Bill’s Drive-In was around until its’ demise in 1968, during my eighth grade year. Arnold’s on Happy Days had nothing on Bill’s. They had curb service, or if you were lucky enough you could snag one of the five booths, or a stool at the counter. It was pretty much your basic drive-in fare, but their Coney sauce should be in the culinary hall of Fame. My dad actually worked as a ‘soda jerk’ at Bill’s during his days at Akron U.

About the same time, I remember watching Brad Stein (he lived across the street from my grandparents on Clifton) and Glenny Matz race a soapbox derby down the Clifton hill and across Cuyahoga Falls Avenue. My brother and I sat across the street totally transfixed as these two guys sailed across the busy street at the bottom of the hill.

High School was perhaps the most fun, of all. During my senior year the large addition that includes the current gym was built. Speaking of North High School, I should mention that my Uncle Ken Harris designed the Viking ship, which adorns the front façade of the building. He was the winner of an art contest during his high school days and had his design put on the building. My uncle still lives on the ‘Hill’, residing with my Aunt Betty on Linden Avenue. High School days were pretty laid back, especially my senior year. I still remember first period study hall. Pretty much every day Bart Pignatelli, the football coach, would discreetly call me aside and hand me the keys to his Plymouth station wagon and ask me to drive down the street to the Dunkin donuts and bring him something back. As they say- “ those were the days”.

I feel that I could go on even more, however, I think I’ve gone on too long already. Perhaps, I’ll add some additional thoughts at a later time, however in the meantime, suffice it to say, growing up on North Hill was truly a magical, memorable and special experience.

Horoschak (Letta), Helen - I grew up at 447 Evers St., attended Samuel Findlay Grade School, Jennings, and then graduated in 1945 from North High School. In my school days, I walked from Evers St. up the hill on Tallmadge Avenue to Samuel Findlay School, Jennings, and finally to North High School. Today, the kids drive cars even if they live a block away. We drive our children and grandchildren around the area where our lives first began. The only comment the kids made was "we can't believe you walked so far to go to school".

There were several sports clubs during that era, namely Deluca Semi Pro Football, and the Chuckery Club that was named for the Woodchucks. Off
Gorge Blvd., the Edison field had Class A Softball. During the depression times, there was a club called the Weona Club. It was to keep the kids off the street. It was located at Samuel Findlay School...Tallmadge Ave. It offered such sports as boxing, basketball, games, dancing, arts and crafts, billiards...and marble shooting, which I ended up winning. I was also part of the tap dancing, dancing to "School days, school days, dear old golden rule days", I remember that with every breath because I thought I was the best dancer and when the time came to go on I goofed and blew it. I had forgotten my steps, but that was part of growing up taking the good with the bad....but I did cry.

I remember a small Italian fruit and vegetable stand on Tallmadge Avenue. The name was DeVitis. Many years later, this little stand became one of the most popular Italian stores on North Hill...In fact, it was the only Italian store anywhere that had so much respect for their customers. Today, students from North High are thrilled to have such a great store to go to for lunch and enjoy slices of homemade pizza and great sub sandwiches. Everything is made to perfection.

Some of my in-law family still live on North Hill. Mt. Vernon and Collinwood. I also have friends still living on Ranney. North Hill has many nationalities, and it seems that the Italians have become number one. A lot of foreign people chose North Hill and God Bless them most are still residing in the same area.

I worked at a Sinclair Gas Station, on the corner of Cuyahoga Street and Tallmadge Ave., pumping gas, checking oil and using a tire gauge to check tires for the correct amount of air. The gas station was managed by Sam Ramnytz, my brother-in-law. (He passed away 2 years ago). I was sixteen at the time and thought, wow, this is great..what fun it was to service cars.

I married Sam Letta, an Army veteran in 1946. We were school sweethearts attending Jennings. He and his family, counting him, 5 brothers and 2 sisters lived at 239 Lods Street.

Now 54 years later (9-21-00) our family consists of our son Mike and daughter Denise; four grandchildren, 3 boys and 1 girl...and we are proud to have lived on North Hill.

Back to the Chuckery Club, my other brother Nick Horoschak was part of that club helping to keep it going for wayward kids...and now we are all praying for him to beat liver cancer. He is a wonderful human being and was great with all the guys on North Hill. His name will never be forgotten.

