History of Cincinnati

Native Americans of the Fort Ancient people From about 900 to 1600 CE, during the Late Prehistoric Period, a cultural group called the Fort Ancient people lived in southwest Ohio. Shawnee, as well as Siouan speakers such as the Mosopelea and Tutelo are believed by some scholars to be their descendants, were hunter-gatherers who established villages during the summers and followed and hunted animal populations in the winter throughout the Ohio River Valley. Men hunted and protected their tribes, while women gathered food and farmed crops. They constructed wigwams for lodging in the villages. Like other tribes in Ohio—the Ojibwe, Miami and Lenape people—their language is of the Algonquian languages family. , which may be the largest continuously occupied hilltop Native American site in the United States. Their way of life changed, beginning in the mid-1600s, as people of European descent encroached on their hunting and summer lands and became competitors of Europeans and other Native American tribes in the ensuing fur trade of British and French fur traders. Their options for redress were to search for unoccupied land, destroy colonial settlements, or fight. Many Shawnee and other tribes were temporarily driven out of Ohio beginning in the 1640s by the Iroquois Confederacy who hunted deer, beaver, and other fur-bearing animals. According to the State of Ohio’s “Ohio Memory” historical research site, “The Shawnee, and other tribes with claims to Ohio lands, could return in 1701 when the Treaty of Grande Paix ended the Iroquois’ campaign in the Ohio Country, but American Indians continued to struggle with other tribes against the colonies over land disputes.” Hearing of the possibilities, a Continental Congress delegate John Cleves Symmes, purchased one Three initial settlements that delivered pioneers to the three settlements: Columbia, Losantiville, and North Bend that would become Cincinnati. Pioneers came on flatboats along the Ohio River to settle what would become Cincinnati, They settled at the present site of Lunken Airport, where they built a blockhouse and log cabins, partially using wood from their flatboats. Losantiville On December 28, 1788, eleven families with 24 men landed across from Licking River at what would be Sycamore Street and at present-day Yeatman's Cove. who scouted the area on September 22, 1788 with Mathias Denman, and Colonel Robert Patterson. Filson disappeared in October 1788, In 1789, Fort Washington was constructed under the direction of General Josiah Harmar and was named in honor of President George Washington. It was built in the north-east corner of Losantiville possibly at the suggestion of the surveyor Israel Ludlow. The society gets its name from Cincinnatus, the Roman general and farmer who saved the city of Rome from destruction and then quietly retired to his farm. Cincinnati established James Smith as the first town marshall; the following year the town started a "night watch". There were about 1,000 civilian residents in 1803, the military abandoned Fort Washington. By 1820, there were nearly 10,000 residents. The introduction of steam navigation on the Ohio River in 1811 helped the city grow. figures prominently in this 1841 lithograph view of Cincinnati In addition to providing supplies for travelers, in the early 19th century there was a wide range of service-based businesses—including restaurants, taverns, and hotels—to meet traveler's needs. Transportation on the Ohio River also assisted in the city's growth. Crops were sent to one of Ohio's major markets, New Orleans, along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Transportation costs were reduced for shipping crops or goods from western Ohio to Cincinnati due to the Miami and Erie Canal. Steamboats were repaired and built in the city. It became a meatpacking center, where livestock was slaughtered and butchered and sold in Cincinnati or shipped. Cincinnati became known as the "Porkopolis" when it became the pork-processing center of the country. ==Incorporation and pre-Civil War==

