History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 13

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1592

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. United States Government Building .- This great structure, the finest, most imposing and colossal of all the public buildings in the city, is a magnificent con- tribution to the many architectural attractions of Cincinnati, and is justly a source of pride to the inhabitants. It includes the post office, custom house and federal courts of the United States, and occupies one-half of the square bounded by Fifth, Sixth, Walnut and Main streets, with the main front facing on Fifth street. The building is 364 feet front and 164 feet deep, four stories in height above ground, exclusive of the attics and roof stories. There is an underground basement four- teen feet high and a sub basement ten feet, furnished with light and air from an area twelve feet wide, running entirely around the building. The exterior is de- signed in the Renaissance style of four superimposed orders. The principal façade, 354 feet long, is divided into center and corner pavilions connected by reced- ing bays, while the end façades have corner pavilions only, connected by receding bays. The pavilions are strongly marked by porticos, with full, detached col- umns, and the divisions rendered more effective by large dormers and prominent roof lines at the corners, while the center pavilion terminates in an attic of two stories and high towering roof 170 feet from the ground. The windows, liberal in size and simple in form, are kept entirely subordinate to the orders which form the decorative features of the façades. The lines are generally rigid and the openings square at head, except in the crowning story, where arched openings give a very pleasing termination. The orders are very originally treated in the first story. The pilasters and columns, placed on a high pedestal. are rusticated, and, by an ingenious introduction of the triglyph into the capitals, the characteristics of the Doric order are given with a decidedly new effect. This rusticated order, with its reinforcement of piers, forms an appropriate and massive substructure, on which the other and lighter orders rest. These upper orders are a modified Ionic in the second story and composite in the third and fourth, the whole at a height of ninety- five feet from the ground, surmounted by a modillion cornice of ornamental detail. The exterior walls are of granite, the basement and stylobate from the red granite quarries of Middlebrook, Mo., and the superstructure from quarries at Fox Island, Maine. The interior construction is of a strictly fire-proof character, as in other first-class government buildings, with partitions of brick, and floors of iron beams and brick arches. The building was commenced in 1874 and completed in 1885, the total cost, including the site ($800,000), being nearly five million dollars.

HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

Post Office .- The entire first story of this magnificent building is devoted to the post office department, rooms for the postmaster, cashier, money order office, vaults, etc., being located at the ends of the building, while the central portion forms one vast business room, 132 x 225 feet, which, in addition to the usual complement of side windows, has a large portion of its ceiling of glass, making a skylight 63 x 220 feet. The post office necessarily does a large business, the receipts from the sale of stamps, rent of boxes, etc., reaching nearly a million of dollars in 1893. There are over 425 employes, nearly 200 of whom are carriers.

The increase in the volume of mail matter since the office was first established, July 4, 1793, has been more than a thousand fold. At first only nine mails were received weekly. They brought about seventy papers, equal to 350 sheets. The first postmaster was Abner Dunn, but he did not live long to enjoy the honors .of office. He died July 18, 1794, and was buried on the lot where the office was kept in a log cabin. Dunn was succeeded by William Maxwell, founder of the first newspaper and publisher of the Territorial laws. His successors up to 1815 were Daniel Mayo, William Ruffin, and Rev. William Burke. During the year 1826 the receipts for postage on 3,750 letters received and delivered amounted to $8,162. Twenty-three mails per week were now despatched, ten of which were carried by stage, the remainder on horseback. The Rev. William Burke was still postmaster, assisted by Elam P. Langdon. In 1828 the receipts had run up to $12,150. Thereafter the increase for twelve years was as follows : 1829, $16,251 ; 1833, $26,118 ; 1838, $51,226.71 ; 1839, $55,017.32 ; 1840, $49,815.13. From 1833 up to 1840 sixty mails per week had been received.

The Upper Stories. - Above the first story, the building takes the form of a hol- low square, with the court of the same area as the post office skylight-63 by 220 feet. A corridor fourteen feet wide faces on this court, and furnishes commun- ication with the various rooms, all of which have an exterior frontage. These rooms- about fifty in number-give business accommodation for the Custom House, United States Courts, Internal Revenue, and other officers of the Civil government, and vary in size from the private office fourteen by twenty feet, to the magnificent court rooms, forty-one by sixty-four feet.

