Intrinsic rotation generation was observed and investigated in NSTX ohmic plasmas, by utilizing passive views of charge exchange recombination diagnostics. Focus was placed on ohmic L–H transitions to minimize the effects by other momentum exchange and sources such as the NTV torque by intrinsic error fields. Results indicated that intrinsic rotation generation in the edge is well correlated with ion temperature gradient change, compared with much weaker correlations with electron temperature gradient or density gradient change. This is consistent with a corresponding theory of residual stress, and the measured torque could be directly compared with the theoretical prediction using χi as a free parameter. However, an uncertainty on the order of diamagnetic rotation exists in many places across measurement and theory, as will be discussed in detail in this paper.