A Perfect Place to Grow up

When Dr. Henry and Isabelle Early Schmidt purchased 5702 Pleasant Run Parkway North Drive in 1937, they only had one child. Over the course of a decade they would add four more. Ann, Maureen, Carl, Pat, and Jill Schmidt had the perfect yard for a playground. In the winter, they could sled down the giant hill in their front yard. In the warmer seasons, they could explore the woods and nearby Pleasant Run. Family pets also had plenty of acreage in which to run. Photos taken in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s reveal some of the fun that children had while living on the property.

Ann Schmidt provided milk for Teddy on a warm summer day in 1939 at her home at 5702 Pleasant Run Parkway North Drive. (Photo courtesy of Ann Schmidt Brown and Doreen McGuire Crenshaw)

Dress Up: Ann Schmidt had fun in her "new" adult clothes in July of 1940 at her home at 5702 Pleasant Run Parkway North Drive. Behind her, you can see the barberry bush that used to be on the property for decades. (Photo courtesy of Ann Schmidt Brown and Doreen McGuire Crenshaw)

"General" Tobias T. Smith greeted Paul Schmidt and his daughter Barbara in 1937.  Paul was the brother of Henry Schmidt. Although General had plenty of acreage in which to roam, he preferred the entirety of the neighborhood frequently causing problems for the family who had to retrieve him.  (Photo courtesy of Ann Schmidt Brown and Doreen McGuire Crenshaw)

Ann Schmidt remained a dog lover for her entire life. In this photo, snapped in 1947, she posed with Rags on the family property at 5702 Pleasant Run Parkway North Drive. Rags loved to nip at people's feet. He was especially interested in their shoestrings. (Photo courtesy of Ann Schmidt Brown and Doreen McGuire Crenshaw)

Cute little Pat Schmidt posed in her bedroom in the attic at 5702 Pleasant Run Parkway North Drive in 1951. Ann Schmidt, her older sister, likely took this image. (Photo courtesy of Ann Schmidt Brown and Doreen McGuire Crenshaw)

Carl Schmidt went for a bike ride in 1950. In this photo, he posed along the Schmidt family driveway at 5702 Pleasant Run Parkway North Drive. Behind him, you can see the doghouse. (Photo courtesy of Ann Schmidt Brown and Doreen McGuire Crenshaw)

Carl Schmidt posed for this photo along the sidewalk at the Schmidt family home at 5702 Pleasant Run Parkway North Drive c1951. Behind him, you can see a family car. (Photo courtesy of Ann Schmidt Brown and Doreen McGuire Crenshaw)

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Editor's Note: The address of 5702 Pleasant Run Parkway North Drive changed to 5701 E. St. Clair Street in the mid-1960s. 

I wish to thank Ann Schmidt Brown and her daughter Doreen McGuire Crenshaw for their kindness in allowing me to scan photos from their scrapbooks.