The Custom House, since Cincinnati was declared a port of entry, has been an important factor in government business affairs. The amount of duties received on imported articles is over one million of dollars annually, while the value of the articles reaches nearly two and a half millions.

Internal Revenue. - The collections from all sources for the last fiscal year amounted to about ten millions of dollars, of which the tax on spirits yielded over seven and a quarter millions. This shows the vast extent of the business of distill- ing whisky in and around Cincinnati, of which more in detail is given in the chapter on manufactures.

Weather Bureau .-- This department is located in the fourth story of the govern- ment building. Much information of the practical workings of the bureau, and the value of its publications, may be gained by visitors interested, or curious, in weather matters. Weather maps are displayed to the public in various parts of the city. Visitors are invited between the hours of 9 A. M. and 5 P. M. The local forecast official in charge, or any of the observers, will take pleasure in showing and explain- ing the various instruments to visitors.

The Court House .- The first courts, according to Judge Burnet, " were held in a rented room in the tavern of George Avery, near the frog pond, at the corner of Main and Fifth streets." Near by was a " pillory, stocks, and a whipping post; and some- times a gallows was added." A log building on the north side of the public square was occupied as a jail. Courts in an early day-in part at least-were held in the Gano building on Main street, between Fifth and Sixth streets. The territorial courts met in Yeatman's tavern.

Jonathan Ogden

HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

The first courthouse owned by the county was a rude stone building on the public square near the south west corner of Fifth and Main streets. It was built in 1802, and its entire cost is said to have been but three thousand dollars. It was built of limestone after a plan furnished by Judge Turuer, in the shape of a parallelogram with forty- two feet front and fifty-five deep. The walls, including the parapet, were forty-two feet high, a wooden cupola, with four projecting faces, arched and balustraded, twenty feet high, terminated by a dome, and resting on a base twenty feet square, surrounding the whole. The total height to the top of the cupola was eighty-four feet. There were wings for public offices, two-storied and fire-proof as was sup- posed.

This courthonse was used as a barrack during the war of 1812-14, and through the carelessness of some soldiers who were playing cards in one of the rooms, or in the garret, it was fired and burned early in the year 1814. The commissioners then decided to accept a lot tendered by Jesse Hunt, " ont of town," near the inter- section of Court street with Main, on which to erect a new building. Plans and specifications were drawn, and the erection of the new building commenced, but it was not completed until 1819. The commissioners now thought that inasmuch as it was far removed from the thickly settled part of town, it was comparatively safe from fire. Improvements, however, rapidly followed, and it was not many years until the new building was fairly " in town." Bad luck seemed to follow the author- ities, for on the 9th of July, 1849, this building was accidentally burned, and the county was again without a courthouse.

There was no alternative but to take steps to erect another building. Con- sequently, a contract for $695,253.29 was awarded in 1851. The building was regarded as a very fine one for the time, and with its columns in front made an im- posing appearance. It had a front of 190 feet, with an extension of 190 feet back, and was three stories, or sixty feet, in height. This building stood until March, 1884, when it was burned during the terrible riots of that time, a description of which will be found in the chapter on "Notable Crimes and Criminals." The present courthouse stands on the site of the one destroyed by the mob, and is a sub- stantial and solid structure. It is three stories in height, and has ample room for the various county offices and courts, with an elevator to facilitate communica- tion with the departments in the upper stories.

The County Jail .- This necessary adjunct of the court stands in rear of the courthouse, and fronts on Sycamore street. It is constructed of limestone, cost $226,520, and successfully resisted all attempts of the infuriated mob to destroy it in 1884.

The City Workhouse. - This great institution is located on the Colerain turnpike, one-third of a mile east of Mill creek, and within the corporate limits of the city. A line of electric cars passes within a few yards of the doors. The buildings present a very fine appearance-running due east 600 feet, then south 505 feet, then due west 600 feet to the south end of the main building, where there is a stone wall, fifteen feet in height, and enclosing the entire back part of the main structure as well as the outbuildings, the entrance to which is made through three large portals or gateways. . The workhouse receives adult criminals convicted of minor offenses. It is managed by a board appointed by the mayor and council. The daily average of persons con- fined does not fall much below six hundred.