It was wonderful to look back to the old days. Most of the homes are still in tact, there has been much progress made throughout the years to help those that were less fortunate. I am proud to be an American and proud to have been a part of the North Hill Neighborhood.

I thank you for allowing me to help bring my little story to make North Hill History.

Letta, Albert - In the summer when I was a boy, and lived on Lods St., Dominic D'Amico, Guido Cianchetti, Mathew Contessa, Chick Italia, my brothers Sam and Joe Letta, and myself played most of the day at Waters Park. Mr. Cutler, the printing teacher at Jennings, was the supervisor at the park. There was a small swimming pool, horseshoes, ping pong, basketball court, swings, and boxing. There were steps to a cement stage. Many times we walked across the bridge (the old one) to go downtown and just walk around.

I remember the Flamingo Bar on Cuyahoga Falls Ave. where Pat Pace, Eugene Ciriano, and several others would have jam sessions. I was in high school then and would stop in to hear them play.

Schember, David M. -

Seigman, George F. - I have an abiding affection for North Hill where I "grew up", had some of my life's most pleasant times, and met my most lasting friendships - to this day.

I lived with my family (mother & dad and eventually 2 sisters and one brother) first on Clyde St. in 1925, moved to 785 Damon St. in 1926, and then to 728 Thayer St. in 1931. I attended Forest Hill Elementary School kindergarten and grades 1-3 from 1926 -1930. I attended St.. Martha's Elementary School from 1931-1935.(graduated 1935)

I attended North High School from 1935-1939. Incidentally North won the Ohio State basketball championship twice (in 1935 and 1939).

My North High graduating class of 1939 will hold its 60th reunion this year on Sept. 17-18 at the Radisson Hotel Akron City Center on Mill St..

Some of my fondest memories are:

In 1935, the year I graduated from St.. Martha's, I attended the first Soap Box Derby which was held on Tallmadge Hill. A huge crowd was there and it was broadcast nationally. We (my family) attended the air shows at Akron Airport - to see the fastest airplanes (the first time a plane exceeded 350 mph). We also visited the Goodyear Air Dock to see the zeppelin "Akron" and later the "Macon" (the two largest zeppelins in the world)

North High was noted for its outstanding teams in football and basketball in the years 1935-1939. On top of winning the state basketball championships North was the city football champions in 1935 with the "Four Horsemen" in the backfield. I was sports editor on the "Viking" my senior year and I went to Columbus to see "our" Vikings win in 1939.

After graduating from North I went to Kent State University. In 1943 I received my B.S. degree in Education but was sent to Chicago (Northwestern University campus) for training in the US Naval Reserve. I was commissioned an Ensign in Aug. 1943 and in 1944 was assigned to the USS Wilkes-Barre (a light cruiser). Served 18 months sea duty - promoted to Lieutenant - saw action in the Pacific at the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa and occupied Japan.

I was married in Aug. 1943 to Mabel Guenther of 833 Ranney St.. and in 1945 became the father of the first of my eleven children. We moved to Cuyahoga Falls in 1950 because I couldn't find a house with 4 bedrooms on North Hill (that I could afford). I taught high school history, POD, art, and speech for 32 years with the Akron Board of Education. Twenty-one years at Akron Ellet High School.

North Hill was and still is "home" to me. I'm glad you are bringing deserved attention to it. May it continue to live and prosper for years to come.

P.S. I am 77 and soon to be 78. I have ten living children (two live on North Hill), 23 grandchildren, and 6 great-grandchildren. All of them in Ohio.

Smith, Elwood O., Sr. - I moved to North Hill from Pittsburgh, PA in 1939 when I was 6 years old. We rented a house on Clifton Ave. in the block between Birchwood and Elmwood at the top of the hill. The house sat almost directly behind 1179 Magnolia, home of the Clarence Jenkins family, separated by a small woods and a field. We stayed on Clifton until 1944 when my parents bought the home at 1336 Gorge Blvd. next door to the Quillin's. Danny Quillin was attending Akron North at the time. This is the same Dan Quillin who became a Judge in Akron and recently retired. I attended Andrew Jackson grade school. some of the teachers that I had were Mrs. Wallace, Mrs. Bailey, Mrs. Collier (music teacher), Mrs. Walcott, and Mrs. Cassidy was the principal. From September 1947 until June 1949 I attended Jennings Junior High and in September of 1949 I went to North High. In my Junior year at North my father got laid off from Firestone and we moved to Derry, PA where he had found work. I was on the football team at the time and the coach at that time, the one that followed Coach Hosfield, told me that he would try to get my Dad a job but it was too late as my Dad had made up his mind to leave.

