USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > The city of Cincinnati : a summary of its attractions, advantages, institutions and internal improvements, with a statement of its public charities > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13
The pages immediately succeeding will furnish an idea of the characteristics of different quarters of the city, and a carriage drive of three or four hours will suffice to visit them. Descriptions are also given of the public buildings and works that are worthy of par- ticular attention.
It would be too much for one day, however, to do justice to the various institutions of Cincinnati, in vis- iting them upon a tour of inspection. A day may be most delightfully spent in a tour among the suburban attractions of the city, including that unrivaled of Amer- ican cemeteries, Spring Grove. Many visitors also make this city the point of departure upon excursions to the Mammoth Cave and Yellow Springs.
In the city itself, Fourth Street is the center of attrac- tion. There are few more brilliant scenes than it pre- sents upon bright afternoons in the spring or fall, when it is thronged with promenaders, and glittering with the gay and costly cquipages of wealth.
Looking down from Fourth Street, one may behold upon the terrace below, convenient to the river, and
25
THE CITY OF CINCINNATI.
yet secure from its invasion, the movements belonging to vast manufactures and commerce. He will remem- ber that a territory nearly three times as large as Great Britain draws thence its principal supplies. Some of that immense variety of merchandise will find a desti- nation, by rail or steamer, thousands of miles away- perchance reaching the shores of the Old World. Ex- tending between Main Street and Broadway is a splen- did levee, one thousand feet long, with an area of ten acres, lined with capacious steamboats. This, with its narrower extensions up and down the river, is the scene of remarkable activity. "A traveler must, indeed, be difficult to please who can not find a boat bound to a place he would like to visit. From far back in the coal- mines of the Youghiogheny to high up the Red River -from St. Paul to New Orleans and all intermediate ports-one has but to pay his money, and take his choice of the towns upon sixteen thousand miles of navigable waters."
There is a striking view from the levee of the new wire-suspension bridge, which, as James Parton writes, springs out from the summit of the broad, steep levee to a lofty tower (two hundred feet high) near the wa- ter's edge, and then, at one leap, clears the whole river, and lands upon another tower upon the Covington side. From tower to tower is one thousand and fifty- seven feet; the entire length of the bridge is two thou-
26
THE CITY OF CINCINNATI.
sand two hundred and fifty-two feet, and it is hung one hundred feet above low-water mark by two cables of wire. Seen from below, and at a little distance, it looks like gossamer-work, and as though the wind could blow it away, and waft its filmy fragments out of sight; but the tread of a drove of elephants would not bend or jar it. The Rock of Gibraltar does not feel firmer under foot than this spider-web of a bridge, over which endless trains of vehicles and pedestrians pass one another. It is estimated that, besides its own weight of six hundred tons, it would bear a burden of sixteen thousand tons. This remarkable work, constructed at a cost of nearly two million dollars, was begun twelve years ago, and has taxed the patience and faith of its projectors severe- ly ; but, now that it is finished, Cincinnatians justly look upon it with great pride. One taking the street cars upon Front Street, at the northern terminus of this bridge, may in an hour's ride pass over two suspension bridges, each flung across a navigable river, and will have been, dur- ing his ride, in two States, three counties, and three cities.
The great staples of this market-iron, cotton, sugar, tobacco, etc .- are handled along Front, Water, and Sec- ond Streets, and their adjacencies. Pearl Street, north of Second, and parallel with it, is the center of opera- tions for an immense capital employed in distributing dry goods, notions, clothing, shoes, etc.
STROBRIDGE & CO LITH.CINCINNATI, (.
27
THE CITY OF CINCINNATI.
On Third Street are assembled most of the banks, insurance offices, agencies, lawyers' offices, etc. It is the Wall Street of Cincinnati.
Fourth Street displays to the visitor the magnificent retail establishments, and is the fashionable promenade of the city.