The City Infirmary .- Ample provision for the care of the poor and infirm is made by the municipal government. The institution for this purpose is located on the Carthage road, eight miles north of the city. The buildings are spacious and extensive, and are situated on a farm containing one hundred and sixty acres of beautifully rolling land. During the year 1891 the total number of applications granted was 7,581. The total amount of receipts from all sources was $108, 832.70; disbursements, $106,374.22. The cost of maintaining the infirmary for the year

HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

exclusive of the relief of the outdoor poor and permanent improvements, was $65,- 532.80, making the yearly cost of maintaining the inmates per capita $91.91, or a fraction over twenty-five cents per day.

The House of Refuge .- This institution was opened for inmates in October, 1850. It is situated in Mill creek valley, about four miles from the post office. The grounds embrace nearly ten acres-one-half of which are enclosed by a stone wall, twenty feet in height, within which stand all the buildings. The main building is a castellated edifice of rough, blue limestone, with windows, cornices, casings and por- tico of white Dayton stone, presenting an imposing front of 277 feet, with a center building eighty five by fifty-five feet, four stories in height, with towers at the extremities projecting two feet in front, and five stories high besides the basement. To the north and south of this building are two wings thirty six by ninety-six feet each. The northern wing contains 112 sleeping rooms for boys; the south wing is occupied by girls and contains seventy-two single sleeping rooms; one room large enough to contain twelve beds; two sewing rooms, one school room, four bath rooms and hospital. A kindergarten department has recently been added. The chapel is in the rear; there are also school and recitation rooms, and rooms containing work- shops, etc. The buildings will accommodate 350 inmates, and the requisite number of officers for their care. The boys are divided into four, and the girls into three, divisions or families. And each of these seven families has separate school, sleep- ing, dining rooms, workshops, recreation rooms and play grounds. During 1891 there were 242 boys and 73 girls in the institution.

FIRE DEPARTMENT.

The fire department of Cincinnati now consists of twenty-eight steam engines, three chemical engines, fifteen hose wagons, thirty-four horse reels, two aerial trucks, four two-horse trucks, five one-horse trucks, one mannal truck, one manual hose reel, eight one-horse wagons, four two-horse wagons, nine marshal's buggies or carts, about 64,000 feet of hose, 136 horses and thirty-one engine houses. The force consists of one marshal, four district marshals, one assistant fire marshal at large, and 302 officers and men, not including house watchmen. About 600 miles of wire connect the Central Station with the fire alarm boxes distributed throughout the city, besides forty telephones, thirty large bells and striking machines, fifty-nine gongs, ten joker registers, twenty-four alarm registers, and 500 Le Clanche batteries distributed at the various engine houses. All the appliances for the extinction of fires being of the latest and most improved kind, the department is amply equipped for service, and it must be a great and stubborn conflagration that it can not success- fully resist.

In this connection it may be interesting to know something of the beginnings of the fire department. About the middle of December, 1800, a good deal of incen- diarism occurred in the infant settlement, and the people were greatly alarmed. As the town at this time consisted of less than 800 inhabitants, and was far in the wilderness, nothing had been done in the way of fire protection. The recurrence of more fires a year later, however, had the effect of arousing the people, and the ques- tion of providing means to combat fire was seriously discussed. A meeting was . held to consider the matter, but nothing came of it, as there were yet no village authorities to give the movement municipal authority. But in 1802, when Cincin- nati received its first village charter, a meeting of citizens was held July 14, in the new courthouse, to pass upon the expenditure of forty-six dollars appropriated by the select council-of which twelve dollars were to be used for six fire ladders, and a like sum for as many fire hooks. With these public equipments the villagers had to be contented until 1808, when the council bought the first fire engine. Pre- vious to this, however, everyone able to labor was required to be on hand with his long leather fire bucket, and form in line to the river to pass buckets with water,

HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

when a fire broke out. Every householder was required to keep one of these hung up, marked, and ready for instant use.

