Fosterville
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Fosterville is a neighborhood in Youngstown, Ohio located on the south-southwestern side of the city. Recent ambitious city revitalization plans, titled 'Youngstown 2010', have subdivided the original Fosterville neighborhood into two newer distinct neighborhood sections: Idora and Warren.
[edit] History
Once a 300-acre farm owned by the L. T. Foster family (located at the present-day intersection of Indianola avenue and Canfield road), this area once had one of the most productive coal mines in the country. Many of the other south-side Youngstown neighborhoods had coal mines, but the coal from the Fosterville mine was prized enough to win a gold medal at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The last mine was closed in 1915 when all the coal was extracted.
The neighborhood converted from farmland to residential housing in the early 1900s. This occurred due to the introduction of the new South Side trolley-car line in 1899 (owned by the Youngstown Park and Falls Street Railway Company). The line ran out of downtown Youngstown to the South Side's Fosterville neighborhood near Mill Creek Park and Landerman's Mill. People were encouraged to use the new trolley line when the railway company built an amusement park (opening 1899) at end of the trolley line.
The urban amusement park, Idora Park, was located in the north-western portion of the Fosterville neighborhood and encouraged the growth of residential housing. The Volney Road section of this neighborhood, bordering Idora Park, was developed by the wealthy. Housing developed closer to Glenwood Avenue was almost entirely upper-middle-class. Fosterville's Idora Park closed in 1984, yet had long outlived the trolley-line that stopped operations many years earlier. The urban renewal plans of Youngstown 2010 call for this former amusement park land to remain as vacant green-space and part of the city-wide green network.
Although Youngstown's economic downturn in the 1970s and suburban-flight directly impacted the Fosterville neighborhood, it was Idora Park's closing that was the death knell for many of the South Side businesses. The Fosterville neighborhood saw the closing of many long-lived businesses in the 1980s: Parker's Frozen Custard, JB's Lounge, the Crystal Lounge, Mr. Paul's Bakery and the Park Inn.
[edit] Summary of Coal Mines
Summary of productive mines in the Fosterville neighborhood:
- Foster No.1 Mine (1873-1884) operated by the Foster Coal Company; produced 400 tons/day and was the most productive of all South Side Youngstown mines; original entrance located just east of current home at 537 Hylda Street; shaft currently capped with 12-inch concrete with reinforced one-inch steel bars.
- Foster No.2 Mine (1885-1887) operated by the Foster Coal Company; produced a total of 40,000 tons; original entrance located at the present-day southwest corner of Glenwood Ave. and Parkway; shaft currently covered with concrete.
[edit] References
"A Citizen's Guide to Youngstown", published by LWVGY, Youngstown State University, 2005
Mahoning County Mines and Geology Data, Ann Harris, Youngstown State Univerity
