Monkeys' Nest

[crescent]

There has been "Monkey Nest",reunions in the past but I have not been aware any in resent years. I would love to go
to one and reflect on days gone by.   

[jay]

I'm not sure if the Monkey's Nest reunion still takes place.

[crescent]

Greetings to all!  I am new to the fray and as I can see the Monkey Nest, gets no love. Yes! I lived there and was there to the very end before the freeway came through. People on the outside of it talk about it as if its a legend or something rather than a place but maybe it is a legend.   

[Towntalk]

No. Smokey Hollow is the area east of Wick Avenue. Monkey's Nest is in the Riverbend Area south of Rayen Avenue.

[solomia]

Also, If I stand correct, that was also called smokey hollow?  When I was a teenager, I volunteered to help the YWCA daycamp out , and we would walk to a park down there so the kids could play.

[AllanY2525]

Here is a color map of what's left of the Monkey's Nest today:

(Clipped from DeLorme's Street Atlas 8.0)

[AllanY2525]

Here is a map of the Monkey's Nest area of  the North Side in 1928.
I pieced it together from Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps from the OPLIN
site (Ohio Public Libraries online):

[Towntalk]

Can anyone provide us with the names of some of the streets in the area that made up "Monkey's Nest"? If we had that information, we could piece together more information about this area using City Directories.

[Towntalk]

Tradition has it that the name Monkey's Nest came from a saloon in that area that had a live monkey on display.

I too would like to see pictures of the area. I looked through my library and wasn't able to find any, but I suspect that there are some at the Arms Museum library, and hopefully someone will take the time to research this for us.

So many of these long forgotten areas of our city have so many stories to tell.

[jay]

Monkeys' Nest is the area of Youngstown that is called Riverbend today.  Urban renewal removed most of the homes and streets of this old neighborhood.  It is the geographic bulge of the north side formed by the Mahoning River with West Federal Street to the north.  Decades ago it was the place where many immigrants first settled when they arrived in Youngstown.
A Monkeys' Nest reunion is held every year.

I would love to see photographs of Monkeys' Nest when it was a thriving area.

[Leah]

What was the monkey's nest?  This is the first I've heard of it.

[jay]

Someone on the radio this morning mentioned the monkeys' nest area of Youngstown.  Did anyone on this board ever live there?