USA > Ohio > Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I > Part 127
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The tract known as the Miami Purchase, on the north shore of the Ohio, was first settled at Cincinnati and Columbia (this last now in the city limits) in 1788. Surrounded by a region of unsurpassed fertility, and located on a stream which floated the principal commerce of the West, Cincinnati in a few decades naturally took the leading rank. The farm products of Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky, whether in the form of grain or live-stock, poured into her markets. The steam- boat interest was vast and far-reaching, and until after the middle of the century Cincinnati profited greatly not only by river commerce but by boat-building. The river landing was then a scene of bustle and business, with the loading and unloading of goods and the movement of steamers ; its varying stages and phases
THE TYLER DAVIDSON FOUNTAIN.
MUSIC HALL AND EXPOSITION BUILDING.
HAMILTON COUNTY.
were in everybody's thoughts and talks. "How's the river to-day ? Good stage of water, eh ?"
In the period of its early life it was largely visited by foreign travellers, for it was regarded as the brightest, most interesting place in the West-as Volney, Ashe, Basil Hall, the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, Capt. Marryat, Harriet Martineau, Chas. Dickens and Mrs. Trollope. The latter, with her four children, resided here two years, from 1828 to 1830, and lost thousands in what she named "The Bazaar," which came to be known as "Trollope's Folly." It stood on Third street, just cast of Broadway. Among its attractions was a splendid ball-room, long the pride of the city.
The civil war wrought miracles in the development of Cincinnati. Its manu- facturing enterprises have developed prodigiously, property values multiplied and large individual fortunes accumulated. A population of fully half a million dwells within a radius of ten miles, and the city proper has a third of a million. A wide and rich field of traffic and investment has of late years opened in the South by means of the Cincinnati Southern Railroad, and also by that through the Virginias by the Chesapeake and Ohio.
The Cincinnati Southern Railway was built at a total cost of $20,000,000, and runs to Chattanooga, a distance of 336 miles, into the heart of the South. It was leased in 1880 until the close of the century to the Erlanger Syndicate. It was built by the city by an issue of its bonds nearly to the entire amount, which being regarded as an abuse of its corporate rights, the construction being even outside of the State, met with strong opposition in the courts. The act was sustained, its prospective immense importance to the well-being of the city overcoming all ad- verse arguments of illegality.
Freight by it consists largely of live-stock, coal, iron, stone, lumber, bark, flour, whisky, turpentine, grain, cotton, hemp, fruit, tobacco, salt provisions and beer. In 1883 it carried six hundred thousand passengers and earned nearly two and a half millions in freight.
The river trade is still very great, especially in coal ; its weekly consumption in the city is about a million of bushels. Freight is largely conveyed up and down the river by powerful steamboats with fleets of barges. About one-quarter of the imports and exports of Cincinnati are moved by water.
Cincinnati is a composite city, an aggregation of towns once separate, which, however, retain their old names, as Walnut Hills, Columbia, Pendleton, etc., and just outside lie some charming villages which practically enjoy the benefits of the city, yet control their own local affairs by a mayor and aldermen, as Clifton and Avondale. Then, on the Kentucky side of the Ohio, are Covington and Newport, with the Licking dividing them, and Bellevue, Dayton and Ludlow. Several bridges connect Cincinnati with the Ohio, among them the beautiful suspension bridge to Covington, completed in 1866 by the engineer, Roebling, at a cost of $1,800,000. It is 103 feet above low water, and is the largest single span of its class in the world. The towers over which the gigantic cables pass are 1,057 feet apart, are 230 feet in height, and thus are higher, and each contain more stone, than the Bunker Hill Monument. The others are pier bridges, and built to ac- commodate railroads, viz. : the Cincinnati Southern Railroad, the Louisville Short Line Railroad, and the Chesapeake and Ohio. This last cost nearly $5,000,000, and was opened January 1, 1889.
Cincinnati now extends along the Ohio ten or twelve miles, with an average width of about three miles. Forty years ago its corporate limits were only about four square miles, and with scarce an exception was the most densely populated area of its size in the Union. Above the flood plain it is built on a terrace, and then rise the hills about 400 feet higher. The canal roughly bounds a quarter long known as "Over the Rhine," because of its great German population. In the Exposition of 1888 the canal was utilized to represent a Venetian street, and
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was supplied with gondolas. The great Music Hall, Arbeiter Hall and Turner Hall are in that quarter.