It was chartered as a city by an act of the General Assembly that passed February 5, 1819, and took effect on March 1 of that year. The same year, Cincinnati began publishing city directories, listing the names of the residents, their occupations, and their residential addresses. These old directories remain a valuable resource for people seeking information about early residents. The Medical College of Ohio was founded by Daniel Drake in 1819. Abolitionists and the Underground Railroad , The Underground Railroad, 1893, Cincinnati Art Museum Cincinnati was an important stop for the Underground Railroad in pre-Civil War times. It bordered a southern slave state, Kentucky, and is often mentioned as a destination for many people escaping the bonds of slavery. There are many harrowing stories involving abolitionists, runaways, slave traders and free men. Allen Temple African Methodist Episcopal Church was founded in 1824 as the first Black church in Ohio. It was an important stop on the Underground Railroad for many years. It seeded many other congregations in the city, across the state, and throughout the Midwest. Lane Theological Seminary was established in the Walnut Hills section of Cincinnati in 1829 to educate Presbyterian ministers. Prominent New England pastor Lyman Beecher moved his family (Harriet and son Henry) from Boston to Cincinnati to become the first President of the Seminary in 1832. Lane Seminary is known primarily for the "debates" held there in 1834 that influenced the nation's thinking about slavery. Several of those involved went on to play an important role in the abolitionist movement and the buildup to the American Civil War. , "The Fugitives are Safe in a Free Land" for Harriet Beecher Stowe's ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (1852). It shows characters of George Harris, Eliza, Harry, and Mrs. Smyth. Abolitionist author Harriet Beecher Stowe lived in Cincinnati for part of her life. and is credited with helping to fuel the abolitionist cause in the United States prior to the American Civil War. In the first year after it was published, 300,000 copies of the book were sold. In his 1985 book ''Uncle Tom's Cabin and American Culture, Thomas Gossett observed that "in 1872 a biographer of Horace Greeley would argue that the chief force in developing support for the Republican Party in the 1850s had been Uncle Tom's Cabin''." The Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Cincinnati is located at 2950 Gilbert Avenue, and it is open to the public. The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, located in downtown Cincinnati on the banks of the Ohio River, largely focuses on the history of slavery in the U.S., but has an underlying mission of promoting freedom in a contemporary fashion for the world. Its grand opening ceremony in 2002 was a gala event involving many national stars, musical acts, fireworks, and a visit from the current First Lady of the United States. It is physically located between Great American Ballpark and Paycor Stadium, which were both built and opened shortly before the Freedom Center was opened. Race relations before the Civil War map, which shows the northerly route from Cincinnati. Situated across the Ohio River from the southern border state of Kentucky, which allowed slavery, while slavery was illegal in Ohio, Cincinnati was a natural destination or part of a northerly route for people escaping slavery. Anti-slavery tracts and newspapers were published in Cincinnati to send to the South. Another riot occurred in 1841. Irish and German immigrants settled in Cincinnati and beginning in the 1830s there were some people who did not accept people of other backgrounds. They were targeted by the temperance movement because they were perceived to be heavy drinkers. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote of the vineyards in Cincinnati of Nicholas Longworth in the last stanza of his poem Catawba Wine in 1854: Cincinnati also is known as the "City of Seven Hills". The hills form a crescent from the east bank of the Ohio River to the west bank: Mount Adams, Mount Auburn, Vine Street Hill, Fairview, Fairmount, Mount Harrison, and Price Hill. ==Civil War==

During the American Civil War, many people in the area were "Southern sympathizers" due to Cincinnati's commerce with slave states and history of settlement by southerners from eastern states. Cincinnati played a key role as a major source of supplies and troops for the Union Army; (1862). During the American Civil War, an eight-mile line of defense was built by Cincinnatians along the Ohio River to protect the city. One of the batteries, Battery Hooper, became the site of the James A. Ramage Civil War Museum in Fort Wright, Kentucky. Due to the efforts of the Black Brigade of Cincinnati and the Defense of Cincinnati, forces established to defend Cincinnati did not need to fire a shot during the Civil War. ==Post Civil War and late 19th century history==

by A. C. Warren With nearly 300,000 people, it was the state's largest city, and it was the country's densest population with an average of 37,143 people per square mile. Thirteen governors for the state of Ohio came from Cincinnati: Charles Anderson, Richard M. Bishop, John Brough, Ethan Allen Brown, Salmon P. Chase, Jacob Cox, William Dennison Jr., Joseph B. Foraker, Rutherford B. Hayes, George Hoadly, Othniel Looker, Edward Noyes, and Thomas L. Young. Commerce In 1879, Procter & Gamble, one of Cincinnati's major soap manufacturers, began marketing Ivory Soap. It was marketed as "light enough to float." After a fire at the first factory, Procter & Gamble moved to a new factory on the Mill Creek and renewed soap production. The area became known as Ivorydale. Cincinnati was the first municipality to own a railroad, the Cincinnati Southern in 1880. In 1887, industries in Cincinnati produced more than 200 million dollars in goods and employed 103,325 people. It had become "an important industrial, political, literary, and educational center in both Ohio and the United States" by 1890. ==20th and 21st century==

