Historic Photos of Cincinnati , livre ebook

HISTORIC PHOTOS OF
CINCINNATI
The Genius of Water standing atop the Tyler Davidson Fountain is illuminated against the backdrop of the Carew Tower in the 1940s.
HISTORIC PHOTOS OF
CINCINNATI
T EXT AND CAPTIONS BY LINDA BAILEY
P HOTOS F ROM THE C OLLECTIONS OF C INCINNATI M USEUM C ENTER
Turner Publishing Company
200 4th Avenue North Suite 9
Nashville, Tennessee 37219
(615) 255-2665
www.turnerpublishing.com
Historic Photos of Cincinnati
Copyright 2006 Turner Publishing Company
All rights reserved.
This book or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2006905291
ISBN-13: 978-1-59652-267-1
ISBN: 1-59652-267-4
Printed in China
09 10 11 12 13 14-0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
C ONTENTS
A CKNOWLEDGMENTS
P REFACE
F ROM C IVIL W AR TO THE D AWN OF A N EW C ENTURY (1860-1899)
T HE E XPANDING C ITY : C INCINNATI E NTERS THE N EW C ENTURY (1900-1920)
F ROM THE R OARING T WENTIES TO THE G REAT D EPRESSION (1921-1939)
F ROM W ORLD W AR TO THE E MERGENCE OF THE M ODERN C ITY (1940-1960 S )
N OTES ON THE P HOTOGRAPHS
In the 1880 s and 1890 s, athletic and socially oriented bicycle clubs flourished. Brighton Bicycle Club members are lined up for the start of a race from Glendale to Hamilton in 1892.
A CKNOWLEDGMENTS
This volume, Historic Photos of Cincinnati , is the result of the cooperation and efforts of many individuals, organizations, institutions, and corporations. It is with great thanks that we acknowledge the valuable contribution of the following for their generous support:
Cincinnati Museum Center
Taft, Stettinius Hollister LLP
US Bank
We would also like to thank the following members of the staff of Cincinnati Museum Center for their valuable contribution and assistance in making this work possible:
Daniel Hurley, Assistant Vice President for History
Scott Gampfer, Director of History Collections-Chapter Essays
Tina Bamert, Scanning Technician-Scanning
Ruby Rogers, Library Director-Fact Checking and Proofreading
M Lissa Kesterman, Reference Librarian-Fact Checking and Proofreading
Anne Shepherd, Reference Librarian-Fact Checking and Proofreading
Laura Chace, Reference Librarian-Fact Checking and Proofreading
P REFACE
Cincinnati has thousands of beautiful and important historic photographs. This book began with the observation that, while those photographs are of great interest to many, they are not easily accessible. During a time when Cincinnati is looking ahead and evaluating its future course, many people are asking, How do we treat the past? These decisions affect every aspect of the city-architecture, public spaces, commerce, and infrastructure-and these, in turn, affect the way that people live their lives. This book seeks to provide easy access to a valuable, objective look into the history of Cincinnati.
The power of photographs is that they are less subjective in their treatment of history. While the photographer can make decisions regarding what subject matter to capture and some limited variation in its presentation, photographs do not provide the breadth of interpretation that text does. For this reason, they provide an original, untainted perspective that allows the viewer to interpret and observe.
This project represents countless hours of review and research. The researchers and authors have reviewed thousands of photographs from the Cincinnati Museum Center Archives. We greatly appreciate the generous assistance of the archivists listed in the acknowledgments of this work, without whom this project could not have been completed.
The goal in publishing this work is to provide broader access to this set of extraordinary photographs that seek to inspire, provide perspective, and evoke insight that might assist people who are responsible for determining Cincinnati s future. In addition, the book seeks to preserve the past with adequate respect and reverence.
With the exception of touching up imperfections caused by the damage of time, no other changes have been made. The focus and clarity of many images is limited to the technology and the ability of the photographer at the time they were taken.
The work is divided into eras. Beginning with some of the earliest known photographs of Cincinnati, the first section records photographs from pre-Civil War through the end of the nineteenth century. The second section spans the beginning of the twentieth century through the years following World War I. Section three moves from the roaring twenties to World War II. The last section covers World War II to the 1960s.
In each of these sections we have made an effort to capture various aspects of life through our selection of photographs. People, commerce, transportation, infrastructure, religious institutions and educational institutions have been included to provide a broad perspective.
We encourage readers to reflect as they go walking in Cincinnati, along the Ohio riverfront, or along Vine Street, or through parks and neighborhoods hidden in the hills. It is the publisher s hope that in utilizing this work, longtime residents will learn something new and that new residents will gain a perspective on where Cincinnati has been, so that each can contribute to its future.
- Todd Bottorff, Publisher
Center panel of a three-panel photographic panorama showing the Covington and Cincinnati Suspension Bridge under construction in 1865. Designed by master engineer John A. Roebling, the bridge was a prototype for New York s Brooklyn Bridge.
F ROM C IVIL W AR TO THE D AWN OF A N EW C ENTURY
1860-1899
Between the outbreak of the Civil War and the turn of the twentieth century, powerful forces sweeping America and its cities transformed Cincinnati and the people who called it home.
The outbreak of sectional violence in the spring of 1861 initially hurt the city whose major economic ties were still with the South. But as the war ground on, Cincinnati s critical position on the border and its manufacturing capacity allowed it to recover quickly. It would become one of the major industrial centers and supply depots for the Union cause.
The rise of railroads not only drove the explosive growth of cities like Chicago and Kansas City, but it set in motion a long, slow shift of the traditional activity center of the city from the riverfront to Third and Fourth Streets.
No longer America s fastest growing city, Cincinnatians invested in creating a series of enduring landmarks and institutions that made their city a national cultural leader-the Cincinnati Covington Suspension Bridge (1866), the Cincinnati Reds (1869), the Tyler Davidson Fountain (1871), the May Festival (1873), the Cincinnati Zoological Gardens (1873), Music Hall (1876), the Art Museum and Art Academy (1884, 1885) and the Symphony Orchestra (1895).
Aided by transportation innovations like inclines and electric streetcars, hundreds of thousands moved out of the basin onto the surrounding hilltops, sorting themselves out by economic class, religion and ethnicity. At the same time the traditional family-owned, craft-based workshops gave way to the industrial factory. The result was confusion and anger that found many expressions, including a terrible riot in March 1884 that left 56 people dead and the Hamilton County Court House, the symbol of justice, in ashes.
By 1900, Cincinnati was a fundamentally different place than the city of mid-century.