The Union Fire Company, comprising nearly all the men and well grown boys in `the village, was organized the same year the engine was bought. Its organization proved inefficient, and a second company was formed about 1815. A second engine had been provided for, but it had not been purchased.

In 1819, the year Cincinnati became a city, there were two engines owned by the corporation, but they were not kept in repair, and in case of fire the people had to depend on their leathern buckets. By 1825 a better state of affairs existed. The city had four engines, one hose company, one hook and ladder company, a protec- tion company and a protection society. Thomas Tucker was chief engineer and Jeremiah Kiersted assistant. There were one hundred and fifty-five firemen and sixteen fire wreckers. The department improved gradually. In 1829 nine organ- ized companies composed the fire department, with John L. Avery as president.

As the city grew the fire department increased in strength and efficiency. Under a charter granted in 1830, The Cincinnati Independent Fire Engine and Hose Com- pany was organized. The fire apparatus was valued at four thousand dollars. There were an " eight inch double chamber engine of thirty-four men power, and a suction engine, with double seven-inch chambers of thirty-mien power." Both engines were finished in the best style of the time. George W. Neff was president of the company, and as such he really became the founder of the fire department of Cincinnati, and deserves more than a passing notice.

George W. Neff was a native of Pennsylvania, born at Frankfort May 19, 1800. He was the youngest son of Peter and Rebecca Neff, and losing his father when only four years of age, was left under the care of a pious mother. At the village school he received the rudiments of a common English education. Afterward he was fitted for college by Rev. Dr. Finley, entered Princeton in 1816, where he graduated with distinguished honor in 1818. Soon after leaving the college he commenced the study of the law with the celebrated Horace Binney, of Philadelphia, and was admitted to practice in 1821. He remained in that city engaged at his profession for three years, when he was induced by his brothers, in 1824, to come to Cincinnati and engage in the mercantile business with them. He remained here during the balance of his life. His public spirit and benevolence, coupled with every judicious project for the improvement of the city, greatly endeared him to the people. He was the first president of the Little Miami Railroad Company; he drew up the charter of the Firemen's Insurance Company and had it passed, and was the president from the foundation until his death. For many years he was a director in the Lafayette Bank; was president of the city council for a series of years, and a trustee in Lane Seminary, and aided greatly in establishing Spring Grove Cemetery. He died August 9, 1850, and his funeral was one of the largest ever seen in Cincinnati.

The first steam fire engine was made in Cincinnati in 1852-53 by Mr. Latta, and soon revolutionized the entire fire service. It weighed twelve tons and required four horses to drag it to a fire; it was called the "Uncle John Ross." From this time on there was rapid improvement in the fire service. In 1858 there were seven steam fire engines in use, and in two years the number was increased to eleven. The self-propelling engines were introduced about this time; and in 1864 a splendid new machine of this kind, called the "John F. Torrence," was purchased for seven thousand dollars. Four years later the "A. B. Latta " was added, named after the builder of the first steam fire engine in Cincinnati.

As early as 1853 steps had been taken for the organization of a paid fire depart- ment through the efforts of Miles Greenwood, who for a long time paid the cost out of his own pocket and battled with the volunteer department. He succeeded, was reimbursed by the city, and the paid service was finally established and soon became popular with the people.

HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDEN.

One of the chief attractions that Cincinnati offers to visitors is the Zoological Garden, situated in the northern part of the city, between the suburbs of Clifton and Avondale. Mr. Charles F. McLean, secretary, in his little " Book About the Zoo," tells us that the one person to whom Cincinnati is indebted for its Zoological Garden, for its origin and continuance, is the late Andrew Erkenbrecher. Other public- spirited citizens contributed to make it a possibility, giving both time and money; but without the constant and unremitting labors, the enthusiasm, the financial aid, and never flagging interest of this man, it probably would not have been founded. At a meeting of the Society of Acclimatization, held in June, 1873, a zoological gar- den for Cincinnati was first discussed. Great interest was awakened, and within a month the project had taken root. The incorporation of a stock company was arranged for, and in a short time a large amount of stock had been subscribed and a board of directors elected.

