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Cincinnati
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| MY EARLIEST MEMORIES Cincinnati was the city of my birth and early childhood during and immediately following World War II. It was here that my perception of the world began to take shape, and I still feel a sense of "going home" whenever I visit. Some of my fondest memories of Cincinnati are from that era, when the downtown skyline was dominated by the Carew Tower and the Central Trust Building, the city had three daily newspapers (the Enquirer, the Post and the Times-Star), and the majority of people got around town on the orange buses (both diesel and electric) and streetcars. Crosley Field was where baseball was played, and the Cincinnati Zoo was where opera was performed. And Cincinnati Union Terminal, that marvelous art-deco temple of transportation served by seven major railroads, was the way into and out of the city for most long-distance travelers. |
| A VISIT TO A BYGONE
CENTURY Most visitors to Cincinnati are impressed by its Old-World flavor. Because the city is divided into several semi-autonomous neighborhoods, each with its own character, focal point, and areas of interest, Cincinnati retains the charm and charisma of many large European cities which likewise comprise several smaller communities. It hosts numerous institutions of art, culture, and higher learning. The city boasts many municipal parks, ranging in size from less than a city block to the sprawling Mount Airy Forest. Even Cincinnati's downtown area has its focal point in Fountain Square. This open area in the urban "canyon" centers on the Tyler Davidson Fountain, presented to the city by the people of Rome, Italy, where the legendary farmer-emperor Cincinnatus benignly ruled centuries ago. Among Cincinnati's most popular urban green areas are Alms Park, Ault Park, Eden Park, Lytle Park, Spring Grove Cemetery, and, of course, the Cincinnati Zoo. |
| A BRIEF HISTORY Cincinnati is located in the southwestern corner of Ohio, nestled on the northern bank of the Ohio River between the mouths of two of its tributaries, the Great and Little Miami Rivers. Northward, the city sprawls across several hills, from Price Hill in the west to Mount Washington in the east. Across the Ohio River the cities of Covington and Newport extend Cincinnati's metropolitan area southward into the hills of central Kentucky. Cincinnati is Ohio's third largest city (after Cleveland and Columbus) with a current population of about 365,000. The first permanent European settlement in the Cincinnati area was Losantiville, established in 1788. Fort Washington was built nearby the following year, and the settlement was renamed Cincinnati in 1790. (Curiously, it was named for the Society of Cincinnati, a military officers' American Revolution fraternity, not for the Roman leader Cincinnatus.) Its strategic location at the Ohio River's mid-point between Pittsburgh and Cairo (where the Ohio empties into the Mississippi) played a major role in Cincinnati's development as a transportation center. Later the construction of the Miami Canal, and of several major railroads which would serve the area, further spurred the city's growth and importance in the region. During the 1850s, Cincinnati became a station on the "Underground Railroad," aiding runaway slaves from the American South on their trek north to freedom in Canada. Cincinnati is the birthplace of William Howard Taft (1857-1930), 27th president of the United States. In 1903 the city saw the completion of the 16-story Ingalls building, the world's first reinforced concrete "skyscraper," still standing at 4th and Vine. In 1914 the world's last carrier pigeon died at the Cincinnati Zoo; the bird's preserved remains are still on display there. In 1935 Cincinnati's Crosley Field hosted major-league baseball's first night-time game. Cincinnati's predominant ethnic groups, descended from the earliest European settlers and those who followed them, are German and Irish. Numerous other European, African, Asian, as well as Latin- and native-American groups, have rounded out the city's ethnic mix. The confluence of aristocratic, professional, merchant, industrial labor, and agricultural socio-economic classes has produced a wealth of cultural diversity. Cincinnati also represents a rich variety of spiritual persuasions as evidenced by churches, mosques, and temples of major organized faiths, as well as private practitioners of pagan beliefs and secular philosophies. |
| INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE Beginning in 1819, Cincinnati's growth was spurred by the meat packing industry, its stockyards eventually spreading over several city blocks on the west side, thereby earning the city the unflattering nickname "Porkopolis." Although meat processing has become a less dominant facet of Cincinnati's industry in recent years, its crucial importance in the city's development remains whimsically enshrined in the "flying pigs" monument erected in Eden Park. Cincinnati is home to Procter and Gamble, one of the world's foremost producers of soap and food products. Among other substantial contributors to Cincinnati's industrial landscape are manufacturers of paper, chemicals, steel, machinery (Cincinnati Milacron), aircraft (Aeronca, General Electric), automobiles (Crosley, Ford, Chevrolet), and musical instruments (Baldwin Piano & Organ). Until recently Cincinnati also featured several major beer breweries; though today there is but one of these left, Cincinnati currently features a number of excellent microbreweries and brewpubs. As for transportation, the Ohio River is easily navigable for barge traffic, as far as Wheeling and Pittsburgh to the east, Louisville and Cairo to the west, and (via the Mississippi River) Saint Louis, Memphis, New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico. Cincinnati is currently served by two major freight railroads, CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern, as well as by Amtrak's rail passenger service. Cincinnati International Airport, the area's primary commercial air terminus, is located across the river just outside Covington, Kentucky; Lunken and Blue Ash airports serve lighter civil air traffic needs. Cincinnati is situated at the junction of three Interstate highways — I-75, I-71, and I-74 — and is ringed by the I-275 beltway, which passes through portions of Kentucky and Indiana as well as Ohio. As you approach many cities in the Midwest, their skylines are usually visible from a considerable distance, and they gradually "grow" in your field of vision as you get nearer. However, if you approach Cincinnati from the south (driving north on I-75 / I-71), you will see only the lushly forested hills of Kentucky—until you reach "the cut in the hill." At that point, the city of Cincinnati suddenly and spectacularly appears immediately below, virtually jumping out of the scenery as you round the curve! |
| LANDMARKS Downtown
Green Hills
Hyde Park
Mariemont
Mount Adams
Mount Airy
Mount Auburn
Mount Lookout
Price Hill
River Bend
Riverfront
Sharonville
West End
Winton Place
City of Covington, Kentucky
City of Norwood
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| CUISINE Cincinnati boasts many famous eateries, running the gamut from the five-star Maisonette, to Mozart's, to Mike Fink's, to Graeter's Ice Cream, to Skyline Chili. (Cincinnati-style chili, by the way, is distinctly different from the Mexican and Texan dishes of that name. It is spiced with cinnamon, served over spaghetti, and topped with grated cheese!) Ohio is the third-largest (after California and New York) producer of wine in the United States. The visitor may be pleasantly surprised at the quality and variety of local vintages. |
CULTURE AND HIGHER
EDUCATION
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| QUIRKS Unfortunately, the conservatism which has preserved Cincinnati's historic landmarks and Old World charm has also fostered an anti-cosmopolitan atmosphere of repression, peculiar for a metropolis this size outside the Deep South. Cincinnati has from time to time drawn an embarrassing degree of national attention to its often comically provincial attitudes. One memorable incident involved the touring Mapplethorpe photography exhibit on display at the Contemporary Arts Center, during which the respected manager of the museum, Dennis Barrie, was placed under arrest and charged with pandering obscenity. Though the jury eventually acquitted Barrie, the widespread attention drew record crowds to the exhibit, and simultaneously made "Censor-nazi" the laughing stock of the artistic world. It has long been the objective of city leaders to project an image of Cincinnati as a wholesome place to raise a family. However, the extremes to which they have gone to sanitize the area's cultural environment have produced an ambience which is sterile rather than wholesome. In their misguided zeal to make everything "safe for the children" (and palatable for religious conservatives), they have ignored the interests and sacrificed the rights of ordinary adults. Sadly, Cincinnati's pathological conservatism has probably discouraged many artistic and literary organizations from considering the city a "friendly" place to present their art, and thus threatens to confine this otherwise remarkable and charming metropolis to a cultural backwater. Yes, Cincinnati is a wonderful city in which to raise children. But for many sophisticated adults, it's "a nice place to visit but we wouldn't want to live there!" This is the risk which the people of any community take in ceding to a fanatically repressive group, such as the so-called Citizens for Community Values and their stooges in public office, their First Amendment rights to determine what they shall be allowed to read, write, see, and do. And it is one powerful reason I would not choose to live in Cincinnati, even though I dearly love it. =SAJ= |
| I hope eventually to add photos to this page. In the meantime, graphically oriented web surfers may find numerous items of interest at the various links at the top of this page. |