Customer Reviews

Norwood (OH) (Images of America)

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This book is part of a series. It provides a mini-history of Norwood in pictures. The pictures will be memorable to specific readers based on their age cohort and individual experience. A large number of the pictures are from the early 1900's. This will not touch many living readers' individual memories. A number are of specific individuals or of groups of individuals (athletic teams and school groups, e.g.). Again, this will not be 'memorable' for most readers. The best pictures (i.e. those which are likely to touch the widest possible audience) are those which truly encapsulate the city's history, e.g., its many factories. Others of interest are those which focus on the city's churches, particularly those which remain standing. The original layout of Montgomery Road is memorable, along with pictures of the businesses that dotted the road. There are also occasional mentions of particular individuals--not founding father types, with long beards, but local fixtures. I was pleased to see a partial picture of Max's, the men's clothing store which later moved to Swifton shopping center and I noted the mention of Freddie Zorndorf, who operated Sherman Tailors. There are pictures of some (but not all) of the city's schools, some of its parks and some of its recreation sites, including pools and one of its Little League fields. This is definitely a book that will be of interest to residents of Norwood, but it is one that most will borrow rather than purchase, since a large number of the photographs will be of limited interest.

For those interested in reading more about Norwood, I hope I can be forgiven for plugging my own book, The Biggest City in America: a Fifties' Boyhood in Ohio. Norwood is said to be the biggest city in America (without a cemetery or hospital within its city limits).

This book jumps around too much and some information is sketchy or vauge. This book would have made a bigger impact if the author took you through past and present. Instead it mostly focuses on early 1900's then a few recent pictures dropped in.