Access to the hill-tops is by steeply graded roads, cable-car and horse-car roads, and by four inclined planes up which cars are drawn by powerful engines. The principal lines converge at Fountain Square.
The pavements are excellent, consisting of granite, asphalt and Ohio river boulders. The sewerage and underdrainage is perfect, and few cities are so healthy. Within the city limits is EDEN PARK, which is on the hills above the eity plain, a pleasure-ground of 240 acres, on which is the reservoir which sup- plies the city with water. BURNET WOODS, a tract of beautiful forest of 170 acres, is also on the hills not far from the ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS, which last front on the Carthage pike. They are the largest and finest in America, and the buildings are as costly and substantial as those of the Zoological Gardens in Europe. The grounds, sixty acres in extent, are beautifully improved. There are about 1,000 specimens of animals and birds from all parts of the world. Frequently there are balls, picnics and special attractions, and on Thursday evening there is a fete. The gardens were opened in 1875, and since then over $300,000 has been expended.
Each of the four inclined planes leads to a famous resort. On the east is the Highland House, on the north Lookout and Bellevue, and on the west Price Hill. Thousands flock to these, especially summer evenings and on Sundays.
SPRING GROVE CEMETERY is six miles from the river, in the valley of Mill Creek, on Spring Grove avenue. It comprises 600 acres, and has had therein about 35,000 interments. Its numerous springs and groves suggested the name. It is probably the most picturesque, as it is the largest cemetery in the world. It is on the plan of a park, to relieve the ground of the heavy, incumbered air of a churchyard, and to present the appearance of a natural park. It is exqui- sitely laid out, with far-stretching lawns, miniature lakes and shrubbery, and ornamented with stately monuments, chapels, vaults and statues. There are about 7,000 lot-holders. The more prominent objects are the Mortuary Chapel, the Dexter Mausoleum and the Soldiers' Monument. Many eminent historical characters are interred here. The spot is so enchanting that it seems as au earthly Paradise rather than a home of the dead.
The great beauty of the cemetery is largely due to the late Prof. Adolph Stranch, landseape gardener and arborculturist, who died in 1882, and who was for many years its superintendent. "To him belongs the credit of giving to Cincinnati her renown for beautiful suburbs, with landscapes lovely as a dream." He estimated, exclusive of funerals, that in a single year (1880) it had a quarter of a million of visitors.
The TYLER DAVIDSON FOUNTAIN is the grandest fountain on the continent. It stands on the Esplanade in the centre of Fountain square, which is a raised stone structure twenty-eight inches in height. This square is near the centre of the city and from which distances are calculated and the ear lines mostly start. The fountain is a work in bronze consisting of fifteen large figures, of which the most prominent represents a woman from whose outstretched prone hands water is falling in fine spray. She is the Spirit of Rain. The head of this figure rises forty-five feet above the street level. The fountain was designed and cast in Munich, at a cost of $200,000. The work was presented to Cincinnati in 1871 by one of her public-spirited citizens, Henry Probasco, a patron of arts and literature, whose magnificent residence is one of the palaces of the suburbs.
The GOVERNMENT BUILDING is on the same street near it, and is a magnifi- cent and convenient structure. Herein are the custom house, court rooms and post-office. It is built of gray stone, and cost $5,000,000, the most ex- pensive building in the city. Close by it also is the EMORY ARCADE, one of the largest in the world ; extends between two streets, a passage way of 400 feet pro- tected by a glass roof. It is lined with varied shops, and is decidedly Parisian
ITT
The Art Academy.
The Art Museum.
ART BUILDINGS. EDEN PARK.
THE SUSPENSION BRIDGE.
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in character. A few squares from the fountain, near the Lincoln Club House, is the colossal statue of Garfield, by Nicdhaus, a Cincinnati artist.
The Broadway of the city is Fourth street, the aristocratic East end-where faces the once famous Longworth mansion and garden-to the railroad environed West end. Several blocks on Fourth street are solid, lofty structures. Among these is PIKE'S OPERA HOUSE and the new CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, dedicated January 30, 1889, ex-Gov. Edward F. Noyes being the orator of the occasion. It is a most striking work of art in Roman Provençal style, one of the best designs of the celebrated Richardson-its cost was over $700,000. Two other remarkably fine structures, both designed by Hannaford, are now in the course of construction-the New City Hall and a City Armory.