On Third Street, between Broadway and Lawrence Streets, the stranger may place himself on the former site of Fort Washington; all traces of which, however, have long since vanished. It was built in 1789, when the infant city was hourly in danger of incursion from the savages who roamed the interminable forests of the Miami country. The following description is taken from "Cist's Cincinnati in 1841:" "About the 1st of June, 1789, Major Doughty arrived with one hundred and forty men from Fort Harmar, on the Muskingum, and built four block-houses nearly opposite the mouth of Licking. When these were finished, within a lot of fifteen acres reserved by the United States, and imme- diately on the line of Third Street, between Broadway and Lawrence, he commenced the construction of Fort Washington. This building, of a square form, was simply a fortification of logs hewed and squared, each side about one hundred and eighty feet in length, formed into barracks two stories high. It was con- nected at the corners by high pickets with bastions or block-houses, also of hewed logs, and projecting about
28
THE CITY OF CINCINNATI.
ten feet in front of each side of the fort, so that the cannon placed within them could be brought to rake the walls. Extending along the whole front of the fort was a fine esplanade, about eighty feet wide, and in- closed with a handsome paling on the brow of the bank, the descent from which to the lower bottom was sloping about thirty feet. The exterior of the fort was white- washed, and, at a short distance, presented a handsome and imposing appearance. On the eastern side were the officers' gardens, freely cultivated and ornamented, with handsome summer-houses. The site of this build- ing is that part of Third Street opposite the Bazaar, and extending an average breadth of about sixty feet beyond the line of the street on both sides. It was completed by November, and on the 29th of the succeeding month General Harmar arrived with three hundred men and took possession of it."
Many of the dwellings of Cincinnati are remarkable for their handsome proportions and elegance of finish. The east end of Fourth Street, and contiguous portions of Broadway and Pike Streets, exhibit some palatial residences. An object of interest will be the mansion and spacious grounds once occupied by Nicholas Long- worth, who was at the time of his death, several years ago, the richest man in Cincinnati. This beautiful estate is now occupied by F. E. Suire, Esq.
Fourth Street, west of Central Avenue, also contains
29
THE CITY OF CINCINNATI.
many handsome dwellings. Prominent among them is the residence of Judge D. K. Este.
The West End, comprising a large district lying to the west of Central Avenue, includes the larger number of handsome and comfortable dwellings, and is rapidly growing in extent, beauty, and population.
The district between the Miami Canal, on the south and west, and the hills on the north, contains a popula- tion of almost entirely German descent or birth, the number of which is estimated at eighty thousand. This district is known as " Over the Rhine," the Miami Canal receiving this sobriquet. Residents of the city during the Know-Nothing excitement of 1854, well remember the sluggish stream as marking the boundary beyond which it was dangerous for some obnoxious native Americans to venture among the excited foreigners, who are now, as they have ever been, a most valuable element of the population.
Millcreek is at present the western boundary of the city. Plans are maturing to subdue this stream and bring into service a large additional territory which at present is subject to annual inundations. Many acres, which now, every year, at a certain season, are turned into a vast lake by the backwater of the Ohio, will then be covered with valuable improvements, and extend the densely-built city to the base of the western hills.
Upon reaching the heights north of the city, the
30
THE CITY OF CINCINNATI.
scene presented to the eye is one of extraordinary beauty. Three hundred and fifty feet above the river, the position commands a view of portions of two States, three cities, numerous villages, the graceful curve of the river, and the grand sweep of hills. Cincinnati, Cov- ington, and Newport-the two latter divided by the Licking River-and the United States military post on its eastern bank, lie off to the south. On the east may be seen the bold front of Mt. Adams, with its observa- tory, founded by the distinguished astronomer and noble patriot, O. M. Mitchel, and the beautiful suburb of Walnut Hills; on the west, the magnificent range of hills and the great river winding onward in its ceaseless course toward the Father of Waters. The beautiful suburb of Clifton, with its magnificent country seats, is also visible. Away to the north the eye sweeps over the beautiful highlands, with their splendid mansions and inviting drives, and takes in a portion of the peaceful valley holding in its embrace that most beautiful of cemeteries, Spring Grove. In a clear atmosphere, the charming village of Glendale, twelve miles distant, may be seen. The eye falls also upon the range of hills which bristled with fortifications during the civil war, when Cincinnati was almost a "border city." In 1862, when the city was menaced with attack by a strong army pushing up through Kentucky, every hill- top had its breastworks and heavy cannon, while the
31
THE CITY OF CINCINNATI.
approaches south of Covington were held by a force numbering at one time not far from twenty-five thou- sand men.
Across the river, before the present magnificent suspen- sion bridge was completed, stretched a pontoon bridge, over which many regiments of troops and endless trains of artillery, wagons, and munitions of war, thundered over into the "Dark and Bloody Ground," then most true to its ancient name.