A fruitless effort was made to obtain from the city authorities the use of a por- tion of Burnet Woods Park for the garden. The society then purchased the present grounds, and so far as known this garden is the only institution of the kind in the world that is not located on land, the use of which was donated by the city that the garden benefits.

The society purchased sixty-seven acres of ground, and prepared to found the garden. The location possessed many picturesque and charming landscape beauties, and its diversity necessitated a vast amount of grading and preparation before the necessary buildings could be erected. These, when completed, were models of their kind for architectural beauty and durability, but they cost a large sum of money. Many thousands more were spent in bridging ravines, laying out avenues, and other- wise supplementing the beauties of nature. Thus, when the garden was first opened to the public on the 18th of September, 1875, the amount of money expended was beyond the most liberal of the original estimates. The vast expense, too, of collect- ing and keeping up a great menagerie was scarcely appreciated at that time. The receipts did not reach the expectations of the founders, and the outlook was not encouraging. The debt increased, and in a few years the garden's existence was in jeopardy. Tbis brought about a new management. A portion of the land was sold and the debt greatly reduced. In a short time business began to increase under the new life which had been infused, and the finances were soon in better condition. Entertainments for the purpose of attracting the attention of the public were gotten up; musical night fetes were established, and artists of high standing engaged. These soon became very popular, and business steadily increased from year to year, until 1893, when the garden became practically self-supporting, and it is the only zoological garden in the world to-day without state or municipal assistance.

The grounds at present cover forty-five acres, comprising woodland, plateau and ravine. In the beauty of its landscape it is not surpassed by any other garden in this or foreign countries. All the principal buildings are of stone and iron, and cost over three hundred thousand dollars. The collection of wild animals and rare birds usually numbers about fifteen hundred. Since the exhibition has become self-sus- taining the debt of $125,000 will rapidly decrease, and therefore enable the society to make more improvements and additions to the attractions. The receipts for 1892 were $54,314.22; expenditures, $46,623.59, leaving a profit of $7,690.63. The figures for 1893, at this writing (November), are not yet available. At this time the "Zoo" represents an outlay of fully three-quarters of a million of dollars, and it is a source of pride to its founders and friends that it has so soon been placed on a solid basis. The society is officered as follows: President, A. E. Burkhardt; vice- president, George Fisher; treasurer, Albert Erkenbrecher; superintendent, S. A. Stephan; secretary and manager, Charles F. McLean; and a board of nine directors.

HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

BANKS AND BANKING.

The banking facilities of Cincinnati are ample. At the present there are seven- teen national and private banks, six in Covington and three in Newport. The com- bined capital of these twenty-six banks amounts to nearly thirteen millions of dollars. Of the foregoing, Cincinnati has thirteen national banks; and during the panic of 1893 they all withstood the pressure in the most satisfactory manner, owing to the care and conservatism exercised by their officers. These thirteen banks have a com- bined capital of $9,600,000, and a surplus of $2,745,000.

The first banking institution in Cincinnati was the " Miami Exporting Company." It was chartered at the first meeting of the General Assembly of Ohio for the term of forty years. Its primary object was to reduce the difficulty and expense of trans- portation to New Orleans. Banking was at first a secondary consideration, though its charter permitted the issue of a circulating medium. In 1807, on the 1st of March, it gave over all commercial schemes and launched out into banking. Its capital stock was $150,000. After a prosperous career for several years it went into decline and failed January 10, 1842. The Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank, founded in 1812, failed the following day, and a riot ensued, causing the destruction of con- siderable property. In 1814 the Bank of Cincinnati opened. The second bank established by the Federal Government received its charter from Congress in April, 1816. The next year a branch was opened in Cincinnati. A stormy financial period soon followed, caused by an effort to compel the United States Bank to retire from the field, the legislature having imposed a heavy tax, which the bank refused to pay. Litigation followed, but the bank finally had to retire. It caused the ruin of many citizens.

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History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 13

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati Publication date: 1894 Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson Number of Pages: 1592

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1592