Brownlee Woods is a neighborhood in Youngstown, Ohio. The neighborhood is bordered by the City of Struthers, Ohio to the east, Interstate 680 to the west, Boardman Township, Ohio to the south, and Midlothian Blvd to the north.
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The Brownlee Woods neighborhood is an elegant, family-oriented neighborhood with a lot of history and a beautiful tree lined boulevard. Brownlee Woods was named after the Brownlee family who were prosperous agriculturalists, politicians, and businessmen.
The neighborhood is conveniently located near Paul C. Bunn Elementary School, and also contains a playground, the Brownlee Woods Library, and churches. Most of the homes are single family housing that are owned. Brownlee Woods is a prime location for walking to restaurants or grocery stores, and 10 minutes driving distance from major shopping centers and the mall. Mill Creek Park and Yellow Creek Park are also a short distance away.
Most of the residents are working-class. In the early days of establishment, many residents were employed by the steel mills of LTV Steel, Youngstown Sheet and Tube, and Republic Steel. Residents of the area were used to the train whistles echoing from Struthers, Ohio and Campbell, Ohio in the middle of the night up, until the late 1970's when most of the mills closed. Many of the residents of the neighborhood are older and are retired.
In the mid to late 1980's Brownlee Woods was one of the last neighborhoods to be free of the crime spree plaguing Youngstown. Since that time, housing values have dropped and the decline of the neighborhood is evident.
The homes of Brownlee Woods mark two distinct periods of time the late 1910’s through the 1920’s, and then post war 1950’s. The homes from Midlothian Blvd to Bancroft represent older mid size Colonial and Bungalow style of homes. The side streets from Bancroft on to Country Club Ave are newer post war Ranches and Cape Cod houses. The main boulevard, Sheridan, which runs through the middle of Brownlee Woods, is a rich mixture of architecture styles from large Colonial, Tudor, Victorian, and even Craftsman style homes.
The public elementary school for residents in Brownlee Woods is Paul C. Bunn Elementary School, located on Sequoya Drive in the southern portion of the neighborhood. This school operated from the early 1960's up until about 2007 when it was demolished to make way for a new school under the same name. The principal of the first school for most of it's early years was Sam Loree.
On Lynn Avenue is the Montessori School of the Mahoning Valley. The Montessori School of the Mahoning Valley, Inc. was founded in 1976. MSMV is a non-profit corporation that operates as a parent co-operative and is governed by a Board of Trustees, following the philosophy of and have adopted the methods of Dr. Maria Montessori.
Non-entertainment businesses along the Youngstown-Poland Road corridor include Holiday Bowl, Semach's Northside TV and Appliances, Ram Tuf Muffler, MVG Auto Supply, and PNC Bank. The Drum Shop is also located on the street.
The most notable bars in this district are La Villa Sports Bar and Grill, Tangiers (now closed), and Rips Cafe.