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high-end development. On the southwest end of town, the Deters family opened the Rowntowner Motor Inn in November 1970, and it served as the main Northern Kentucky convention center until a new convention center was built in Covington. Today, the Fort Mitchell facility is known as the Drawbridge Inn Convention Center Motel. At one time a microbrewery operated there. This is also the area where the Columbia Sussex Corporation had its offices for many years before its recent move to Crestview Hills. In 2000 Fort Mitchell had a population of 8,089.
Dixie Highway, Fort Mitchell. Carl Goetz poses in front of stores near the streetcar’s “end-of-the-line,’’ in the 1940s.
not long before city water (supplied by the Covington Waterworks via the Dixie Water Company) and natural gas were brought out along the highway, spurring further development. In the late 1920s, the area known as Fort Mitchell Heights was annexed by Fort Mitchell. Fort Mitchell Heights was the location of the Civil War–era Fort Mitchel, one of the many Northern Kentucky Civil War fortifications built to defend the region and Cincinnati from attack in 1862 by the Confederate general Henry Heth. He reportedly came as close as the southern end of modern Fort Mitchell before turning back. The fort was named for Union general Ormsby Mitchel, but a second l was added for the name of the city. One of the best-known homes in Fort Mitchell Heights was the home of Brady Black, longtime editor of the Cincinnati Enquirer; he lived along a rise to the west along the highway, near where the fortification stood. Another newspaperman, Ollie James, lived across the highway from Black, in what his readers knew as Bullfrog Holler. The city of South Fort Mitchell was incorporated in 1927 with a population of 296. The Dixie Tea Room, later the Greyhound Grill, had already been in operation for a few years at the time. It was at the end of the streetcar line in an area in South Fort Mitchell that locals still refer to as the End of the Line. (See Gourmet Strip.) Nearby were the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, which built a combination church and school on the Dixie Highway in 1920, and the Fort Mitchell Baptist Church, opened in 1924. In 1935 Remke Markets introduced Northern Kentucky to the first self-serve grocery store at Orphanage Rd. and the Dixie Highway. That same year saw the construction of an underpass beneath the Dixie Highway for pedestrians; traffic had grown enough that crossing the road had become dangerous, especially for the students of Blessed Sacrament School.
In 1938 a new city building was dedicated, and it has been expanded since. By 1940 the population of South Fort Mitchell was 2,400. The Fort Mitchell area is served by the high-quality Beechwood Independent School District (see Beechwood Public Schools), which disassociated itself from the county school system in 1912. The Beechwood School is almost 150 years old. The 1960s brought rapid change to the area. In 1962 I-75 was completed through the cities. Traffic increased greatly, and the Expressway Plaza Shopping Center was constructed across from Highland Cemetery, next to the interstate. By that time the streetcar suburb had become a highway suburb. A new Holiday Inn Motel was added to that same intersection of I-75 and the Dixie Highway. Office buildings were also erected near the interstate, and the slow but steady growth of the nearby Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport brought many new visitors and residents to the cities. In 1967 the city of South Fort Mitchell merged with the adjacent city of Fort Mitchell, and the name Fort Mitchell was retained. The police departments, fire departments, administration, and city ser vices of the two cities were combined. At the time, old Fort Mitchell had a population of 500, while South Fort Mitchell had 5,500. Fort Mitchell is rich in history. It is home to three cemeteries, where many famous Northern Kentuckians are buried: St. John Cemetery (1867), Highland Cemetery (1869), and St. Mary Cemetery. Five historic districts in the city have been placed on the National Register of Historic Places: the Old Fort Mitchell Historic District, the Fort Mitchell Heights Historic District, the Beechwood Historic District, the Highland Cemetery Historic District, and the Kruempelmann Farm Historic District. The 26-acre Kruempelmann property was a working farm for some 170 years before it recently became the site of a 58-home
“Board Decides on Underpass,” KP, October 10, 1935, 1. “Data on Three Kenton County Communities Prepared by Mrs. Udry,” KP, October 25, 1940, 17. “Happy at Home,” KP, July 11, 1983, 1K. Keeme, Steve. “Office Building Going Up on Columnist’s Beloved ‘Bullfrog Holler,’ ” CE, January 16, 1982, D1. Kleber, John E., ed. The Kentucky Encyclopedia. Lexington: Univ. Press of Kentucky, 1992. Reis, Jim. “Beechwood Memory Lane,” KP, July 15, 1985, 4K. ———. “Ft. Mitchell Merger Memories,” KP, January 13, 1992, 4K. ———. “Ft. Mitchell: Town of Tombs Becomes a City,” KP, April 1, 1985, 4K. U.S. Census Bureau. “American Fact Finder. Data Set. Census 2000 Summary File 1 (SF1) 100-Percent Data. Custom Table.” www.census.gov (accessed May 8, 2007).
FORT MITCHELL BAPTIST CHURCH. The Fort Mitchell Baptist Church was formed in the early 1920s after the North Bend Baptist Association (now the Northern Kentucky Baptist Association) of the Kentucky Baptist Convention authorized establishment of a church. A lot costing $5,000 was purchased at the corner of the Dixie Highway and Silver Ave., and a “tabernacle,” as it was called, was built. The building was dedicated on Sunday, May 25, 1924. This tabernacle and its congregation were considered a mission until October 9, 1924, when the Fort Mitchell Baptist Church was organized. The pastors from that time to the present, along with highlights of the church’s growth, are as follows. Dr. Andrew Smith, 1924–1926; membership 34 in 1924, 78 in 1926. The first baptism was April 12, 1925; the title for the church property was received from the North Bend Association. G. B. Bush, 1926–1947; membership 266. A new sanctuary and a parsonage were built; the church became debt-free in 1946. Darrel C. Richardson, 1947–1954; membership 469. A building committee was formed to plan expansion of the auditorium and the basement. Dr. Samuel Southard, August 1954–July 1955; membership 503; plans drawn for a future educational building. Dr. Clarence R. Lassetter, 1955–1964; membership 660. An education building was constructed, two properties (one on Silver Ave. and the other on the Dixie Highway) were purchased for future