Two admirable buildings of stone stand high upon a hill in Eden Park. They are the ART MUSEUM aud the ART ACADEMY, designed by MeLaughlin. The first of these cost nearly $400,000, and the other is correspondingly costly. These buildings were bestowed upon the city by the munificence of several liberal indi- viduals. Charles W. West gave $150,000, David Sinton $75,000, Joseph Long- worth $37,100. Reuben pringer and Julius Dexter then subscribed largely. Over a million of dollars have been given to the museum since 1880, and the art school is the best endowed in the United States.
The Art Academy building, completed in October, 1887, was entirely the gift of David Sinton. The Art Academy is an ontgrowth of the old "School of De- sign," a branch of the McMicken University. In 1887 it had 400 students and twelve instructors, teaching and lecturing. Excepting an initiation fee of $10, the institution is free.
The greatest pride of the city and its greatest ornament is the MUSIC HALL AND EXPOSITION BUILDING. It occupies most of a block and faces Washington Park. Its architect was Mclaughlin. The building is brick and in the modern- ized Gothic style. The whole front on Elm street is 402 feet ; 95 feet being given to each of the cxposition buildings, and 178} feet to the music hall. The widest part of the building is 316 feet. The buildings are so arranged that they can be used s parately or together, and the upper stories so they can be connected by bridges. In these buildings is the grand music hall. It will hold 8,728 per- sons-seat 4,228, give standing room for 3,000, while the stage will accommodate 1,500. The GREAT ORGAN is one of the largest in the world. It was built in Boston, but the artistic screen of wild cherry was designed and carved by residents of Cincinnati. It has 96 registers, 6,237 pipes, 32 bells, 42 pedal movements, and 4 keyboards of 61 notes each. Its cash cost was $32,000.
The College buildings, adjoining the magnificent Music Hall, contain forty class and study rooms, libraries, waiting-rooms, offices and a large and beautiful concert hall, " THE ODEON," seating 1,200 persons, with a stage thoroughly equipped for operatic and dramatic performances. The Cincinnati College of Music is open throughout the year, Peter Rudolph Neff, president ; Professor Schradieck, mu- sical director.
The amount of taxable property in Cincinnati is over one hundred and seventy- two millions. Next to Chicago this is the chief pork-packing place in the world. The brewing of lager beer is an industry that ranks next to the pork business. Over twenty million gallons of beer are produced annually in its breweries ; distil- ling ; heavy capital is engaged in the manufacture of iron, stone and wood ; other important lines of manufacture are clothing, and in food products it is the largest mart in the world. For over half a century Cincinnati has held a leading rank as a printing, publishing and lithographing centre. It has the largest school-book house in the world-that of Van Antwerp, Bragg & Co., publishers of the eclec- tic series of text-books.
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HAMILTON COUNTY.
EDUCATION IN CINCINNATI.
The public-school system embraces schools of every grade, from kindergarten to university ; the number of pupils enrolled in 1887 was 53,402. The schools are celebrated for their general excellence and for several special features of reform. They made a famous exhibit in the Exposition of 1876 in Philadelphia. They set the example now so widely followed of celebrating Arbor Day and Author Day.
The Public Library is under the management of the Board of Education, and free to the people. It is in a spacious and elegant building, has 164,000 volumes and an annual circulation of about 400,000 volumes; it is under the charge of A. W. Whepley. Beside this is the Mercantile and other public libraries, and some fine private libraries. The most noteworthy of the latter is that of A. T. Goshorn, in consequence of its peculiarly honorable history. He had been director- general of the National Exposition of 1876 at Philadelphia, and refusing pecu- niary compensation for his services, the citizens presented him with $10,000 in valne in books of his choice, and sent on a committee to fit up a room in his resi- dence for their reception ; this was done in exquisite taste. The library of Enoch I. Carson, burned some years since, was extraordinary as the most complete Ma- sonic collection in the world, beside a fine Shakespearian collection.
