Northwood News ♦ February 2004

Local History:  Belton Road’s Cherry Blossoms

By Jacquie Bokow

Of all the roads in our community, only one — the 400 block of Belton Road (between Edgewood and Ordway) — is lined with cherry blossoms.  I grew up on that block and my mother, Mif Cochran, lives there still.  A chance comment my mother made recently led to my discovery of how those colorful trees came to be there.

It seems that Vera Jones, the original owner of the house at 424 Belton Road, was behind the scheme.  The homes on that block of Belton Road were all built at the same time, during the summer of 1954.  My parents, my older sister Kathleen, and I moved into 413 that September when the house was completed, at the same time Vera, her husband Jack, and their eldest daughter, Jean, moved in across the street at 424.  The county had not yet planted trees along the block.

Jones discovered that they could choose the type of tree they wanted along the road.  She still remembers the conversation.

“I spoke with a Mr. Tolson in the county’s tree department,” said Jones, who now lives at Leisure World.  “I remember discussing the life expectancy of certain trees, among other things.”  The cherry blossoms caught her imagination, but all of the neighbors would have to pay for their own trees.  Jones canvassed her neighbors.

“Tommy Griffith [who then lived at 415 Belton Road] told me, ‘You can’t make this place look like Kenwood,’” but she persevered.  Most of the folks on the block decided to participate, including the Griffiths, but one cannot tell now from visiting the street, as several of the trees have died, including my mother’s.

And the price each of those neighbors paid to get their tree?  Six dollars.   ■