Trauma Cleanup Referrals for College Hill and Mount Airy

A former college town and a forested ridge

College Hill was first called Pleasant Hill. It took its name from schools founded there, including Farmers' College in 1846 and the Ohio Female College, which ran from 1852 to 1873. The village incorporated in 1866 and was annexed in stages in 1911, 1915 and 1923.

Older houses near the historic core, including Victorian and early 1900s homes, sit beside postwar ranches and brick capes on curving streets. Laurel Court, College Hill Town Hall and the old post office are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Mount Airy, a village from 1865 until Cincinnati annexed it in 1911, is mostly brick and frame single-family homes plus several larger apartment complexes. Its 4,388 housing units in 2020 include a sizable share of rentals.

District 3 and the coroner's role

Both neighborhoods were in District 5 until it closed at the end of 2023; they now report to Cincinnati Police District 3, the West Side district.

Coroner's investigators from Hamilton County step in when a death on these hilltop streets needs review; when their work is done, the person goes to whichever funeral home the family picked. The office, moved in 2021 from its Eden Avenue site to Blue Ash, also returns belongings. Once that is done, the executor, the next of kin or the landlord arranges any cleanup.

Where 45224 starts and stops

ZIP 45224 covers nearly all of College Hill, including the Hamilton Avenue business district, along with the northeastern part of Mount Airy and small edges of Winton Hills and Winton Place. It also reaches north into Finneytown and North College Hill outside the city limits.

Much of Mount Airy, including streets near the forest's western side, uses ZIP 45239 or 45211 instead. Those ZIPs are covered on other pages of this site.

Ridges, ravines and Hamilton Avenue

Hamilton Avenue is the spine of College Hill, running north from Northside through the business district. I-74 passes to the south and I-75 lies to the east across the Mill Creek valley.

Mount Airy's streets wind around ravines and the forest, and the 1920s water tower, with 13 towers on two levels, is a handy landmark when giving directions. Some homes have long driveways or steep yards, so mention any access issues when you call.

Handling a College Hill or Mount Airy estate

Many houses in 45224 are paid off and owned by an older parent, so the estate, not a landlord, usually makes the decisions. The executor named in the will has authority to hire a cleanup company; if there is no will, the Hamilton County Probate Court can appoint someone.

For a paid-off house on a College Hill side street, call the homeowner's insurer early. Policies often respond to sudden events such as an unattended death, but the result turns on the exact wording, so get the adjuster's name and a claim number before work begins in the house.

After someone dies by suicide in a College Hill or Mount Airy home, grief often lands hardest on relatives in the weeks after. If this loss leaves you struggling, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline answers by phone or text at 988, day or night. Handing the cleanup to an outside company also means no family member has to do it.

Big neighborhoods with many older residents

College Hill had 16,039 residents in 2020 and Mount Airy had 9,210. Both have long-time homeowners who have stayed for decades, and their children may now live in Colerain Township, Columbus or another state.

When a parent dies alone in one of these homes, the family often has to coordinate from a distance. Mount Airy Forest, the city's largest park at 1,471 acres, borders many streets, so homes can be quiet and somewhat isolated, which sometimes means a death goes unnoticed for several days.