The University of Cincinnati is a municipal institution, forming part of the system of public instruction. It was founded on a bequest of Charles McMicken ; its endowment is over $750,000; its faculty numbers fifteen professors, Hon. J. D. Cox, ex-governor of Ohio, being president. Both sexes are admitted and col- lege degrees conferred. The Cincinnati Observatory, on Mount Lookout, four miles in a direct line from the city, founded by Gen. O. M. Mitchell, belongs to the university; there is also an organic connection between the university and the medical colleges-the Miami and the Ohio-and also with the College of Dental Surgery and that of Pharmacy.
The Medical College of Ohio was established in 1819, and has ten professors ; the Miami Medical College has twelve professors. The homoeopathists have an excellent institution, the Pulte College ; and there is an Eclectic College, a Physico- Medical Institute and other schools. The city hospitals are large and admirably conducted ; the Cincinnati Law School, founded in 1833, J. D. Cox, dean, is a flourishing institution, with many pupils ; the Ohio Mechanics' Institute, thie Cin- cinnati Technical School, the Society of Natural History with its museums and lectures, the system of kindergartens and the kitchen garden are all of a high order of efficiency.
As a centre of musical education the Queen City claims to be without a rival on the continent. The College of Music, with splendid quarters in Music Hall and the Odeon, draws students in all departments of the art, from all parts of the United States. The famous opera festivals and May musical festivals of the city are visited annually by thousands and thousands of people. Miss Clara Bauer's conservatory is also widely known ; there are other music schools, especially piano schools. Beside the Art Academy, the arts of drawing and design are well taught in the public schools, in the Technical School and in many private schools, and by special teachers of art in their studios.
Lane Theological Seminary, on Walnut Hills, went into operation in 1832, under the Presidency of Lyman Beecher, D. D., and has since graduated about 700 students. It is well endowed, and has a fine library. St. Xavier College, on Sycamore street, is the great Roman Catholic institution of the Ohio valley. The Catholics possess a powerful system of public schools in connection with their many churches, and have a monastery near the city for the training of priests.
The Jews are numerous and influential in Cincinnati, possessing several syna- gogues of striking architectural beauty. The American Israelite, the organ of liberal Judaism, is conducted by Dr. I. M. Wise, who is also President of the
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Hebrew Union College, a flourishing institution for the education of rabbis. The Wesleyan Female College was founded in 1842, and is controlled by the Method- ist Episcopal Church. Many Cincinnati ladies, prominent in charitable and ed- ucational works, are alumni of this college, among them the wife of President Hayes.
Business education is a prominent feature : commercial colleges are numerous, and there are schools of type-writing, telegraphy and all the graphic arts; among them the Cincinnati School of Phonography, which enjoys the hearty recommendation of Mr. Benn Pitman, so favorably known for his discriminating lectures on Art in the Art Academy. Cincinnati has been a centre for short-hand since 1849. Benn Pitman came from England to America in 1853, and settled here to advance his brother's system of short-hand, invented in 1837.
Fry's Carving School is one of the unique institutions of the city. It is con- ducted by Henry L. and Wm. H. Fry, father and son, and granddaughter, Laura H. Fry. Some of the most exquisite wood carving ever executed in the country is by them. The Frys did a large part of the elaborate carving in Henry Probasco's residence, in Clifton, and of the casement of the great organ in Music Hall. Art furniture of all kinds is made to order, and many specimens of their handiwork are to be found in various parts of the Union.
Clays for the manufacture of tiles and the finer grades of pottery are plentiful in the vicinity of Cincinnati. The artistic ceramic wares made here have a high reputation. The Rookwood Pottery, founded by Mrs. Maria Longworth Storer, daughter of Joseph Longworth, was designed to advance artistic culture in the line of ceramics. The establishment is an admirable one, managed wholly by ladies, and its products are chiefly sold at the East and in Europe. Its decorators were mostly educated at the Cincinnati Art Academy. The wares are unique, resembling Limoges. They display unusual richness and harmony of coloring. In style of decoration they are peculiarly American, the native plants, flowers and other objects having been much used in the designs. Carving in clay is a feature in the ornamentation. A specialty of this establishment is that the color of the body is utilized as a part of the decoration.
EXPOSITIONS.