My neighbors on Clifton Ave.. were: the Steins whose son George I chummed around with, the Hansons lived across the street and their sons Bud, Harley, and Harvey were friends of mine. The Verlander family lived on Magnolia, they were very good friends of my parents Oscar & Mary Smith. William Verlander served in World War II as a medic in a paratrooper division. He was killed over in the Philippines during a parachute jump mission. That was a very sad day for the Verlanders and all who knew him. The Clarence Jenkins family, mentioned above, lived on Magnolia. There were two sons Jerry and Norman (also referred to as Jackie) plus daughter, Pattie. Jerry and I became very good friends. We did quite a few things together. The Jenkins' became second parents to me as my parents were to Jerry. Fred and Lucille Snook lived on Juniper just behind the Church of Christ on Riverside Dr. The Snook's parents owned the Ascot Drive-In theater out on State Rd.

One of the many things I remember is during the winter after a good snow all the neighborhood kids would go over to the lot that existed then, beside the Verlander's property and sled ride down the hill there. Another place that the neighborhood kids would go to is the pond behind the Civitan Club that set on Cuyahoga Falls Ave. across from Clifton Ave.. When it froze over we would ice skate and play hockey on it. There also was a city dump there. Down the street on Cuyahoga Falls Ave.. and just before Corwin Ave. there was Bill's Drive In which sold the best foot long hot dogs in town with chili for .25 and I sure enjoyed them. On the other corner of Corwin and Cuyahoga Falls Ave. sat another great Drive In called Jerry's which sold out in later years and became Swenson's, both places had good hamburgers. Then on the corner of Cuyahoga Falls Ave. and Gorge Blvd. sat Tony Scalise's grocery store where my parents bought their meat when we moved to Gorge Blvd.. On the opposite corner was a gas station where a lot of the neighborhood kids hung out. The gas station changed hands every so often but the neighborhood kids still were welcome. One of the owners was a former State Highway Patrolman who retired and took over the station. He had a 9 mm pistol he used to clean while he wasn't busy but one day he was cleaning it and it went off putting a hole in the back wall. We all scrambled out of there and luckily no one got hit. I remember the Dayton Theater where I used to go especially on Saturdays for the serials. Up the street was a Lawson's Dairy store where we would buy our milk and ice cream. Another Theater I often went to was the State Theater across the High Level bridge on State Road. The owner of the State Theater at that time was Mr. Comarata whose son Frank was a friend of mine. They lived on Lexington Ave.. About two blocks up from Big Falls on Cuyahoga Falls Ave., toward Temple Square, was Valenti's Barber Shop where I used to get my hair cut. If I remember correctly it was a yellow brick building. On the corner of Linden and Cuyahoga Falls Ave. was a small grocery store. At one time it was an Acme but it changed hands quite a bit. Down at the end of Linden and Riverside Dr. was Brodbeck field. We would go there at times and play baseball and in the fall of 1947 I played for the Akron North Commandos and we practiced at Brodbeck. We would change into our equipment at Jackson School and walk down to Brodbeck. That was the year that John Lujack and Boley Dansawits volunteered to help in coaching us. Not sure if I got Boley's name spelled correctly. It turned out I could not get my weight down to 125 pounds as I weighed 130 so I ended up being cut so I went out for JV team at Jennings coached by Mr. Zeno. I played Quarterback and got to play quite a bit. I also ran track under coach Bob White.

