Stories:

Story 1: Maude Ross built 210 Rugby after her divorce from Judge Simon Ross (may not be true, see 210 Rugby). She is listed at 610 Floral on both the 1942 and 1951/3 maps. She is listed as living at 601 Wooster in the 1959 and 1960 Terrace Park phone books (perhaps a renter) and after that at 210 Rugby. Was Judge Simon Ross called Sammy as in the Garden Club picture listing in ca. 1925?
Story 2: This home of Mr. & Mrs. (Lois) Clifford Weir was on the December 18, 1962 TP Garden Club House Tour, Noel dans le Parc. Advance tickets were $1 but $1.25 on the day and the homes were open from 1-4:30, maybe also in the evening as a tear off stub is missing from the ticket. The Community House on Elm Avenue was open for Decorations and probably Refreshments.
Story 3: Charles Rockel was Mayor of Terrace Park 1981-83.
Story 4: Pat Fehl says Guy Startsman (brother of Dan Sr. at 305 Rugby) lived here at one time???. He was Terrace Park School Board President for a long time.
Story 5: Dan Startsman thought a Ruxton lived here between Ross and Becker. Did he rent?
Story 6: The Mills believe this house originally looked similar to 303 Oxford (1 1/2 stories) with 4 rooms downstairs and pocket doors into the 2 rooms on the left side with a center hallway. One can still see in the cellar the foundation of the 2 fireplaces angled into the 2 left hand rooms similar to what is still in 303 Oxford. One can see a picture of this original house in the background of the first picture of 303 Rugby. The 1912 picture of 300 Rugby shows the home
Story 7: According to the Auditor's site this house was built in 1880.The 1896 date seems to make more sense and it's not know where the auditor got the 1880 date (see deeds).
Story 8: Joan Becker Bissell lived at 300 Rugby while she was growing up and attending the Terrace Park School (1944-1955). She remembers that, in the 40s and 50s, there was a stone wall at precisely the spot marked by the stone porch on the house later moved to 313 Oxford (house moved before Joan lived there). It was just at the top of a slight slope (as seen in the old photo) & had taken on a new form: four low stone walls with two openings, surrounding a square, concrete floor - at ground level, not elevated as in the porch photo. It was the perfect place to play house with the older Lloyd children, Phoebe and Bro. We must have swept that square of concrete a million times!
Story 9: From Joan Becker Bissell By 1942 there was no longer a fence around the flat part of the roof where there had been a widows walk as shown in the 1912 photograph. Sometimes Joans father let her climb the stepladder, push up and over onto the roof the very heavy unattached lid and step out onto the roof, somewhere not far from the chimney. My steps made a crinkly sound on the tin roof. It scares me, now, to think of having stood up there at the edge of the flat roof, without anything to hold onto! In the 1969 tornado the lid was sucked out and blown away, never to be found again. Joan used to go up to that third floor to read. It was my secret retreat, especially enjoyable when it was raining, because I liked the distinctive sound of the rain on the tin roof. My parents idea of decorating was to make sure everything was clean! My dad spent HOURS scraping & sanding the first floor woodwork & painting it white, so the soot from the coal-burning furnace could be washed down each spring. Ditto the basement. He smoothed with cement & whitewash the basement walls for the sake of cleanliness. The big, rounded river rocks that formed the foundation may have had more character, but the cement kept out any moisture! Cleanliness also dictated the choice of wallpaper. A light color was chosen so that, each spring, my mother could see the tine grains of soot & clean then off with a big ball of doughy wall paper cleaner, carefully rolling the ball over the entire surface (a huge job!) to absorb the dirt. As kids, we used to lover playing with big globs of the cleaner. This is what later became known as Play-Doh, invented in Cincinnati!