Martial law was first declared in Cincinnati, Septem- ber 5th, 1862. The ten days ensuing will be forever memorable in the annals of the city. In an article, entitled the "Siege of Cincinnati," T. Buchanan Read wrote thus vividly of them :
"The cheerful alacrity with which the people rose en masse to swell the ranks and crowd into the trench- es was a sight worth seeing, and, once seen, could not readily be forgotten. Here were the representatives of all nations and classes. The sturdy German, the lithe and gay-hearted Irishman, went, shoulder to shoulder, in defense of their adopted country. The man of money, the man of law, the merchant, the artist, and the artisan, swelled the lines hastening to the scene of action, armed either with musket, pick, or spade. Added to these was Dickson's long, dusky brigade of colored men, cheer- fully wending their way to labor on the fortifications. But the pleasantest and most picturesque sight of those
32
THE CITY OF CINCINNATI.
remarkable days was the almost endless stream of sturdy men who rushed to the rescue from the rural districts of the State. These were known as the Squirrel Hunters. They came in files, numbering thousands upon thou- sands, in all kinds of costumes, and armed with all kinds of fire-arms, but chiefly the deadly rifle, which they knew so well how to use. Old men, young men, middle-aged men, and often mere boys, dropped all their peculiar av- ocations, and with their leathern pouches full of bullets, and their ox-horns full of powder, poured into the city by every highway and byway in such numbers that it seemed as if the whole State of Ohio were peopled only with hunters, and that the spirit of Daniel Boone stood upon the hills opposite the city beckoning them into Kentucky.
"The pontoon bridge, which had been completed be- tween sundown and sundown, groaned day and night with the perpetual stream of life all setting southward. In three days, there were ten miles of intrenchments lining the hills, making a semicircle from the river above the city to the banks of the river below, and they were thickly manned from end to end.
"The river also afforded protection by its flotilla of gunboats improvised from the swarm of steamers which lay at the wharves. A storm of shot and shell, such as they had not dreamed of, would have played upon the advancing columns of an enemy, while the infantry,
33
THE CITY OF CINCINNATI.
pouring down from the fortifications, would have fallen upon the rear.
"The commanding general congratulated the citizens upon the rally and the result: 'Paris may have seen something like it in her revolutionary days, but the cities of America never did. Be proud that you have given them an example so splendid.'" The Queen City never surrendered.
The beauty of the surrounding hills, which exhibit the gentle and varying slopes peculiar to a limestone formation, is of wide celebrity. There would seem to be no end of eligible building sites in every direction, from which may be commanded most lovely prospects. Many of the mornings in the late summer, when, be- neath the rays of the sun, the fog from the river fills all the valley below, afford, from any of the adjacent summits, a view of surpassing beauty. The spectator beholds stretching away from his feet an unbroken expanse, presenting the appearance of a placid lake. Gradually, as the sun ascends the sky, the dense va- pors are elevated to rarer regions, and there are dis- closed to view the city, the river, the villages, the nu- merous steamboats, and all the busy life of the valley. More enchanting are the moonlight scenes, when the valley below is wrapped in a mantle of mist, and the beholder may people the weird and shadowy stillness with all the fantastic creations of the imagination.
3
34
THE CITY OF CINCINNATI.
But not the least among the chief attractions of Cincin- nati will be its suburbs. These are described at length in a volume soon to be published, a reference to which will amply repay the reader. The vicinity of no city on the continent can furnish more enjoyable drives, more splendid landscape views, or more beautiful residences. The Prince of Wales' party, in 1860, pronounced the suburbs of Cincinnati the finest they had ever seen. All the different suburban localities will amply repay a visit, but no visitor to Cincinnati should fail to see Clifton, Mount Auburn, and East Walnut Hills. Trav- elers from all parts of America and Europe have de- clared the prospects from various points in these local- ities unequaled in beauty anywhere. Particularly may this be said in the autumn, when the Western forests are in their glorious array of color. Here may also be seen the homes of wealth and taste, where nature and art seem to have vied with each other in the produc- tion of palatial abodes which might excite the envy of royalty itself. A whole day is not too much to spend in visiting the suburbs, but four hours will suffice to make a shorter circuit, taking in the points already named.
Of great prominence among the objects of interest which Cincinnati offers to the stranger is SPRING GROVE CEMETERY. In natural beauty, it is the finest in the world.
35
THE CITY OF CINCINNATI.
