523 Oak St
This was my first apartment in Cincinnati. A one bedroom. Super old building wedged between the Civic Garden Center and Hauck Botanic Garden. Not quite Corryville or Clifton. Technically Avondale.
This is where I lived when I first adopted my cats (then kittens!) Spaghetti and Meatball <333
Almost all of the windows were broken. It had drop ceilings and the tiles would pop open with any strong gust of wind. I was convinced there were squirrels or mice running around up there.
And where I lived when I went to the ER after coughing up blood a few times a week for several months.
I do not know this for sure, but I think it may have been caused by mold in the apartment. There was an actively growing crack in my bedroom wall about 5 ft long that couldn't be exposing me to anything good.
5 years later in 2025, I accidentally sent a package here. Found this stuff right in the front lobby. Seems like its same old same old there.
Even though the building is poorly maintained, it's still beautiful to look at from the outside. And has some interesting details.
Like this inscription and insignia above the lobby entrance.
This Sanborn map from 1904 reveals the inscription more clearly as "Davies Apts"
Insurance maps of Cincinnati, Ohio. V.04 - InsuranceMapsofCincinnatiOhio_91277199efS1981904v04 31 - Maps & Atlases
Nearly 100 years ago, the building was so clean it made the papers.
