Cincinnati Bell | altafiber

We are grateful to all LINK’s Partners - those organizations in the community who believe strongly in what we are doing, and have thrown their full support behind us. These NKY institutions are helping bring a voice back to our community.

CHARTER PARTNERS

LAW

ZIEGLER & SCHNEIDER, P.S.C.

zslaw.com / (859) 426-1300

SHUTTLE | TRANSPORTATION | CHARTER

ADVERTISING & PARTNER INDEX

02.....................................................................................................Cincinnati Bell | altafiber 05.................................................................................................... Tailored Home Solutions 06...................................................................................................................Interact for Health 07.......................................................................................................................... Fischer Homes 09..............................................................................................................................Drees Homes 10 ...........................................................................................AnyWeather Heating and Air 10 ...........................................................................................AnyWeather Roofing Experts 11................................Paid for by Committee to Keep Justice Michelle M. Keller, Terry R. Riesenberg, Treasurer 12........................... Paid for by Friends of Abby Voelker for Family Court Judge 13..............................................................................................................................BB Riverboats 14........................................Paid for by James A. Daley for Campbell County Jailer 15............................................................Paid for by Campaign Fund for Paul Kloeker 16........................................................................................................ St. Vincent de Paul NKY 16..............................................................Paid for by Painter for Commissioner 2022 17..................................................................................................................Gravity Diagnostics 17.........................................................................................................................A.A. Seales, M.D. 17....................................................................................................................................CTI Clinical 17.....LINK nky’s Podcast Channel: The Kentucky Side with Michael Monks 18..............................................................................................................Piper’s Ice Cream Bar 18........................................................................................................... Bridge to Better Living 19........................................................................................................St. Elizabeth Healthcare 20.......Paid for by Committee to Elect Chris Robinson for Kentucky Senate 21..........................................................................................................................Spence Roofing 21............................................................................................. NKY Chamber of Commerce 22................................................Donate to the NKY Community Journalism Fund 22..............................................................Birkley Services: Heating, Cooling, Electric 22......................................................... Paid for by Campaign funds for C. Ed Massey 23.....................................................................................................Thomas More University 24............................................................Frank, Wilhelmy, Hearn Wealth Consulting Group of Wells Fargo Advisors 25 ...................................................... Floral Hills Memorial Gardens & Mausoleums 26................................................................ Gateway Community & Technical College 27..................................................... TANK: Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky 28............................................Paid for by Brenda Bonecutter Campaign for Judge 28.............................................................................Baker Hunt Art and Cultural Center 29...............................................................................................Horizon Community Funds 29..............Covington Farmer’s Market, Powered by Renaissance Covington 29..................................................................................................................... Victory Mortgage 30..........................The Jollies: Powered by Jolly Plumbing, Drains, Heating, Air 32................................................Schneller Knochelmann: Plumbing, Heating, Air PRESIDENT & CEO Lacy Starling CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Mark Collier CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER Michael Monks MANAGING EDITOR Meghan Goth

LINK REPORTERS

Kaitlin Gebby, Kenton Hornbeck, Haley Parnell GOVERNMENT & POLITICS REPORTER Mark Payne

CONTRIBUTORS

Brian Frey, Jason Finnell, Robin Gee, G. Michael Graham, Maria Hehman, Melissa Reinert, Patricia A. Scheyer, Abigail Shoyat, Dan Weber, Eric Willoughby MANAGER, STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS Nicole Trimpe DESIGN Erin Sendelbach

CONTACT INFORMATION

LINK Media, LLC 621 Madison Avenue | Covington, Kentucky 41011 859-261-2729 | www.LINKnky.com

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER

The Daily LINK here, just scan with your camera app

Facebook @LINKnKentucky Twitter @LINKnky Instagram @LINK_nky HAVE A TIP? News@LINKnky.com WANT TO ADVERTISE? Marketing@LINKnky.com

The LINK Reader is published bi-monthly by LINK Media, LLC. It is mailed free to every resident in NKY, because we want everyone to receive this news, regardless of their access to technology or ability to pay. The NKY Community Journalism Fund, a component fund of Horizon Community Funds of Northern Kentucky, collaborates with community supporters like you to protect and expand public interest journalism that has a direct impact on our community. We aim to increase our region’s ability to engage the public, call for accountability, and explore solutions to make a difference for the people of Northern Kentucky. Join us in supporting this critical work by scanning the QR code below and donating to the Horizon Community Funds of Northern Kentucky.