The city's population did not increase much over the 20th century. In the 1880s there were 300,000 people and in 2000 there were 365,000 people living within 77 square miles. But, there are more than 1.8 million people living in Cincinnati's suburbs. World War II Due to isolationism and disillusion that the world was not "safe for democracy" after World War I, many people were initially reluctant to become involved in World War II (1939–1945) until the attack on Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941). Others, though, had felt for a while that it was in the best interest of the United States to enter the war. Secretary of War, Henry L. Stimson, said "My first feeling was of relief that the indecision was over and that a crisis had come in a way which would unite all our people." As in World War I, Cincinnatians rallied to support the war. They planted victory gardens, organized bond drives, bought bonds, and retooled factories. Goods were collected that were needed for the war, such as rubber and various types of scrap metal (e.g., copper, iron, etc.). There were also conservation efforts that helped ensure that necessary goods were available to meet the military's needs. Local boards issued ration books for scarce consumable products, like butter, meat, sugar, coffee, gasoline, and tires. After World War II, Cincinnati unveiled a master plan for urban renewal that resulted in modernization of the inner city. Since the 1950s, $250 million was spent on improving neighborhoods, building clean and safe low- and moderate-income housing, provide jobs and stimulate economic growth. The City of Cincinnati and Hamilton County developed the Banks - an urban neighborhood along the city's riverfront including restaurants, clubs, offices, and homes with skyline views. Groundbreaking took place on April 2, 2008. Adjacent is Smale Riverfront Park, a "front porch" to Ohio. A 3.6-mile streetcar line running through downtown and Over the Rhine was completed in 2015 and called the Cincinnati Bell Connector. Commerce American Financial Group, Cinergy, Kroger, Procter & Gamble, E. W. Scripps Company, and Totes Isotoner are among the corporations that have their regional or national headquarters in the city. Boy Scouts "The Sons of Daniel Boone", a forerunner to the Boy Scouts of America, began in Cincinnati in 1905. Because of the city's rich German heritage, the pre-prohibition era allowed Cincinnati to become a national forerunner in the brewing industry. Media During experimentation for six years (until 1939), Cincinnati's AM radio station, WLW was the first to broadcast at 500,000 watts. In 1943, King Records (and its subsidiary, Queen Records) was founded, and went on to record early music by artists who became highly successful and influential in Country, R&B, and Rock. WCET-TV was the first licensed public television station, established in 1954. Cincinnati is home to radio's WEBN 102.7 FM, the longest-running album-oriented rock station in the United States, first airing in 1967. In 1976, the Cincinnati Stock Exchange became the nation's first all-electronic trading market. Race relations There have been many incidents of race-based violence before and after the Civil War with the most notable and most recent one being the 2001 Cincinnati Riots. Disasters Cincinnati has experienced multiple floods in its history. The largest being the Ohio River flood of 1937 where the hydrograph measured a river depth of 80 feet—55 feet above normal levels. On December 3, 1979, 11 persons were killed in a crowd crush at the entrance of Riverfront Coliseum for a rock concert by the British band The Who. Being in the Midwest, Cincinnati has also experienced several violent tornadoes. Of the 1974 Super Outbreak tornadoes, a F5 crossed the Ohio River from northern Kentucky into Sayler Park, the westernmost portion of the city along the Ohio River. The tornado then continued north into the suburbs of Mack, Bridgetown and Dent before weakening. The parent thunderstorm went on to produce another violet F4 that touched down in Elmwood Place and Arlington Heights before leaving the city limits and tracking toward Mason, Ohio. Three people lost their lives, while over another 100 were injured in both of these tornadoes. In the early morning hours of 9 April 1999, another violent tornado grazed the Cincinnati Metro, in the suburb of Blue Ash. It was rated an F4 killing 4 residents. == See also ==