Cote Brilliante history
 

Cote Brilliante was a community developed by Samuel Bigstaff in 1888.  It was named for a St. Louis subdivision he once visited. It was so named because of the beauty of the scenery in the area. Bigstaff was the executor of James Taylor Jr.'s will and opened up the undeveloped area of Taylor's Mansion Hill.  This area along Grand Avenue and had been purchased by Bigstaff for the development and was originally planned as a commuter suburb where access to the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad was within walking distance. 

In 1895 George Wiedemann's widow Alice and son Charles, moved into their new Samuel Hannaford designed mansion at 1102 Park.  This was the most impressive structure in Cote Brilliante.  In 1951 the estate sold to the Diocese of Covington.

Cote Brilliante Elementary School, established at Carmel Park Avenue and Grand in 1896, was a two-story brick and was annexed into the Newport School System in 1900s.   The building was sold to the Catholic Church. In 1937 after the flood, the Newport School Board tried to close the school, but the residents succeeded in keeping its doors open until 1961 when it was replaced by the new Mildred Dean School located south on Grand.

St. Francis de Sale Catholic Church was dedicated October 13, 1912 by Bishop Maes.  It was a combination church and school which had an enrollment of 75 children that fall. A new school was built at Chesapeake and Grand Avenues in 1950 and opened under the charge of the Sisters of Divine Providence. It ceased as a parish in 1997.

Cote Brilliante was annexed into the city of Newport during the mid 1920s for the standard promise of city services.  Newport Shopping Center opened in 1956.  A new Newport Catholic High School opened in 1957.  In the 1980s I-471 completed taking out several streets.
 

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