Amberley Village’s website dubs it “a rural oasis in the city,” aptly describing the country ambience throughout its 5 square miles. Ten miles from downtown Cincinnati, Amberley traces its history back to the Miami Purchase (also known as the Symmes Purchase) approved by President George Washington in 1794. The area was originally settled by Edmund Buxton and his family. After his untimely death in 1806 at 38, the home he was constructing was finished by his widow Lydia and son Charles and named Edmund Hall, one of the first brick structures in the County. Other well-known landowners after Buxton included Herbert Greer French, Vice-President of Procter & Gamble, Justin Rollman, Cincinnati department store owner, and Roy G. Elliott, President of Gibson Greetings, Inc. who became the first Mayor. The topography lent itself primarily to agriculture, especially fruit & dairy farming.


Incorporated in 1940 as a Village in order to provide community protections such as fire and police departments, Amberley was named by Herbert French for an English country village he had frequently visited and seen as similar in character and charm. The French house and grounds was donated to Cincinnati in 1943. It is now the 275-acre French Park, Hamilton County’s second largest municipal park.


Amberley’s residents remain strongly committed to retaining the feel of country living. Houses are on large lots from an acre upward. There is a Council/Manager form of local government, and the seven-member Council is all elected by residents. Although nearly 100 acres is zoned for business, this is tucked into an area at the Village border to retain the rural atmosphere in the community. Four synagogues are located in the Village, and construction is underway for a large Jewish Community Center. Easy access to nearby communities provides great shopping, restaurants and health care facilities.

Contributed by: Comey & Shepherd

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