Cincinnati is a city in southwestern Ohio, United States that lies on the Ohio River and is the county seat of Hamilton County. The city's most common nicknames and abbreviations include "The Queen City", "Cincy", and "Cinti".
As of the 2000 census, Cincinnati population was 331,285, making it the third largest city in Ohio and the 55th largest in the United States. It has a much larger metropolitan area, commonly called "Greater Cincinnati", which covers parts of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. The Cincinnati-Middletown-Wilmington Combined Statistical Area has a population of 2,050,175 people and is the 18th largest in the country. It is home to major-league sports, including the Reds, the first professional baseball team, as well as the Bengals, and the historic international tennis tournament The Cincinnati Masters & Women's Open, as well as major corporations such as Procter & Gamble, Kroger, GE-Aviation, Federated Department Stores (owner of Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Lord & Taylor), Convergys, Chiquita Brands International, Great American Insurance Company, The E. W. Scripps Company, the U.S. Playing Card Company and Fifth Third Bank. It is notably considered the first major American "boomtown", rapidly springing up in the heart of the country in the early 19th century to rival the coastal metropolises in size and wealth. However, by the end of the century its growth unexpectedly stopped and it was surpassed by many other inland cities in population. Cincinnati is also known for being architecturally distinct, having the largest collection of 19th century Italianate architecture in the country, primarily concentrated in the neighborhood of Over-the-Rhine, just north of downtown.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 206.1 km² (79.6 mi²). 201.9 km² (78.0 mi²) of it is land and 4.1 km² (1.6 mi²) of it (2.01%) is water.
The Cincinnati-Middletown-Wilmington Combined Statistical Area has a population of 2,050,175 people and is the 18th largest in the country. It includes the Ohio counties of Hamilton, Butler, Warren, Clermont and Brown, as well as the Kentucky counties of Boone, Bracken, Campbell, Gallatin, Grant, Kenton, and Pendleton, and the Indiana counties of Dearborn, Franklin, and Ohio.
Cincinnati's unique geography nestles its neighborhoods in small basins and the hillsides that overlook them. Because of this, many of the city's neighborhoods developed very strong identities. Today's outer neighborhoods such as Clifton, Hyde Park, Mt. Washington and Carthage were originally settled as their own villages, with individual downtown sections of their own. Over-the-Rhine was an important neighborhood in German-American history. Northside also has its own identity.
Also highly important to the city's landscape is the division into "East and West Sides." The division came about after the construction of I-75, which runs North from Kentucky towards Dayton. The rivalry has been intense at times (limited violence or reported discrimination), but is considered mostly light-hearted, although a good number of city residents take the division more seriously. Accents, fashion, attitudes, city planning (i.e., the way the houses are laid out), financial demographics, and other items are some of the stereotypes and behaviors that separate the two distinctions. One description of such differences that many locals refer to is that East Siders are "fake" and West Siders are not. Another description of differences is the statement that the East side "has the money and spends it," and the West Side, "has the money and doesn't spend it." Though this division is often pointed to as a point of contention in the city, it has only led to limited incidents of violence or litigious discrimination, and is considered more of a "charming quirk" than a divisive hindrance to society.
In 1790, Arthur St. Clair, the governor of the Northwest Territory, changed the name of the settlement to "Cincinnati" in honor of the Society of the Cincinnati, of which he was president. The society honored General George Washington, who was considered a latter-day Cincinnatus—the Roman general who saved his city, then retired from power to his farm. To this day, Cincinnati in particular, and Ohio in general, are home to a disproportionately large number of descendants of Revolutionary War soldiers who were granted lands in the state.
In 1802, Cincinnati was chartered as a village, and in 1819, it was incorporated as a city. The introduction of steam navigation on the Ohio River in 1811 and the completion of the Miami and Erie Canal helped the city grow to 115,000 citizens by 1850. The nickname Porkopolis was coined around 1835, when Cincinnati was the country's chief hog packing center, and herds of pigs traveled the streets. Called the "Queen of the West" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (although this nickname was first used by a local newspaper in 1819), Cincinnati was an important stop on the Underground Railroad, which helped slaves escape from the South. Cincinnati is also known as the "City of Seven Hills." The seven hills are fully described in the June, 1853 edition of the West American Review, "Article III -- Cincinnati: Its Relations to the West and South." The hills form a crescent from the east bank of the Ohio River to the west bank: Mount Adams, Walnut Hills, Mount Auburn, Vine-street Hill, Fairmont, Mount Harrison and College Hill.
