Originally 230 to 242 East 2nd Street - the address for the corner home was changed to 125 Garrard Street when the owner relocated the main entrance to the side sometime before the 1937 flood. Note this corner unit’s historical brass plaque and the window that used to be the front door for 242 East 2nd Street.
The renaissance revival townhome development was one of Amos Shinkle’s real estate ventures now commonly known as Shinkle Row. In 1880, this row of townhouses was constructed in the English pattern, popular in 19th century American city developments. Note the pedimented doorways and cornice window heads.
In 1866, one year prior to the dedication of the Roebling Suspension Bridge, Amos Shinkle along with Jonathan Barker, Wesley C. Hamilton, Mathew Hart, and Jonathan David Hearne, formed a land development partnership. The land was bounded to the east by the Licking River, west by Sanford Street, north by the Ohio River, and the south by Fifth Street. The land was to be subdivided for the “Park Place” development to consist of only “substantial first-class dwelling houses of brick and stone, of not less than two stories high.”
In the late 1960s, Shinkle Row along with all the other homes on this street were saved from demolition when an “urban renewal” plan was rejected. Again, in 1974, the townhomes were saved when the structure was purchased by multiple families. The Shinkle Row townhomes are now single family residences.
Sources:
Covington at 200: Points of View © 2015 Batter Row Productions, Produced and Directed by Steve Oldfield & Sean Thomas.
Gateway City: Covington, Kentucky 1815-2015 © 2015 Clerisy Press, Edited by Paul A. Tenkotte, PhD; James C. Claypool, PhD; & David E. Schroder.
Kenton County Public Library’s Local History and Genealogy Department.