The Ohio River Valley, where Cincinnati and Northern
Kentucky are situated, has long been known as a land
of special promise. For centuries, various American
Indian tribes revered the lush valley where several
smaller rivers join the Ohio River to be sacred
hunting grounds. Indians from throughout the
Midwest would travel to what is now Cincinnati to
hunt the huge herds of bison and other game that
frequented the area.
Word soon spread about this "promised land" as
European immigrants began to travel west during the
last half of the 18th century. Part of the
Northwest Territory ceded to the United States in
1783 by England, the area where Cincinnati now
exists was considered among the most fertile land on
the continent.
As the only spot along the Ohio River where the
steep hills did not come to the river's banks, the
area that would become Cincinnati was a natural
setting for a great city.
On December 28, 1788, a group of hearty pioneers
beached their riverboats directly across the Ohio
River from the mouth of Northern Kentucky's Licking
River, and Cincinnati was born.
After the Indian threat was ended through fierce
fighting in the mid-1790's, Cincinnati and Northern
Kentucky grew rapidly. Its dense forests and
fertile river valley soil provided area settlers
with ample natural resources. The superior river
transportation network created by the convergence of
the Ohio, Licking, and Great Miami rivers also
allowed local surpluses to be shipped to New Orleans
for nationwide distribution.
Cincinnati's agricultural riches quickly turned this
booming and boisterous river town into the nation's
top hog market, earning the city the nickname "Porkopolis"
by 1820. A wave of German immigrants also made
Cincinnati equally famous for its tasty beer and
German heritage, as it became the nation's top beer
producing (and consuming) city.
During the riverboat heydays of the 19th century,
Cincinnati was among the nation's largest and
busiest inland water ports. A major stop for
commercial and pleasure vessels traveling down the
Ohio to the Mississippi River and New Orleans,
Cincinnati's big-time city sophistication rivaled
that of almost any other city. Its sophistication
and growth was so renown that shortly after the
Civil War, the New York Times declared
Cincinnati to possess the most metropolitan
atmosphere of any city outside New York.
So rapid was the growth of Cincinnati that by 1860,
it was the sixth-largest US City and the
unquestioned manufacturing capital of the nation.
When New York Tribune editor Horace Greeley
wrote his famous lines in 1850, "Go West young man,
and grow up with the country," he was talking about
the Midwest and in particular, Cincinnati. Greeley
also predicted that, "within 50 years, Cincinnati
will become the greatest city on earth."
Such fame, fortune and location prompted many
influential people to advocate relocating the US
capital to Cincinnati as early as 1830. The
movement culminated in 1879 with an actual
convention in Cincinnati on moving the nation's
capital, where nothing was accomplished and the
movement died.
When the riverboat era faded into the railroad age
in the late 19th century, Cincinnati also
relinquished its title as the center of westward
migration and growth. Although it remained a
prosperous city, gone forever was Cincinnati's dream
of becoming the world's greatest metropolis as
giants such as Chicago and St. Louis mushroomed on
the western frontier.
As other cities were expanding in the pioneer spirit
Cincinnati long discarded, the city matured. The
"Queen City of the West" (a title made popular by
poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in 1854) embraced
its dominant German culture by creating large annual
cultural festivals and erecting nationally famous
cultural institutions like Music Hall, Cincinnati
Art Museum, and the Cincinnati Art Academy in the
late 1800's.
Cincinnati had slipped from sixth to ninth place in
population by 1900, but it remained one of the
nation's most important cities. A world
manufacturing leader in numerous industries such as
printing materials, shoes, leather goods, machine
tools and soap, Greater Cincinnati's labor force
paid one-sixth of the first national tax bill when
Federal income tax began in 1916.
The city gained the world's spotlight once again in
the early 1930's when Cincinnati had the distinction
of opening the world's largest municipal airport
(Lunken Airport) and train terminal (Union
Terminal). With its manufacturing clout in place,
Cincinnati played a key role in the World War II
effort by producing fighter plane engines and other
critical war materials.
Today, Greater Cincinnati finds itself a thriving,
mid-sized city that continues to be a leader in many
business and cultural affairs. Cincinnati is once
again among the country's fastest growing cities,
and it is attracting world attention with its
rapidly expanding airport and unusually strong
foreign export market.
Always a city with tremendous community pride,
Cincinnati grandly observed its 200th birthday in
1988 with a yearlong celebration that saw citizens
volunteer more than one million hours and $69
million. As part of the celebration, an expansive
city park was dedicated at the spot where the city
founders landed.
In 2000, the city went "hog wild" with its display
of fiberglass pigs. Described as the "Big Pig Gig,"
hundreds of individuals and corporate sponsors anted
up to display pigs of all sizes, shapes and
distinctions. The event, which raised money for
charity, was a huge success and a lot of fun.