Another favorite spot was the Andrew Jackson ball field, basketball court, and the field in back of Jackson. The neighborhood kids would meet there and play the sport of the season till nightfall. Some of the kids that showed up were: Roy and Ken Harris who lived in the house that sat right beside Jackson on about 2 or 3 acres of ground at the corner of Clifton and Cuyahoga Falls Ave.. The house is no longer there as I visited Akron in 1983 and it was gone. Art Smead who lived on Riverside Dr. His father was a fireman and his sister Elaine was a Majorette for North who won top honors in Akron for her outstanding baton twirling. Charles and Robert (Pee Wee) Merold who lived on Riverside Dr., Jack Watson who lived on Birchwood across from Jackson, Jerry and Norman Jenkins, Tom Parker who lived on Cuyahoga Falls Ave. across the street from Big Falls Ave.. His Father owned the auto repair shop in back of their house, Dick Meirs who lived on Lexington, the Weaver boy, I can't remember his first name, who lived on Linden, and myself. There were others but I can't remember the others names. In the summer of 1947 the Akron Police formed the PAL softball league. A bunch of us got together and formed a team and Tom Parker's dad sponsored us. We practiced and played at Jackson's ball field. The members of the team were Tom Parker, Fred Snook, Jerry and Norman Jenkins, the Weaver boy, Ronald Grasser who lived on Big Falls, Sonny Rouse whose house and street were demolished when they put in the new highway parallel to Gorge Blvd.., Dick Meirs, I remember two others but not their names, and myself. We took the championship of North Hill and played the playoffs at Firestone Park but lost the last game of the playoffs. I cannot remember what team that was but we each received a medal and had our pictures taken. In the summer, the Akron Recreation Department would set up games at the Jackson School playground for the youth to keep busy. The managers were Felix Latona and Margaret Myers. Margaret lived on Mt. Vernon with her parents and sisters Maxine Myers and Nadine Davis . Nadine was a classmate of mine in grade school.

Other families that lived in the Gorge Blvd.. area were: the Totaros lived on Belden sons Gus and Mike; the Hansens lived on Belden son Chuck; Moneypennies lived on Belden son William; the Lambackers lived on Gorge son William; the Davises lived on Gorge sons Robert, William and Paul.

I belonged to Boy Scout Troop 62 which met at the Church of Christ on Riverside Dr. Mr. Sullivan was the scoutmaster and we had a nick name for him, we called him Harpo. His two sons belonged to the troop Walter and Russell. They lived on Juniper two houses down from Magnolia. Other scout members were Jim Derose who lived on Lexington, Jack Lang who lived on Big Falls, Tom Parker, Jerry Jenkins, Fred Snook, Jim and Bill Gray who lived on Lexington, Robert Merold, Chuck Hansen, Gus Totaro and many more that I can't remember. Mr. Sullivan was noted for his Sullivan stew which he cooked on our camping trips to Camp Manatoc. It sure was good.

I visited North Akron in 1983 and what a change there was. I came off the Expressway at the Gorge Blvd. exit and to my surprise there was my old house but it was in very much need of repair. I could not believe all the houses that had existed along Gorge were gone. That was quite a shock to me. I drove up Cuyahoga Falls Ave.. and I just could not believe all the changes along there. I could not locate anyone I knew so I returned to Cleveland to complete my work for NASA at the Lewis Research Center and then returned to Melbourne, FL and work at the Kennedy Space Center.

Vogenitz, Richard B. - I am glad that my parents selected North Hill for my sister Louise and me to spend our childhood. It evokes many happy memories.

Some of my earliest recollections were at Harris Elementary and Jackson Elementary schools. At Harris I thought Rae Louise McNab was to be my wife in later years but at Jackson I fell in love with a 4th grader named Lois Strobel. The sum of 50¢ was found one day walking home and I pondered whether to go on a splurge with Lois or take it home. I took it home.

I can remember the iron rimmed wheels on the horse drawn wagons of the Akron Pure Milk Co. until about 1928. Later, rubber tired milk wagons came in and finally a fleet of small trucks made it all motorized. I remember a large rat licking the cream off "frozen" delivered milk.

The "Rag Man" also had noisy metal wheels and he came up Howard St. shouting "Rra-a-ags" with a slight accent. I think he may have bought scrap metal also. As a guess I often wonder if these hard working families became owners of large scrap yards and into a branch of motor car parts. If you signaled his horse drawn wagon, usually drawn by an old horse with a terribly notched "saddle" back, the "rag man" would come down off his high bench in front, walk to the rear of the wagon and weigh your bundle. He dealt in dimes, nickels, and pennies. His large umbrella on a strong pole behind his high seat was sewn into pie shaped quadrants of various colors. Traffic was increasing even then and he had to see and be seen. I must add that I often saw the horse eating out of a bag around his head and neck and that it never "frothed" for lack of water.

