THE Heslop’s
Ray W. Heslop (1897-1953) was born in Marietta, Ohio and the son of Thomas A. and Lillie Abict Heslop. He married Kathryn Torbert in 1915 and came to the Akron area in 1916.
He immediately became involved in real estate and home construction. The Heslop Building & Realty Company is responsible for many of the residential developments in the Summit County area, including homes in Cuyahoga Falls, Goodyear Heights, Opportunity and Avondale Parks, and The Colony apartment complex.
Ray Heslop is credited for starting the first major post-war housing project in the area. Knowing that GIs would soon be coming home, Heslop acquired a large parcel of land on the west side of State Road. Said to be the largest housing development in the state of Ohio at the time, 549 homes and apartments were on the drawing board. Valued at $5,000,000, Heslop’s development provided an opportunity for young married couples to own a home. ON 23rd and 24th Streets, each house had two bedrooms on the first floor, a finished second floor bedroom, and a basement. On streets from 25th Street to Valley Vista Park, the second floor was left unfinished.
In 1949, Heslop began building another 293 houses on the east side of Cuyahoga Falls. Homes were modestly priced and young families flocked to these neighborhoods where tricycles lined the sidewalks. A three bedroom house was only $10,250 in 1949. The houses were new, the price was right, and Cuyahoga Falls was a great place to live.
Bio used from Cuyahoga Falls Then & Now, Carolyn Vogenitz, pg 39.
I have just finished a conversation with my mother who is now 92. Our family of four moved into one of the brand-new Heslop houses around 1950…70 years ago! I remember the house well, even though I was only 2 when we moved in. My younger sister was a baby. When our family reached six, some five years later, we had to move to a bigger house in Akron. It was always my mother’s favorite house and favorite neighborhood. With all the men coming back from the war, housing was virtually non-existent! One cannot fathom how difficult this must have been! Everything had been put toward the war effort. Extended families became more extended as young families could not find a place to rent or own.
She said that the lack of skilled construction workers was another factor which made construction of new homes difficult. Although the men (and women) who won the war were back, they weren’t trained in what was needed post-war. So not only was Heslop providing badly needed housing, his construction projects were on-the-job training programs. Despite this, my mother states that the quality of the construction was the best she ever had and Heslop backed everything up, whether construction or appliances. Getting a Heslop house was a god-send!
She thought the design of the houses was also the best she ever lived in and that is saying something because she later lived in a custom-built, architect-designed home in Akron! The Heslop kitchen faced the backyard, which worked well to watch the children playing in the backyard. There were no fences and the combined backyards became a kids’ football or baseball field. New homeowners were the same age and had children the same age and there was always a helping hand and a watchful eye from every neighbor. No one locked their doors! It was very safe. I remember the day my father reluctantly installed a front-door lock. Why? Because old army buddies passing through would drop by to visit, sometimes after everyone had gone to bed and we would wake up with some guy sacked out on the couch! I guess that was Dad’s way of insisting they call first! Backyard dinners with neighbors happened frequently in pleasant weather. The moms stayed home with the ever-increasing families, the dads worked every day. Kids were never without playmates.
Years later, in gradeschool or junior high, I painted (india-ink and watercolor) an aerial view of my block in Cuyahoga Falls. It was a drone’s eye view. It won 1st place in a scholastic art competition.
I loved your post. I too grew up in an Heslop house from 1969 to 1979. Good years an good times.
We lived across the street from the Whitmer’s. The first two years I worked, I still remember one winter there was blizzard and I made my way to bus so I could go to work. In 1952 our daughter was born so I became a stay at home mom. We were there till 1956 when we moved to Akron. I now live in Florida but am still in touch with the Whitmer’s. Thanks Boots for finding this.