Covington History & Culture Newport History & Culture
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NewporterJazz© Presents, Cincinnati History & Culture
Covington History & Culture Newport History & Culture
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Cincinnati is the 56th largest city in America. Cincinnati lies along the Ohio River and is across the river from Newport and Covington in Kentucky. Cincinnati is unique in it's design as it centers around the famous Fountain Square. Many shops and restaurants surround this area. Cincinnati is also known for having the largest collection of 19th century Italianate architecture in America and is found mostly slightly north of Downtown. Cincinnati is home to numerous structures that are noteworthy due to their architectural and historic characteristics such as the Carew Tower, the Scripps Center, the Ingalls Building, Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal, and the Isaac M. Wise Temple. In 1879, Procter & Gamble, one of Cincinnati's major soap manufacturers, began marketing Ivory Soap. In fact, Cincinnati is home to several major corporations such as Procter & Gamble, The Kroger Company, Sunny Delight Beverages Co, GE Aviation, Macy's, Inc., Convergys, Chiquita Brands International, Great American Insurance Company, Western & Southern Financial Group, The E. W. Scripps Company, the United States Playing Card Company, Fifth Third Bank and Kao Corporation's United States headquarters are in Cincinnati as well. 10 Fortune 500 companies and 18 Fortune 1000 companies headquartered in the Cincinnati area. Statistically, Greater Cincinnati ranks sixth in the U.S. with Fortune 500 companies.
Cincinnati was founded in 1788. Cincinnati was originally named it "Losantiville" Losantiville derives from four terms, each of a different language, meaning "the city opposite the mouth of the Licking River." "Ville" is French for "city," "anti" is Greek for "opposite," "os" is Latin for "mouth," and "L" was all that was included of "Licking River." A few years later the name was changed to "Cincinnati" in honor of the Society of the Cincinnati,] The society honored General George Washington, who was considered a latter day Cincinnatus -- the Roman general who saved his city, then retired from power to his farm. To this day, Cincinnati in particular (and Ohio in general) is home to a disproportionately large number of descendants of Revolutionary War soldiers who were granted lands in the state. In 1802, Cincinnati was chartered as a village and David Ziegler (1748-1811), a Revolutionary War veteran from Heidelberg, Germany, became the first mayor. Cincinnati was incorporated as a city in 1819. The introduction of steam navigation on the Ohio River in 1811 and the completion of the Miami and Erie Canal helped the city grow. During this period of rapid expansion, citizens of Cincinnati began referring to the city as the "Queen" city. The phrase was cemented in the poem "Catawba Wine" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who wrote that the city was "the Queen of the West," giving the city its nickname. Railroads were the next major form of transportation to come to Cincinnati. In 1836, the Little Miami Railroad was chartered. Construction began soon after, with the purpose of connecting Cincinnati with the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad, and thus the ports of the Sandusky Bay. Cincinnati is considered to have been the first major American "Boomtown" to rapidly expand in the heart of the country in the early 19th century. This growth rivaled many larger coastal cities in size and wealth.
Cincinnati has been involved in many major events in American History. During the American Civil War, Cincinnati played a key role as a major source of supplies and troops for the Union Army. It also served as the headquarters for much of the war for the Department of the Ohio, which was charged with the defense of the region, as well as directing the army's offensives into Kentucky and Tennessee. Due to Cincinnati's proximity to and commerce with slave states across the Ohio River, there was significant "Southern sympathy" in the Cincinnati area. In July of 1863, Cincinnati was placed under martial law due to the imminent danger posed by the Confederate Morgan's Raiders who came very close to Cincinnati but never actually attacked the city proper Before the Civil War, Cincinnati was a border town between the states that allowed slavery, such as Kentucky, and those that did not, such as Ohio. Cincinnati and surrounding areas played a major role in Abolitionism. The area was a part of the Underground Railroad and was home to Harriet Beecher Stowe. Her characters in Uncle Tom's Cabin were based on escaped slaves she met in the area. Levi Coffin made the Cincinnati area the center of his anti slavery efforts in 1847. Today, The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center commemorates the era at its center located at 50 East Freedom Way.
Cincinnati weathered the Great Depression better than most American cities of its size, largely because of a resurgence of inexpensive river trade. The rejuvenation of downtown began in the 1920s and continued into the next decade with the construction of Union Terminal, the post office, and a large Bell Telephone building. The flood of 1937 was one of the worst in the nation's history, resulting in the building of protective flood walls. After World War II, Cincinnati unveiled a master plan for urban renewal that resulted in modernization of the inner city. The completion of several major new development projects enhance the city as it enters the early years of the new millennium. Cincinnati's beloved Bengals and Reds teams both have new, state-of-the-art homes: Paul Brown Stadium, opened in 2000; and the Great American Ball Park, opened in 2003, respectively. Two new museums have opened: the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in 2003, and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in 2004. April 2004; number five U.S. arts destination, American Style Magazine, Summer 2004; was the highest rated city in Ohio for "Best Cities For Young Professionals" and 18th overall, Forbes Magazine, June 2007; and inclusion in the top ten "Cities that Rock," Esquire Magazine, April 2004.
Some interesting unique historical tidbits about Cincinnati are: On April 1, 1853, Cincinnati's Fire Department became a paid department, the first full-time paid fire department in the United States, and the first in the world to use steam fire engines. The Cincinnati Red Stockings, whose name and heritage inspired today's Cincinnati Reds, began their career in the 1800s as well. It became the first regular professional team in the country, being organized formally in 1869.