This cemetery is situated in the valley of the Mah- ket-e-wa (the Indian name of Millcreek), three miles north of the present limits of Cincinnati. It is ap- proached by an avenue one hundred feet wide, which is a most beautiful drive. The grounds were selected in 1844, and now contain, with later additions, four hun- dred and forty-three acres. The numerous springs and groves of noble forest trees suggested the name. The first Board of Directors consisted of the following gen- tlemen: Robert Buchanan, William Neff, A. H. Ernst, David Loring, Nathaniel Wright, Griffin Taylor, Charles Stetson, J. C. Culbertson, R. G. Mitchell.
The entrance buildings are in the Norman Gothic style of architecture, and cost over fifty thousand dol- lars. The undulating surface of the ground displays, to the best advantage, the abundant water and forest scen- ery. Avenues, twenty feet in width, conform to its picturesque character. On every hand are visible evi- dences of the excellent care of the Superintendent, A. STRAUCH. The entire absence of fences around lots gives the whole the harmony and pleasantness of a park. The monuments are remarkable for their vari- ety and good taste. 1417482
The Soldiers' Monument, at the junction of Lake Shore and Central Avenues, was erected in 1864. It is a bronze statue, on a granite pedestal, representing a United States soldier standing on guard. The design
36
THE CITY OF CINCINNATI.
was furnished by the sculptor, Randolph Rogers, and the work was cast by Frederick Von Müller, at Munich.
The Dexter mausoleum is the largest and most ele- gant structure at the present time. It represents a Gothic chapel, and was executed under the care of James K. Wilson, Esq., of Cincinnati.
The Burnet mausoleum is also a costly work of most beautiful design.
There are tasteful chapels which will attract atten- tion, among which are those belonging to the following names: Strader, Selves, Bodman, Worthington, Wig- gins, Gaylord, Taylor, Hall, Haynes, and Brown. Mar- ble, Aberdeen and Quincy granite, and brown stone, have been chiefly used for monumental purposes. The monuments belonging to the families mentioned below are notable for beauty of design and finish. They are those of Baum, Carlisle, Clearwater, Davenport, Davidson, Emery, Ernst, Gano, Hale, Hoffner, Holen- shade, Hosea, Harkness, Hulbert, Lawler, Longworth, Lytle, L'Hommedieu, Neff, Pendleton, Potter, Patter- son, Ringgold, Resor, Shillito, Spencer, Walker, Whet- stone, Wilshire, and Williams.
At Carthage, six miles from the city, are the Hamil- ton County Fair-grounds. Here, in September of each year, the annual county fair is held.
The Trotting Park, at which, in the spring and fall, are held the races, is about five miles from the city.
37
THE CITY OF CINCINNATI.
It may be reached either by railway or by convey- ance.
Cincinnati can offer drives of unsurpassed beauty to its visitors. Of those on Spring Grove Avenue, down the river road, across the bridge and out toward La- tonia Springs, south of Covington-and last, but not least, out over Mount Auburn, on "the Fifth Avenue of Cincinnati," and through Clifton-the half can not be told. They must be seen to be appreciated.
.A grand avenue has been suggested that will com- pletely encircle the city, and afford a drive which will be really magnificent. The plan is to start at a point on the western bank of Millcreek, near the Warsaw pike; thence skirting the base of the hills due north to the Badgeley Run road; thence sweeping around Spring Grove through the thickly-wooded lands of Judge Este; thence on a line due east across the entire rear of the city to the Montgomery road; thence further east to a point which would admit of a southern sweep into and through Pendleton and Columbia to the Xenia pike and into the city, thus completing the contemplated circle.
This avenue would intersect the Badgeley Run road, Hamilton road, Spring Grove Avenue, the Winton road, Carthage pike, Reading road, and Montgomery road, thus affording a drive of five, ten, or twenty miles, as inclination might prompt. Most of the drives which
38
THE CITY OF CINCINNATI.
be in the midst, as it were, of a continuous park, so beautiful is the forest along parts of the line.
There will now be given descriptions of the principal buildings and points of interest.
CINCINNATI HOSPITAL.
This imposing structure cost nearly a million dollars, and was opened to the public in January, 1869. It stands upon a large block of ground north of Twelfth Street, between Central Avenue and Plum Street.