No part of this publication may be used without permission of the publisher. Every effort is made to avoid errors, misspellings, and omissions. If, however, an error comes to your attention, please let us know and accept our sincere apologies in advance.

05 09 12 14 16 20 23 25 28

Silver Grove: A community that knows how to rebuild KENTON HORNBECK

Crestview: A tiny, quiet city in the shadow of a post-war housing boom HALEY PARNELL

Woodlawn: Where residents bloom where they’re planted MEGHAN GOTH

Melbourne: ‘A little country town’ where everybody knows everybody KENTON HORNBECK

Bromley: A quiet town reinvesting in itself MEGHAN GOTH

Why doesn’t Boone County have tiny towns? KAITLIN GEBBY

It’s finally getting warm, so we just had to find out: What are the best flavors at these NKY ice cream shops? MARIA HEHMAN

Basketball in Kentucky, NKY: A tale of two completely different places DAN WEBER

You may not be voting for governor, but here’s why this election year matters MARK PAYNE

We had so many great stories, we couldn’t fit them all in. To read stories about Kentonvale, Ryland Heights and Fairview, scan here with your camera app.

Yes, NKY has a lot of tiny towns – but not as many as it used to

BY MICHAEL A. MONKS, CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER

In the 2000 U.S. Census, the City of Visalia, Kentucky, had a population of 111 souls. But not a one of them served on the city council.

In fact, there had not been an active city government since the early 1990s, according to the Encyclopedia of Northern Kentucky.

In 2003, when the Kenton Co. board of education shuttered Visalia Elementary School, an effort that first started in the 1970s began anew: Residents wanted to dissolve the town.

In 2006, Kenton County Circuit Judge Gregory Bartlett did just that.

Founded in 1818 by Nathaniel Vise, who had been authorized by Campbell County (Kenton County wasn’t formed until 1840) to establish a community on the western side of the Licking River, its central location allowed it to serve as a county seat in 1827.

With one swift judgment, Visalia was no more, just shy of its 200th birthday.

In this issue of the LINK nky Reader, we visit the remaining Northern Kentucky cities that have populations of around a thousand people or fewer.

Across the three-county area, there are 36 incorporated cities. Boone County has only three, a situation that hasn’t changed since Florence (1830), Union (1838) and Walton (1840) made their statuses official.

The other nearly three dozen cities are in Kenton and Campbell counties.

But there used to be more.

There is a history of mergers, consolidations and dissolutions in this region.

Visalia Market. Photo by Pam Jones.

Covington, which was the focus of anti-annexation efforts in the middle of the 20th century, has a long history of growth through once neighboring communities. Central Covington (the area made up of the Peaselburg neighborhood today) was incorporated in 1880 and annexed in 1906. Latonia, which incorporated as South Covington in 1894, was annexed in 1909.

Rosedale became part of the City of Covington in 1916, and West Covington, incorporated in 1858, joined the bigger city in 1916, too.

Kenton Hills had a short life as an independent city. The community around Devou Park was incorporated in 1962 but by 1965 joined Covington.

Edgewood was founded in 1948 and grew by the merger of Summit Hills Heights and St. Pius Heights in 1968. Fort Mitchell saw South Fort Mitchell join its city in 1967, 40 years after the smaller municipality was incorporated. Crescent Park was incorporated in 1950 and annexed by Ft. Mitchell in 1999.

In fact, the City of Dayton is the result of one of Northern Kentucky’s earliest examples: Brooklyn (1848) and Jamestown (1849) decided to become one city, Dayton, in 1867. Other communities in Campbell County that are no longer: Cote Brilliante and Clifton were both incorporated in 1888 and annexed by Newport in 1924 and 1935, respectively. Ingalls Park was also made part of Newport in 1936.

And while some existing cities in Campbell have different names than when they originally started out (Wilder was known as John’s Hill and California was 12 Mile), that’s pretty much it on the consolidation front.

There has been much more activity in Kenton County over the centuries. Fort Wright is another example of a city that grew through mergers and annexations. South Hills (1960), Lookout Heights (1967) and Lakeview (1977) are all now part of the larger city.

What’s to blame or credit for which cities survive and which don’t? Fate, luck, fortune, geography?

One certainly can’t blame Nathaniel Vise for the fate of his namesake Visalia.

In 1852, his family founded another city out west, Visalia, California. In 2020, the U.S. Census reported its population at more than 141,000.

Editor’s note: LINK nky thanks Kenton County Public Library Executive Director Dave Schroeder for his research on tiny towns of the past.