Between Settle Road and Plainville Road, Murray Avenue is divided into two parallel streets — the northern strip in Madison Place, the southern strip in Mariemont.

Historically, these streets ran alongside the trolley line that ran from Cincinnati to Milford. At their peak, Cincinnati’s railway companies offered commuters dozens of streetcar routes with nearly 250 miles of track. Fixed rail travel in this region gave way to the automobile. The tracks were removed. The local electric utility acquired an easement of electrical transmission lines, and this ribbon of land between the two “Murrays” became a grassy median with some trees and shrubs added over the years. Several years ago, this strip was cleared to make way for updated utility infrastructure designed to provide reliable service for many decades. Wooden poles were replaced with much higher steel poles, raising the height of the transmission line.