Story 10: 300 Rugby Avenue After finding out from another former 300 Rugby resident, Joan Becker Bissell, that the house would be on our September 21, 2008 House Tour My parents, Nelson and Harriet Cady, sold the house to Beckers in 1944. We rented 300 Rugby in 1942 from Maude Ross. She would not sell it til 1944. We loved the house, was great for my 3 sisters and me. I was 10 yrs. old, my sister Dianne, 9 yrs. We played dress up in the attic. There was a maids room up there with a sink in a closet. My Uncle became sick, had cancer and came there to live in the attic til he died at VA Hospital in Dayton. The 37 long living room had already been divided and the fireplace in the middle of the well between the pocket doors. We used the pocket doors all the time, 2 sets, one down by front door and other on the other side of fireplace. I can even remember using the brass openers to pull the doors shut. The Beckers must have closed them off. We used the north end for a living room and south end had piano and books. We had lots of books. My older sister Lou Ellen who was 18 or 19 then and is 84 now and lives in Boston, asked if the Victorian bathroom had been kept. It had the footed tub. Joan Bissell said it was still there!! My parents had bedroom with the bath and Dianne and I had the other front bedroom. My 2 older sisters had the other two. Lou Ellen the middle room and Harriet the back room. Those two rooms were connected by a door. WW II was in full swing and Lou Ellen and Harriet both quit Miami U. and went to work at Wright aeronautical, a huge war plant that made plane engines. They car-pooled with Mr. Sommer. He lived on corner of Yale and Marietta. His son, Billy, was Diannes boyfriend. Any way Mr. Sommer picked them up very early along with 2 other Terrace Park boys and drove to work. Lou Ellen said he never bought more than 25 cents of gas at a time and she always thought they would run out of gas. Lou Ellen was a messenger and wore a pretty blue uniform and walked about 10 miles a day delivering mail and blue prints, made $15.00 a week. Harriet worked in Blue Print office and had a year or 2 at Miami so made $35.00 a week. Lou Ellen sold War Bonds and stamps in her uniform too. She quit went back to Miami, but quit to join the Marines, became a sergeant stayed til WW II ended. Back to house there was no powder room downstairs, only a sink in hall, tucked in the wall of closets. There was an arbor leading to a big rose garden in front of garage. Seems to me during War we tried to pen some chickens there in front of garage. After all, Dan Startsman had his horse across the street. The bus from Fountain Square downtown stopped right at the corner of Rugby and Yale. Wonder if it still does. Was so easy to get downtown, hop on the bus and Fountain Square was so pretty. Sorry it is gone. I remember all the buses lined up there. We walked or rode bikes to school and we lived pretty far away. I belong to a Writers Group that is connected to the North Shore Genealogical group and I have written a story about Mrs. Susanna Foster, our History teacher and Principal during the War. Mrs. Foster is worth many stories, best teacher at Terrace Park. Think now Ill write a story on Terrace Park. I had so much fun there. Joan Bissel reminded me of the Mina Bird, Frankie, we used to go see, so many memories. I graduated in 1950, was in everything I could get in. Did all the plays and shows and sports. Was Captain of the Red Team in GAA. Still have all my Letters. Keep in touch with Marian Vogt Savage and Ginsel Barnett Haverstick and several of Newtown girls. Especially remember Halloween, we had 2 nights: the first was Damage Night and then Beggars Night. During Wartime no one threw eggs or food of any sort, was too scarce. But we sure soaped windows; we did Startsmans every year and tipped garbage cans. A family up on Miami always grilled hot dogs all night for everyone. Hugh and Dennis McKee, Jack and Steve Jordan and Irwin Barber kept our one policeman busy; they called themselves The Black Cats. Us girls followed them when possible to see what mischief they were into. But no one seemed to get arrested!! Ill enclose a picture of 300 Rugby from 1943. Our 2 bikes are out front. If you can tell theyre boys bikes. During War couldnt get any bikes so our Science teacher Mrs. Shakelford gave us her two sons bikes they had out grown. Never liked that they were boys, but was so glad to get a bike. The picture of my sister Dianne and Marian Vogt is taken in side yard out front of 300 Rugby. The picture of 3 of us is in front of Miami dorm in Oxford, my sisters dorm. This is same age we all lived at 300 Rugby.