Cincinnati was the site of many historical beginnings. It was the first city in the United States to establish a Jewish Hospital in 1850. It is where America's first municipal fire department was established in 1853. Established in 1867, the Cincinnati Red Stockings (later, the Cincinnati Reds) became the world's first professional (all paid, no amateurs) baseball team in 1869. In 1935, major league baseball's first night game was played at Crosley Field. Cincinnati was the first to build and own a major railroad in 1880. In 1902, the world's first reinforced concrete skyscraper was built, the Ingalls Building. "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. During experimentation for 6 years (until 1939), Cincinnati's AM radio station, WLW was the first to broadcast at an astounding 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 WEBN, 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.
As a pioneer-era city, it compared with Pittsburgh and Nashville. As a "Riverboat" and canal-era city, it compared with Louisville, St. Louis and New Orleans. As an immigrant, industrial city it compared with Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Chicago, and Detroit.
Because of its river setting and extensive park system, many commentators have remarked on Cincinnati's beauty, including Winston Churchill, who called it "the most beautiful of America's inland cities." The city's picturesque skyline was used as a backdrop for the fictional city of Monticello on the soap opera The Edge of Night, one of the many soap operas sponsored by Cincinnati soap maker Procter & Gamble. In fact, Procter & Gamble created the genre of the "soap opera" when it helped launch the Ma Perkins radio program in 1933.
In August 1966, Cincinnati rock music fans had the privilege of seeing The Beatles perform at a large outdoor venue at Crosley Field. This was during the British group's final concert tour of the United States and Canada.
Tragedy struck the Cincinnati metropolitan area on May 28, 1977, when a suburban nightclub burned, taking the lives of 165 persons. The Beverly Hills Supper Club fire remains the third deadliest fire at a nightclub in American history.
One of the worst rock concert tragedies in United States history occurred in Cincinnati on December 3, 1979. Eleven people were killed in a rush for "festival seating" before a concert by The Who at Riverfront Coliseum (now U.S. Bank Arena). As a result, "festival seating" was banned at city venues until 2004.
The neighborhoods in Cincinnati are highly segregated. This separation does not appear explicitly created in lawbooks or social procedures but is easily seen when considering the density of one racial domination of a particular area. Typical distribution is most Blacks are closer to downtown (such as Over-the-Rhine, Avondale and Newport, KY) with White clusters (such as Mount Adams, University Heights, and Clifton). There are neighborhoods of high integration between Whites and Blacks but these are usually surrounded by other areas which are much more polarized.
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. Abolitionist author Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom' Cabin it was first published on March 20, 1852. The book was the best-selling novel of the 19th century (and the second best-selling book of the century after the Bible)[http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-uncletomscabin/intro.html Introduction to Uncle Tom's Cabin Study Guide. 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, Cincinnati, 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 U.S. It is physically located between Great American Ballpark and Paul Brown Stadium, which were both built and opened shortly before the Freedom Center was opened.
Cincinnati has a number of nicknames, including the "The Queen City," "The Queen of the West," "The Blue Chip City," "The City of Seven Hills," "Zinzinnati," "The Nasty Nati," "The Nasty" and "Porkopolis." Cincinnati is sometimes abbreviated to "Cincy," "Cinci," "Cinti" or "The 'Nati."
The city is governed by a nine-member city council, whose members are elected at large. Prior to 1924, city council was elected through a system of wards. The ward system lent itself to corruption and Cincinnati was run by the Republican political machine of Boss Cox from the 1880's through the 1920's with a few brief interludes. A reform movement arose in 1923, led by another Republican, Murray Seasongood. Seasongood eventually founded the Charter Committee, which used ballot initiatives in 1924 to eliminate the ward system and replace it with the current at-large system and also to introduce a city manager. From 1924 to 1957, the council was selected by proportional representation. As of 1957, all candidates run in a single race and the top nine vote-getters are elected (the "9-X system"). The mayor was selected by the council. Starting in 1987, the top vote-getter in the city council race automatically became mayor. Starting in 1999, the mayor was chosen in a separate election and the city manager accepted a lesser role in government; these reforms were referred to as the "strong mayor" reforms. Cincinnati politics includes the participation of the Charter Party, the third-party with the longest history of winning in local elections.
