Generations on Meigs

July 19, 2009

Generations on Meigs St.
contributed by Sheila Kinsky
former resident

My Father’s Father had their house built on the corner of Meigs (929) and Crawford Street about 1910. He grew up in the house and then later my Mother & Father lived there and raised their family. I was born in 1945, the 2nd of 6 children. We all have a lot of history in the neighborhood. My older brother started at 24 school, which is now the condos. (Later he transferred to Blessed Sacrament School and that’s where the rest of us went). There were a lot of children in the neighborhood and we were outside all the time – baseball in the streets; kool-aid stands on the corner; hide and seek behind the houses; swinging at 24 playground; plays and shows in neighbor’s garage; ice skating at the Lily Pond. It was a lot of fun to ride our bikes down Meigs St. or Mt. Vernon Ave., as they were brick streets at the time – and bumpy.

A lot of people in the neighborhood were related to the Ehmann family. I think there were about 14 children in the family that grew up on Caroline Street. As the children married, they moved into houses in Swillburgh and raised their families. Some of the last names were Klee, Kinsky, Enright, Honadle, Newcomb, Sloan. Most likely people in the neighborhood have some of these names on their house deeds. The Sloans who currently live on Meigs Street are part of that family.

The playground was a central spot for summer activity, not only the swing set, but a large sandbox, creative playgroups, and a baseball diamond. My father coached the “pee-wee” league for years there. The older kids played at the Lily Pond.

Across from the playground on Meigs Street was Minnie’s Store. Minnie had a huge collection of penny candy. We may have been sent to Minnie’s for a loaf of bread, but we all window-shopped the candy. Her glass front cabinet had about 3 shelves and was about 6 feet long. And whenever anyone had any extra money, we’d go to Minnie’s. “I want one of those – and – one of those – and …” It could be root beer barrels, red ju ju coins, caramel curls, paper dots.. It was especially great to get 2 for a penny.

We went to Highland Park for picnics and sledding and to listen to bands in the Pavilion. I always liked running up and down the stairs and playing chase. The Pavilion was on the highest flat spot across from the Reservoir. We would go to see the lilacs on Lilac Sunday (the 1st or 2nd Sunday in May). There was no Festival then.

Guess this is enough for now. Hope you have an interesting evening and learn a lot about the neighborhood

One Comment leave one →

Meghan Delehanty - Reddington permalink

September 19, 2011 3:36 pm

I am so excited to hear about life for Shelia Kinsky on Meigs St. And what a small world! Her daughter Julie was one of my best friends growing up in Fairport. Now I live on Meigs Street one block away from where she grew up. For our family – life sounds very much the same as we raise our family 50 years later! This is a very special neighborhood!

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