Neighborhood nears historical honor

Research started with attempts to get a street name changed.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- After years of research, a Jennette Drive woman's vision for her neighborhood inches closer to fruition.
The Ohio Historic Preservation Advisory Board recommended that the Newport Village Allotment be placed on the National Register of Historic Places, said Tom Wolf, public education manager at the Ohio Historical Society.
That recommendation, made Friday, goes to the state historic preservation officer who will forward it to the keeper of the National Register, which is maintained by the National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior. The final decision is expected in about 90 days, Wolf said.
That's welcome news to Judith Kuti who has lived in her 1927 house on Jennette Drive, within the Newport Village Allotment, for about 36 years.
She and a group of other neighborhood residents traveled to Columbus for the meeting.
Kuti's efforts started when she first lobbied township and county officials to have the name of her street, which was listed in some places as Jeanette, changed to its original spelling, Jennette.
Her wish was granted in 2004 and at that time, then-Mahoning County Administrator Gary Kubic put Kuti in touch with area historian Rebecca Rogers, to research the neighborhood.
Neighbors join in
Kuti met with neighbors, and those interested paid to have research conducted on the history of their homes. The group met, conducted cookouts and talked about the significance of their neighborhood history.
The area nominated for the National Register includes Jennette, parts of Chester Drive and Overhill Road, Courtway Alley and a few commercial properties on Market Street.
Part of the neighborhood abuts Forest Glen Estates, which was added to the National Register in 1998.
"That's when we found out that we were the Newport Village," Kuti said.
When she bought the house, Kuti was unaware of its historical significance.
A neighbor who sold his house gave her documentation showing that the first owner of her house named the street Jennette after his wife, who died just before the couple was to move into their new home.
Rogers, of Poland, filed the application for National Register inclusion.
Background
In the application, she writes that the layout of the neighborhood "reflected the 1922 urban and park design plan of Massachusetts landscape architect Warren H. Manning."
Manning also worked to expand the Mill Creek gorge for the park's commissioners and recommended the damming of Mill Creek to create Lake Newport.
"The new Lake Newport was intended to be the centerpiece of new residential areas developed in Youngstown and Boardman Township," the application says.
Newport Village Allotment was one of the housing subdivisions near the new lake suggested by Manning.
"The district was built as one of the earliest Youngstown-area neighborhoods accessible only by auto," Rogers wrote in the application. "Both design and deed restrictions protected housing from traffic noise."
Deed restrictions further called for commercial buildings constructed of brick, brick veneer, stone or stucco, and the design had to be approved by the Newport Realty Co. Residential architecture was restricted to either Tudor Revival or Colonial Revival designs.
Homes on Jennette and Overhill are single-family, with duplexes on Chester.
Despite all the work and a few headaches, Kuti said it was worth it to obtain the historical declaration and possible National Register placement.
"It's been a challenge, but it's really wonderful," she added.