Early play places were ice hockey on Alfaretta St with sticks and tin cans. We kids also hiked to "The Devil's Backbone", a spiny slanted cliff of reddish sand on the North Hill bluffs overlooking the Cuyahoga River. One day, I had been told to stay by the cliffs to watch for some forgotten mythical creature and it wasn't until after dark that Dr. H. E. Groom's son Bud, who was three years older, came back to bring me home. In 1943, Bud was severely wounded at Anzio, Italy. He now lives in California and still has two German bullets lodged near his spine. He was returning to base after directing artillery fire onto 7 Nazi Tiger tanks that had pushed into Allied lines. Bud was in the North High Class of 1937 and graduated from the Citadel in 1942. His sister, Betty Groom Turner, was in the Class of 1940.

Next door, south of us, was the Kmentt family. They were Austrian and Hungarian. Their boys were Waldemur and Dickie who was my own age. Mr. Kmentt probably saw horrible things in Austro-Hungarian Army during World War I. He became a successful executive with B. F. Goodrich in this country.

About the best fun was to begin a long sled ride on my "Flexible Flyer" sled with about 6 or 7 others on sleds from the top of Uhler Ave at Howard St. and sled downhill across many street intersections onto open land and then down the old Gun Club ski path. This brought us out near the iron trestle bridge on the Cuyahoga River. Down this hill and the trek back up allowed for two good runs after school and many more on Saturdays. One of our group was killed by a car which slowed our youthful exuberance drastically. Bill Arndt was one of our trudging group of sledders. Down by the old trestle bridge was a boulder near the bottom of Merriman Rd. that had a bronze plaque marking the beginning of the "Portage Path" and honoring the fact of an early French trading post or fort at that strategic bend in the river. I have not seen that bronze plaque in recent visits.

Another fun place was further north at the old power plant east of the "High Level Bridge". Here, many 10 - 15 year olds used to swim among unknown types of water snakes in the churning outflow pool from the turbines inside.

About the mid Thirties, the German "Graf Zeppelin" came over downtown Akron. My uncle, Justin Percival Vogenits, owned a barber shop on Exchange St. near Main St. We emerged into a crowd to see the Nazi swastikas on the tail fin. It was fairly low, headed for the Goodyear Air Dock. A good lesson in Civics followed along the lines that these were "bad bad Germans". The Kaiser's best had fought hard and for the most part fairly in WWI but this new bunch meant much trouble ahead. The fact that Dr. Hugo von Eckner was the chief pilot of the airship was the main forgiving factor of that and other visits to Akron's dirigible hangar. He deplored the Nazi politics and was always welcomed by Akron's elite.

For the majority of Akron's German-American community, America was where they placed their loyalty with heart tugs at times for the "Old Country. On our own block, several doors south, one of two highly skilled brothers went back to Germany on Hitler's call, taking his 13 year old son with him. We knew this wonderful family somewhat. In 1945 or 1946 I was shown a picture of this young man. He was wearing a thread bare overcoat standing on a Berlin street. The brother of the one who had gone to work for Hitler remained in this country. As an aeronautical engineer, he was instrumental in the development and production of the F-4-U "Corsair" fighter plane at Goodyear Aircraft Corporation.

My sister, Louise, died in August 1940 from bronchial pneumonia. Her death was only a few days after the tragic train accident involving the "Doodlebug". The attending doctor said that if only the Pennsylvania Turnpike had been fully completed he might have been able to get the proper medicines brought from Harrisburg, PA. The spokesman for the Billow Company said that Louise's funeral was the second largest they had seen in Akron, exceeded only by the funeral of Paul W. Litchfield, former chief officer of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company.

