Blood, Trauma, and Biohazard Cleanup in Norwood, OH

Norwood is a city in Hamilton County that is completely surrounded by Cincinnati — an enclave that has repeatedly fought off annexation attempts by its much larger neighbor.

The area was first settled by non-Native settlers in 1794, and the early settlement that grew up around a general store and the Mother Goose tavern was known as Sharpsburg, after the store's owner.

Norwood became a city shortly after Cincinnati's first annexation attempt failed in 1902, and Cincinnati tried — and failed — to annex it again as late as 1987.

Norwood is known as the 'Gem of the Highlands,' a nickname dating to the 1890s, when it was celebrated as the garden spot of Hamilton County.

The prehistoric Norwood Mound, a burial and ceremonial earthwork built by the Adena culture, still stands in the city and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

From 1923 to 1987, the General Motors Norwood Assembly plant was the city's dominant employer, building cars including the Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird, and at its early-1970s peak it employed nearly 9,000 people.

The plant's first car, a Chevrolet Superior, rolled off the line on August 13, 1923, and its last vehicle — a Chevrolet Camaro — on August 26, 1987; the closing cost about 4,200 jobs and roughly 35 percent of the city's tax base.

Much of the former GM plant site has since been redeveloped into office and retail projects, including the Grande Central Station shopping center built where the old Norwood Park once stood.

Norwood is credited with coming to the aid of Cincinnati residents during the great Ohio River flood of 1937, when its high ground sheltered people fleeing the water.

Norwood's population was 19,043 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Hamilton County despite covering only about 3.1 square miles.