The Sixth Street market stretched from Central to Vine Street from 1826 to 1959. The huge market consisted of two market houses, one for meat, poultry and dairy products, and the other was filled with colorful flower stalls. Both were surrounded by fruit and vegetable stands that lined both sides of the street.

A group of men from Company B of the Cincinnati Zouaves pose for their portrait in 1868. An independent military organization, the Zouaves were known for their colorful uniforms consisting of dark blue jackets, scarlet baggy flannel trousers, and red fatigue caps.

Smartly attired Cincinnatians read the daily newspaper on the Commercial Gazette Building at Fourth and Race Streets in 1882. The area was known as Ladies Square for its fashionable shops.

The last horse-drawn streetcar on Fourth Street passes in front of the Rombach and Groene photograph studio about 1892.

Employees working in the General Office of the Procter and Gamble Company in 1892. This office was located on an upper floor of the United Bank Building at Third and Walnut Streets.

This multi-function office building stood on the northwest corner of Fourth and Race Streets. It housed offices of the architect Edwin Anderson, fresco painter, William Lay, and realtor J. C. Thomas, as well as Hurd s Pharmacy and the studio of photographers Marceau and Bellsmith. The building was replaced by the Neave Building in 1891.

In the 1890 s thoroughbred races replaced trotting at the Oakley Race Track. This photo shows the finish of the Prince Leaf race in 1896. Eventually, allegations of crooked gambling forced the track to close.

The Renaissance-style Temple Court Building was situated at the architecturally diverse intersection of Eighth and Plum Streets. Originally built in 1869-70 as the First Congregational Church (Unitarian), the building was remodeled for business use about 1890. In 1946 it was razed to make way for a gasoline service station.

The Guthrie Grays stop in front of the St. Nicholas Hotel as they parade along Fourth Street. This independent militia unit became the nucleus of the Sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War.

Troops during the 1884 Courthouse Riot.

Ohio National Guardsmen with their Gatling guns pose in front of Music Hall following the Courthouse Riot in March 1884. The mere presence of the Gatling g