The Industrial Expositions of the city had their origin in the annual fairs of the Ohio Mechanics' Institute, the first of which was held in Trollope's Bazaar building, in 1838. These fairs ceased owing to the civil war. In 1869 the Wool Growers' Association of the Northwest gave a Textile Fabric Association which lasted four days, and was such a great success as to lead, through the exer- tions of Mr. A. T. Goshorn and his associates, to uniting the three great organ- izations-the Board of Trade, the Chamber of Commerce and the Ohio Mechanics' Institute, in a plan to give " the Cincinnati Industrial Exposition of Manufactures, Products and Arts in the year 1870."
Each of these bodies was represented by a committee of five members chosen for their zeal and peculiar capacity. They received no salary although their services involved much labor and time. To be an exposition commissioner was thought to be a distinguished honor. An exposition organized in this way could only be a public trust. There were to be no profits, no dividends to anybody. As a financial basis a guarantee fund was subscribed of $24,000. The form of subscription was a note by the guarantor for the amount of his individual guaranty, payable to the Exposition Commissioners only in case the receipts of the Expo- sition failed to pay expenses, and then only in proportion to the amount of deficit. The city banks advanced money on these notes.
The Exposition was held in a massive building erected for the National Saengerfest of the same year. With additions the exhibiting space covered seven acres. This entire space was filled with interesting exhibits, and the exposition was open from September 21 till October 22. Admission 25 cents. When it
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closed it was found that over 300,000 visitors had passed through its gates; that the receipts had been about $54,000, leaving a small surplus over all ex- penses.
Not only was the city delighted with the great success but a wide interest was aroused throughout the country, whence visitors were drawn by the thousands to the great exposition. For the four following years expositions were held, and so far successful that no assessments were made on the guarantors.
" No exposition was held in the year 1876, on account of the great Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia ; but it was a high compliment to the Cincinnati plan and management that, as early as the year 1872, the Philadelphia Commissioners visited the great Cincinnati Exposition of that year, studied its details carefully, and afterwards chose for the important office of director-general of their exhibition A. T. Goshorn, then the President of the Cincinnati Board of Exposition Com- missioners."
Meantime Music Hall had been built as one of the outgrowths caused by the - exposition, all the people uniting to this end, even the school-children giving con- certs with their massive child choruses in aid of the enterprise.
In 1888 was inaugurated "The Centennial Exposition of the Ohio Valley . and Central States," for the support of which a guarantee fund of $1,050,000 was subscribed by the people of Cincinnati. Honorary Commissioners were ap- pointed from thirteen States, including their respective governors, thus giving national significance to the event, which was intended also to celebrate the settle- ment of the Northwest Territory. Buildings occupying a large part of Wash- ington Park and spanning the canal were erected, which in connection with the permanent Exposition Buildings furnished a floor area of about thirty-two acres.
In this was gathered a magnificent collection of manufactured articles, products of the soil and works of art, illustrating the mighty progress of a century. Congress appropriated $250,000 towards a national exhibit of some of their rarest and most valuable archives, which were placed in charge of government officials.
The Exposition was opened July 4, 1888, by a great daylight procession, much of it illustrative of the early history of the country and its wonderful progress. The streets were thronged with hundreds of thousands of people, all bearing testi- mony to the manner in which the popular heart was responding to the demands of the celebration.
The Exposition continued over 100 days, and the entire enterprise was a grand industrial and artistic success, reflecting great credit and honor upon the citizens of Cincinnati, Exposition Commissioners and exhibitors.
CLUBS AND CLUB LIFE.
Cincinnati abounds in clubs, social, literary and scientific. It being largely a collection of suburban towns, difficult of access one directly with the other, gathered around a central town readily accessible from each, has tended to the establish- ment of clubs. The Historical and Philosophical Society is located on Garfield Place. It has a Museum of Natural Curiosities, a Historical Library of 7,000 volumes and over 40,000 pamphlets, many of them rare and containing a mine of information on the early history of this region. A club of a similar character is the Natural History Society, located on Broadway. This society has quite an extensive museum, and it stimulates an interest in the natural characteristics of the surrounding country. Connected with the club is a section devoted to photo- graphic work which makes excursions to the various points of beauty and interest about the neighborhood. These have resulted in a collection of beautiful views, which, supplemented by plates obtained by exchange with similar societies, furnish the material for an annual exhibit of remarkable variety and excellent workman- ship. Lectures are given of a popular character on scientific subjects which are free to the public at large. The society lias regular meetings at which papers are read and discussed. The Unity Club supplies a regular course of Sunday after-
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