TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) - One of Toledo's oldest neighborhood celebrated its centennial year on Saturday with a big party.
One hundred years of architecture, one hundred years of history, one hundred years of a loving neighborhood.
That's what the residents of Westmoreland say about the meaning of the day.
Non-neighborhood attendees of the centennial celebration say they can feel that energy too.
You can tell as you drive through it, there's a spirit here, one of love and commonship if you want to say it," said Toledo resident Dave Moore.
Amy Natyshak has lived in one of the neighborhood's most notable homes for 22 years with her family.
When the home was built in 1919 it belonged to William Welles, one of the founders of Welles Bowen Realty.
"We really feel like we are stewards of the house. It is not our house to do what we would with. Our job is to treat it with honor and respect and pass it on to the folks after us."
That's why Natyshak say they've have kept most of the home the same, keeping things like the light fixtures, the door bell clock, the hard wood floors and the stair case.
The heraldic shield on the house is the iconic symbol of the neighborhood which most of the homes have either on the outside of their homes or on the inside somewhere.
When Welles put it on his home, the very first home in the neighborhood, it created a trend.
People were able to tour all of these features of the house after the unveiling of the Ohio historical marker right in the middle of the neighborhood.
Although the celebration on Saturday highlighted Natyshak's home, she says it's the surrounding homes that makes hers so special.
"It's where, as I've said, we've raised our four kids. It's where I'd love our grandkids to someday come back and spend time. This is absolutely home to us and the neighborhood is family," said Amy.
The historic marker on Mt. Vernon Ave. will forever remind visitors and residents of the neighborhood of the historic nature of the homes in Westmoreland.
