Ohio seeks national recognition for subdivision built for blacks

COLUMBUS (AP) — A subdivision built and marketed exclusively to returning black veterans of World War II is under consideration for placement on the National Register of Historic Places.

The 1 1/2-story mostly brick homes tucked between a railroad, Interstate 70 and busy city streets are small by today’s standards. But they represented opportunity for vets at a time when neighborhoods permitting blacks were limited even in the northern city.

Newly built houses blacks could buy were virtually nonexistent.

“Hanford Village illustrates the limits and struggle that African Americans engaged in related to their rights as citizens in a segregated environment,” according to the application pending with the National Register, a division of the National Park Service.

The Ohio Historic Sites Preservation Advisory Board approved the nomination to the register last month. The Ohio Historical Society will send in the nomination once the government shutdown ends. A decision is required in 45 days.