Scenes Along Ridgeview Drive in the 1920s

Herbert Hoover was President of the United States when the Leonard family snapped the top two historic images of beautiful little Glenna Leonard in 1928.  Rollen Glen and Georgia Leonard moved into a bungalow at 339 North Ridgeview Drive in the mid-1920s and remained into the mid-1940s.  In the top image, Glenna posed in the front yard of the family home in the summer of 1928.  Behind her you can see the two-story home at 332 North Ridgeview Drive and the side of the smaller bungalow at 328 North Ridgeview Drive. Forty-four-year -old Cecil Earle and thirty-seven-year-old Elizabeth Lee Smith lived in the larger home with their children Harmon and Virginia, and with fifty-eight-year-old Lilly Lee, the mother of Mrs. Smith.  The Smiths dwelled along Lowell Avenue before moving into their spacious new home in the 1920s.  Mr. Smith was a manager of a local publishing company.  Next door, at 328 North Ridgeview Drive lived Charles N. and Emily W. Smith. Both in their late twenties, Mr. Smith worked as a supervisor for a local telephone company while Mrs. Smith served as a substitute teacher for local high schools.  The contemporary image of the same view today reveals that the larger home has been altered over the years with the removal of the roof overhang along with the knee braces. You will also note that the front porch has been enclosed  that the dining room bay has been removed on the north side of the house.  The smaller bungalow at 328 North Ridgeview has been beautifully restored to its original appearance.

Glenna Leonard in her front yard in 1928.  Behind her, you can see 332 and 328 N. Ridgeview Drive.

332 and 328 North Ridgeview Drive in 2013.

In the second historic image, taken in the winter of 1928, Glenna Leonard posed in front of her home at 339 North Ridgeview Drive.  Behind her, you can see the charming bungalows at 329 and 323 North Ridgeview Drive.  Charles F. and Clara Woodstock rented the bungalow at 329 North Ridgeview for $50 a month.  Mr. Woodstock was a foreman at a local tire company.  The couple had two adult children still living at home at the time this photo was taken.  Their son Norman worked as an operator at an oil business while their daughter Dorothy cut, bobbed, coifed, and washed hair in a nearby beauty salon.  Next door, at 327 North Ridgeivew Drive, Edward A. and Edna M. Kelly lived along with Frederick Guy, a nephew to Mr. Kelly.  Mr. Kelly served as a manager for a furniture company and he employed his fifteen-year old nephew as well.  The contemporary photo, taken in 2013, reveals that the little has changed with these bungalows in the eighty-five years since the photo was first snapped.

Glenna Leonard stands in front of her home in 1928. Behind her you can see 339, 329, and 323 North Ridgeview Drive.

329 and 323 North Ridgeview Drive in 2013

Rollen G. and Georgia Leonard dwelled at 339 North Ridgeview Drive.  These photos show the couple before they were married and before they moved into the Irvington Terrace neighborhood.  Their lovely home still stands although significantly altered.  (see previous post)

Rollen Glen Leonard

Georgia Leonard

The Leonard family home at 339 North Ridgeview Drive in 1933

Many thanks to Jim Brandenburg for these wonderful historic images.