On Sunday December 7th, 1941; our family began to hear static filled reports that a place called Pearl Harbor was under attack heavy attack. I bicycled up to Jack Wolfe's house at the end of Main Street near the High Level Bridge. He was in the basement working and his mother Marguerite was there running wet clothes through the attachment on the washing machine called the "dry wringer". Soon Alden Hershiser and other North High school classmates were gathered there. We than all went home and began to think of a change in plans for college and all that.

I was in the military from mid-1942 until November 23, 1945. The main event for me was combat air crew action as on of eleven on board a B-29 "Superfortress". I was the left waist aerial gunner in the Liberty Belle II. We participated in the Air Offensive - Japan from October 1944 to August 6, 1945. I was discharged as a Staff Sergeant from US Army Air Force and later took a direct commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Reserve of the US Air force. I was discharged as a Lieutenant Colonel USAFR in 1977 at age 55. My current "job' is to sustain the Congressionally chartered Reserve Officers Association from which I drew two Outstanding ROA member awards.

As for civilian work, while doing Reserve duties, I did a lengthy stint of service in the Central Intelligence Agency with the title of Intelligence Officer/Analyst and a brief time as an insurance adjuster - investigator. I racked up some teaching credentials courses at Akron University and Kent State. This led to a period of twenty years as a high school teacher, mostly in Orange County, California for Advanced and Intermediate Spanish.

My early mentor and ideal teacher was always Miss Plane, teacher of French at North High. I studied under her near perfection level of teaching since September 1938. Our principal was Mr. Hugh Smith.

I have no living children. I live at Lake Tahoe surrounded by National Forest Land. The air and water are clean and pure. I will soon reach 80 and fully expect to go into my 90's. God willing.

Some other names that I recall:

1. Rudy Fruscella - honor student, Officer in WWII
2. Eugene Wycoff - on Alfaretta St
3. George Steiner - across from us on Howard St
4. Mr. Biddle - owned drug store across the street (mistook me for his son Jerry Biddle when I walked into the store in uniform - Nov. 1945)
5. Mr. "Clate" Linton - good and fast friend of my fathers. Executive at Akron Savings & Loan. Lived across the street from Mr. Biddle's drugstore.
6. The Gill Family - Roy Gill was in the US Marines on Guam awaiting the scheduled invasion of Japan that was called off.
7. The DeYoung Family - lived near the intersection of Howard and Uhler.
8. Ralph Vinceguerra & Charlie King - scholar - athletes of Class of 1939.
9. Marilyn Hathaway - Class of 1941, descendant of early Gen. Perkins.
10. Frankie Granata - mother was always Mrs. Granata to us, fed tables full of us kids in Great Depression. Frankie's father slipped into an old time Northern Ohio Power & Light Co. inspection trench and badly injured his back. Frankie moved to PA.
11. The Gallagher sisters - Beauties! On Chalker St near Frankie's.
12. "Jackie" Myers - whom I loved dearly and Jeanne Sandberg and Shirley Metzinger.
13. Charles Manchester - Class of 1940 later a high executive at Air Stream Trailer Co. Pilot in WWII. He married a girl named "Boots", who was a double for the actress Faye Emerson. I introduced them.
14. Mazzola's Market - N Howard St. Father of 2 sons at North High. Hard working honest folks.

Weaver, James E. - I was born and raised on North Hill. My grandfather and father were born in Akron and also lived there. I was raised at 99 E Dalton St. in a house that was owned by my grandmother and she rented the upstairs to my parents. The house was torn down many years ago. My mother, who's maiden name was Anderson, was raised on N Main St. about two or three houses north of the old Margo's Restaurant. My father graduated from North High, when it was at Jennings, in 1927 and my mother graduated from the new North in 1929. My grandmother, who was divorced from my grandfather, ran a pie business out of her home and she supplied some of the local restaurants on North Hill. After my grandmother died in 1945 from cancer, the house was sold and we moved to 70 W Dalton St. My parents divorced around 1950 and my mother died in 1960. My grandfather worked for East Ohio Gas Co.

I remember the park that my mother, sister, and I were at when World War II ended. The park was to the right and just before the old High Level Bridge and it went down as far as Peck Rd. There was a ball field and a pavilion there. We had been down by Peck Rd. wading in the Cuyahoga River and as we were walking home people began stopping their cars, yelling, and blowing their horns. Everyone was very happy. I was six years old and my sister was nine.