Story 11: This home was on the September 21, 2008 Terrace Park Historical Society House Tour.
Story 12: 300 Rugby Avenue (information from 2008 House Tour) This is another home where its very difficult to determine when it was built. The Auditor says 1880 and, in this case, were using that date for now. 1896 is another possible building date. The present owners believe their house originally looked similar to 303 Oxford (1 stories) with 4 rooms downstairs and pocket doors into the two rooms on the left side with a center hallway. One can still see in the cellar the foundation of the two fireplaces angled into the two left hand rooms similar to what is still in 303 Oxford. One can see a picture of this original house in the background of a picture of 303 Rugby when it was being built. The 1912 picture of 300 Rugby shows the home expanded both up and our (2 stories). There are now two foundations in the cellar. Above that is a long living room on the left, dining room and kitchen on the right. We cant explain the 1914 date in the cement cellar floor since its obviously after the home was expanded. The Rockels moved what may have been the original back wall of the house forward on the right to form their kitchen and dining room. One interesting feature of the present house is that the presumably center front door is actually off center, probably caused when the house was expanded out to the right side. Looking at the deeds of 303 Oxford and 300 Rugby just makes for more confusion. There are many recognizable names and times when one might guess something might have been built or changed but theres nothing for sure. Sanborn Fire Insurance maps do not seem to exist for this property in the early days. What conclusions can you reach?
Story 13: 300 Rugby Avenue points of interest on 2008 House Tour) 1) First floor used to be 2 rooms on the left each with pocket doors and service from a triangular fireplace. On the right hand side of the entrance was a large parlor, with most likely a kitchen immediately behind it. 2) In the basement the triangle shaped fireplace foundation still stands. 3) In the basement at the back of the current house, A. F. Chapman 1912 and Albert Schmid are stamped into the concrete floor. 4) An addition was made in around 1910 expanding the house on the Yale side around 5 feet, extending the back of the house about 12 feet and making the 1 story home into a 3 story. In the basement there are 2 foundation walls on the Yale side, each with its own set of windows. 5) The 3rd floor was unfinished, except for a servants room and attached powder room, until the Mills remodel. 6) There was a widows walk on the flat roof, and access to this was made by a narrow iron ladder (on display on the 3rd floor). 7) Original large parlor on the right was turned into a dining room and small den in the 1970s. Current house took the den space and merged it into the kitchen. 8) Toilet in 1st floor powder room is original to the house. Trenton Pottery Works toilet, circa 1902-1910?? Current owner found a matching Trenton Pottery Works sink online for the room. 9) Claw foot tub from the same bathroom as original toilet was moved to the 3rd floor bathroom. 10) Master bedroom at one point consisted of two bedrooms (doorframe and room divider found during remodel) most likely to match the two rooms across the hall. 11) New windows installed to match original one, on 2nd and 3rd floors. 12) Coal chute still remains in the basement. 13) The cistern discovered under what is now the mudroom. 14) House has 2 septic exit lines each from the 2 major construction times (1880[?] and 1910) 15) The hipped foursquare roof is blue-green slate.
Story 14: Charles Chuck Stein Rockel was born 13 May 1930 and died 13 June 2008, aged 78 years, buried in St. Thomas Church Columbarium, Section 6, Niche 186.

Addition to Story 6 by Meghan Mills: When the architect came through 300 Rugby, she insisted on seeing 303 Oxford to compare the two.  She noted both had an extremely similar layout (at least orginally) on the first floor.  The very same uniquely oversized door trim corner pieces are found in each house.  Same door styles.  Pocket doors in the same places (at least before one of the owners at 300 Rugby mangled them), same living room layouts (at least when my fireplace was a triangle).  The ardchitect knew of the original location of the Pidcock's staircase - and suspected the same location for our house (most likely the evidence is hidden by the cedar paneling in the basement.