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322 Harvard Avenue

PhotosLegacy Version

General Information

No:   322  
Street:   Harvard  
House Name:     
Historic Plaque:   2008  
Owner Info:   Y  
Built:   1893  
Sec:   23  
Subdivision:   Sibley  
Lot:   105 & 106, pt 104  
Architect:     
Cont/build:     

Description:    2 1/2 story wood shingle farm house, slate gable roof.  Original house probably not altered at all, just added to.    
Owners:   2F  
Original Use:   Residential  
Current Use:   Residential  

CHANGES:
As Built:   N  
Added To:   Y  
Subtracted From:   N  
Replaced:   N  

Description Of Changes:   Added to and modified (?) in the 1940s.  

Stories:

Story 1: Alvin & Ruth Schmithorst at some time lived here according to Stan Miller (or was it just 323-1?). Ruth died July 24, 1964. She was the daughter of Mrs. W. H. Baxter, sister of Jack Baxter of 603 Home Street and Cyrus Baxter (404 Stanton).
Story 2: Myra Greeno Bass was the great aunt of Ann Gatch, sister of Ann's grandmother. Colonel Greeno, of Civil War fame, built a large home in the 2nd block up the hill on Garfield. There were 11 children. TPHS has a copy of an interesting article from the Cincinnati Enquirer, February 7, 1960: Cincinnati Woman First U. S. Scoutmaster. Myra went to Ohio Wesleyan where she met William Bass, a football star. When he died he left the house to his niece GG Eckman.

Story 3: It is thought that the house stayed within one family from when it was built until the Mills family bought it. Was it the Greeno or Gatch family who built it?  Not if it was built in 1893. It stayed all in one family from 1922 until the Mills family bought it in 1968.



Story 4: From an undated Newspaper article (probably 1951): William R. Bass, Who Founded Fraternity, Dies. Terrace Park Man Once Noted Pitcher. William R. (Billy) Bass, 77, died late Thursday at his home on Harvard Avenue, Terrace Park. His wife, Mrs. Myra Greeno Bass, died last May at the age of 81. The couple was childless. Bass was a graduate of the Ohio Wesleyan University. While attending that school he founded the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. In 1895-97, while attending the University of Cincinnati Law School, he coached the football team of that institution. From there he went to the University of Kentucky where he coached the football team for two years. During the half of the Kentucky-Florida game in the autumn of 1948 he was honored by the alumni and the undergrads of that school, The occasion was Old Timers' Day. His 1898 Kentucky team was unbeaten untied and unscored on. Bass's other athletic interest was baseball and he was considered one of the best pitchers ever produced in Cincinnati. His reputation as such was gained with the powerful Avondale Club of the Saturday Afternoon League about the turn of the century. On the roster of that club were such prominent players as Ernie Diehl, Clyde Johnson and Jack Tarbell. He pitched against the Reds and the Boston Braves and acquitted himself as well as he did on the amateur lots. The manager of the Avondale Club was the late Harry Crane. Bass received offers to join major league clubs but he declined. He never lost his interest in the two sports and was especially active in giving youthful pitchers his advice. Later he became special representative of the Union Central Life Insurance Co. and wrote polices for some of the wealthiest residents in Cincinnati. He was a member of the University Club - and was one of the most popular figures in his suburban community, taking an active part in its affairs. He died October 25, 1951. His wife died in May 1950.


Story 5: From another undated newspaper article (probably 1951): William R. Bass. Services for William R. Bass, 77, Cincinnati insurance man and widely-known athlete and coach, will be held Monday at 2:30 p. m. in the Milford Methodist Church. He died Thursday at his home, 322 Harvard Avenue, Terrace Park. Burial will be in Greenlawn Cemetery, Milford. In 1898 he coached the University of Kentucky football team to the school's only unbeaten, untied, unscored-on season. Bass's wife, Mrs. Myra Greeno Bass, died last May at the age of 81. He leaves a sister, Mrs. Edna Scott, 54 Mound Street, Milford and two brothers, George Bass, Yukon, Okla., and Harry Bass, Oklahoma City, Okla. A nephew, John Quincy Bass, is on the faculty of the Cincinnati College of Music. In that position he was at one time (at least in the 1960s) accompanist for the May Festival Chorus. The John Craver funeral home, Milford, is handling arrangements.


Story 6: Myra E. Bass was born 16 March 1870 and died 19 May 1951, aged 81 years. William R. Bass was born 12 August 1874 and died 25 October 1951, aged 77 years. Both are buried in Section 10 of Greenlawn Cemetery, Milford OH, Craver Funeral Home.

Tom A. Eckman was born 12 July 1948 and died 4 February 2022, aged 73 years.