The fog had yet to burn off for the day as we drove along US 50 West into Riverside. Riverside is a long, narrow West Side neighborhood that runs along the Ohio River between Sedamsville and Saylor Park. Along this stretch 50 West is known as River Road. The busy four-lane thoroughfare divides the neighborhood. On the south side of the road, industry and railroad tracks hug the river. On the north side of the road, houses creep up the hillside.
A barge was passing by and we jogged down to the launch to get a closer look:
By the time we left the park, the sun was starting to burn through the fog and we could see the pretty autumn trees along the hillside. This view is of the Delshire Preserve which is owned and managed by the Western Wildlife Corridor:
We crossed River Road to run on the sidewalk. Many of the homes built on the hillside have river views:
We came across the Twin Sisters, which are identical houses built in the 1890s by a prominent Cincinnati judge. The Digging Cincinnati History blog has a great article about the homes, and in reading it I learned that Judge Wright built them for two of his children, one of whom would go on to become the mayor of the Village of Riverside and later, a United States Supreme Court Justice!
St. Vincent de Paul is also perched along the hillside overlooking the river. St. Vincent de Paul, known for serving the poor, is Donnie’s favorite Catholic Saint and the namesake of his alma mater. Donnie sweetly asked me if I wanted to pose with the statute, but I think he was secretly glad that I declined.
Running with traffic along River Road was just a bit nerve-wracking and we were happy when we got to a part of the street that was set back from the main thoroughfare. This little section of River Road runs parallel to highway but is separated from it by a grassy lawn. Here, homeowners had their boats parked along the street—convenient for the short drive to the launch.
At the end of the street, we found an old building that is home to the Tri-State Grain Inspection Service:
We also found a great community sign that detailed the history of the Riverside community. We learned that Riverside was annexed by the City in 1896 for its industrial base:
There are residential streets like this one that run up the hill from River Road:
Further up on River Road is the Anderson Ferry, which will take pedestrians and cars across the river to Kentucky for a small fee. When I worked on the West Side, I would often join my coworkers on Friday evenings at Drew’s on the River, which sits at Anderson Ferry and has a close-up view of the river and the ferry traffic. We turned around at Maag Street so we didn’t make it all the way to the Ferry. While on the drive to the boat launch, we did pass Jim & Jacks, another Riverside bar and restaurant:
When we returned to the boat launch, Donnie was feeling some remorse that he had skipped the TQL Urban Race and decided that the next best thing would be to hurdle over a barrier in the parking lot. I begged him not to take the risk, but he scaled it easily:
View the full route with mile markers here: http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=529293
-K.
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