Covington neighborhood added to National Register of Historic Places

Ritte’s East, which makes up 35 blocks of Latonia, recently was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The mostly residential area is adjacent to Ritte’s Corner Historic District, which is the more commercial center of Latonia.
 
Most of the houses are pre-1949, and include American Four Square, Bungalow, Colonial, Italianate, Prairie, Queen Anne and Tudor Revival styles. The variety of architectural styles lies in the history of Ritte’s East.
 
Many of the families who moved to the area were wealthy, including the Rittes, for whom the neighborhood was named. Their main economy was the railroad and racetrack, and some of the larger Victorian and American Foursquare homes belonged to them. But there was also a need for housing to accommodate jockeys and other racetrack employees, and many bungalows were built with Victorian or Tudor elements.
 
“The historic designation for Ritte’s East has been a long time coming,” says Clare Norwood with the Center for Great Neighborhoods.
 
When CGN, Covington and Kenton County began the planning process for the Latonia Small Area Study in 2009, they wanted to create at least one historic district in the neighborhood. It was a little less than two years ago that there was finally time and manpower to tackle the project, she says.
 
Now that Ritte’s East is considered a historic neighborhood, it should help to stabilize the housing market in Latonia. There is now a tax incentive for people who wish to rehabilitate houses that are listed within the historic district.
 
“There are lots of fixer-uppers in this area,” Norwood says. “The housing stock is pretty behind, and hasn’t been updated since the '60s or '70s. Existing homeowners and new buyers want to rehab their homes.”
 
Many people purchased homes in Ritte’s East when the housing market crashed, and wanted to flip them. But they didn’t have the money to invest in a total flip, and only ended up putting on a new coat of paint. The tax incentive will encourage flippers to do decent renovation jobs, and help increase the housing stock in the area.
 
“Residents here still have a lot of Latonia pride, and want to put Latonia on the national map,” Norwood says.