[2] It is claimed that the wife of Stephen Burton, a wealthy ironworks owner, began calling the area Avondale in 1853 after she saw a resemblance between the stream behind her house and the Avon River in England.

[4] After streetcar lines were laid less affluent residents settled in the neighborhood; from 1920 until after World War II, 60% of Avondale was Jewish.

[2] After Black families began relocating to Avondale, it split into two increasingly distinct and separate North and South neighborhoods.

The rest of Avondale became known for its rising crime rate, falling land values, and deteriorating housing.

By 1956, the city identified Avondale as blighted and tried to rehabilitate it, with the work from 1965 and 1975 benefitting institutions such as the University of Cincinnati and nearby hospitals.

On June 11 Peter Frakes, Laskey's cousin, picketed with a sign that read, "Cincinnati Guilty-Laskey Innocent!"

Incensed Black community leaders held a protest meeting on June 12 at the Abraham Lincoln statue on the corner of Reading and Rockdale Roads.

[8][9] According to an Avondale resident, rioting was over the constant police harassment, lack of jobs, and shopkeepers "jacking up prices and selling bad products.

[9] By June 15, when the riot had been stopped, one person was dead, 63 injured, 404 had been arrested, and the city had incurred $2 million in property damage.

[10][11] The day before the riots began Martin Luther King Jr. visited Zion Baptist Church in Avondale and preached a doctrine of non-violence.

[12] An officer of the Congress of Racial Equality blamed white people for King's death and urged the crowd to retaliate.

[13][14] Rioting started after a rumor spread in the crowd that Smith's wife was killed by a police officer.

[13] Several days after the riot started, two people were dead, hundreds were arrested, and the city had incurred $3 million in property damage.

[1] According to the U.S. Census American Community Survey, for the period 2016-2020 the estimated median annual income for a household in the neighborhood was $24,250.

[18] South Avondale Elementary[19] serves kindergarten through 6th grade, and is part of the Cincinnati Public Schools system.

Phoenix Community Learning center is a public charter school also located in Avondale, serving kindergarten through 10th grade.