The structure, in point of beauty, solidity, and con- venience, has not an equal in the country. It stands in a sort of hollow block or square, in the center of which has been placed a large fountain, which, during the hot days of summer, gently throws up many streams of fresh, cool water, moistening the atmosphere and re- freshing the shrubs and flowers. This ground will be ornamented with shade trees, shrubbery, and flowers. The main entrance is on Twelfth Street, about midway between Central Avenue and Plum Street. The dimen- sions of this central part are as follows: seventy-five feet wide by fifty feet deep, supporting a main entrance, with a spacious hall directly through the middle. Upon the first floor of this block the Superintendent and family have their apartments; and appropriate apartments, such as an apothecary room and dispensary, pathological museum, reception rooms, and a library
CINCINNATI HOSPITAL
LLMAN-ADAMS
٤
p
39
THE CITY OF CINCINNATI.
for the resident physician, are arranged. The base- ment has convenient rooms for storage purposes, and for the examination of drugs. There is also a labora- tory, laundry, and drying chamber, bathing rooms, cel- lars, and other places of a similar character.
The second story is devoted to the accommodation of officers for sleeping rooms, and a few private wards are on this floor for patients who wish to have extra care, and are able to pay for it.
The third story contains a large room that is intended for the operating lecture room, with seats for the ac- commodation of some seven hundred and fifty students. In addition to this lecture room, there are apartments expressly adapted for patients both before and after operation, rooms for operators and their instruments, lavatory and bath room.
The structure is of brick, with freestone finishings. A Mansard roof, in slate of variegated colors, extends the entire length. One section is surmounted by a dome and spire one hundred and ten feet high. The accompanying engraving will present an excellent view. No more complete or extensive building of its kind exists anywhere. The grounds are 448 by 340 feet.
CINCINNATI COLLEGE EDIFICE.
This edifice, on Walnut Street, between Fourth and Fifth, is one hundred and forty feet front by one hun-
40
THE CITY OF CINCINNATI.
dred deep, and is built of white limestone, in the Doric style. It is occupied in part by the Chamber of Com- merce, the Young Men's Mercantile Library, and the Law School of Cincinnati. The hall of the Chamber of Commerce is one hundred and thirty-six by fifty feet. This building belongs to the endowment of the Cincin- nati College, and the income annually accruing from it is swelling a fund, which, at no distant day, will contribute to erect a grand free university.
THE FACULTY OF THE LAW SCHOOL
are Bellamy Storer, LL. D., Professor of Legal Rights, including Real Estate, the Domestic Relations, and Pleadings and Practice; George Hoadly, Professor of Equity Jurisprudence; J. D. Cox, Professor of Com- mercial Law and Evidence.
THE COUNTY COURT-HOUSE,
on Main Street, north of Ninth, is a massive struct- ure, built of Dayton stone, costing at the time of its erection, before the era of high prices, $500,000. Im- mediately in the rear of it is the County Jail, with which there is subterranean connection.
The opposite engraving of this magnificent edifice will give a better idea of it to the reader than any
Lith of Strobridg
41
THE CITY OF CINCINNATI.
description. Here is transacted the multitudinous busi- ness pertaining to the civil administration of Hamilton County.
Here is the Law Library of the Cincinnati Bar, which is practically one of the best law libraries in the country, having been selected by practitioners with a view to the actual demands of practice. It contains the American, English, Irish, Canadian, and Nova Scotian Reports, and a large collection of American and English Statutes, besides the standard text-books.
THE OHIO MECHANICS INSTITUTE
is a substantial structure, on the corner of Sixth and Vine. It contains at present the rooms of the Public Library, and also is the temporary home of the Theo- logical and Religious Library. An engraving of it is presented.
The Tower of the Fire Department is on this build- ing. Its lofty summit commands a bird's-eye view of the whole city. From its deep-toued bell the midnight alarm of fire wakes the city with its dreadful note.
CHURCH EDIFICES.
Among the more costly and elegant church edifices, may be mentioned Trinity Methodist Episcopal, on Ninth Street, west of Race; St. John's Episcopal, cor-
42
THE CITY OF CINCINNATI.
ner of Plum and Seventh; First Presbyterian, on Fourth Street, near Main, with a steeple two hundred and seventy feet high ; Central Presbyterian, corner of Mound and Barr Streets; St. Xavier's Catholic, on Sycamore Street, near Seventh; and the Ninth Street Baptist, east of Race Street. The latter is considered to have the most tasteful audience room in the city. The congregation of Morris Chapel (Methodist) are engaged in the erection of an edifice which will, when completed, be the finest in Cincinnati. Their location is on the corner of Seventh and Smith Streets.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.