After the riots, violent crime has skyrocketed (but still well below the statistics in the 70's). The police force "work slowdown" correlates with this increase. It is important to note that Fangman repeatedly denied there was an organized effort for a slowdown, but many of his various recorded & public statements clearly discouraged pro-active policing repeatedly.
In May and June of 2006, the police created a task force focusing on a crackdown of crime reducing the crime rate of downtown Cincinnati by 29%. This marks a dramatic decrease in crime but has not reduced the crime levels to pre-riots/pre-work slowdown levels.
| City of Cincinnati Population by year * |
| 1810 - 2,540 |
As of the census of 2003, there were 317,361 people, 166,012 households, and 72,566 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,640.5/km² (4,249.0/mi²). There were 166,012 housing units at an average density of 822.1/km² (2,129.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 52.97% White, 42.92% Black or African American, 0.21% Native American, 1.55% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.63% from other races, and 1.68% from two or more races. 1.28% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 148,095 households out of which 25.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 26.6% were married couples living together, 18.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 51.0% were non-families. 42.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.15 and the average family size was 3.02.
The age distribution is 24.5% under the age of 18, 12.9% from 18 to 24, 31.6% from 25 to 44, 18.7% from 45 to 64, and 12.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 89.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $29,493, and the median income for a family was $37,543. Males had a median income of $33,063 versus $26,946 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,962. About 18.2% of families and 21.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 32.0% of those under age 18 and 14.8% of those age 65 or over.
There has been concerted effort by the local government to stem the tide of emigrants. The population of Cincinnati decreased by nine percent between 1990 and 2000. Many of those leaving are living in the suburbs just outside of Cincinnati (often considered "Greater Cincinnati"). Several reasons are mentioned for this phenomenon common to many American cities, including job opportunities, entertainment, racial tensions, education opportunities and others.
The Jewish population of Cincinnati at the turn of the century was estimated to be 15,000 while the Jewish population of the United States at that time was 1,522,500.
In 1998 the fountain underwent extensive restoration. In September 2005 the fountain was temporarily moved to the Cincinnati Art Museum while Fountain Square itself undergoes extensive renovation.
Fountain Square was featured in the credits of the television series WKRP in Cincinnati.
Cincinnatians also place a great value on the riverfront for its entertainment and economic benefits. The riverfront is home to both Paul Brown Stadium home of the Cincinnati Bengals, and to Great American Ball Park home of the Cincinnati Reds. Also the riverfront is home of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and to the planned "Banks" mixed commercial and residential facility. Also the annual WEBN Fireworks on Labor Day are celebrated at the river, as well as Tall Stacks, the largest gathering of steam riverboats in the nation. Also many cultural festivals are held at Sawyer Point, including the Cincinnati Blues Festival. The Cincinnati Celtic Festival, formerly held at Ault Park and historic Coney Island, is on hiatus for 2006 and is expected to return in 2007 under new management.
Cincinnati Public Schools operates the public schools in the city, including 16 high schools, each accepting students on a city-wide basis. The Cincinnati area is also home to a number of Catholic high schools, most of which are single-sex. The city of Cincinnati is also home to a variety of private schools.
| Public High Schools | Catholic High Schools | Private Schools |
| Aiken College & Career High School | Archbishop Elder High School | Cincinnati Country Day School |
| Aiken University High School | Bishop Fenwick High School – coed | Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy |
| Clark Montessori | La Salle High School | Miami Valley Christian Academy |
| Gilbert A. Dater High School | Mc Auley High School | Seven Hills School |
| Hughes Center | Our Lady of the Rosary | Summit Country Day School |
| Riverview East Academy | Archbishop McNicholas High School – coed | |
| School for Creative and Performing Arts | Archbishop Moeller High School | |
| Shroder Paideai Academy | Mother of Mercy High School | |
| Robert A. Taft Information Technology High School | Mount Notre Dame High School | |
| Virtual High School | Archbishop Purcell Marian High School – coed | |
| Walnut Hills High School | Roger Bacon High School – coed | |
| Western Hills Design Technology High School | St. Ursula Academy | |
| Western Hills University High School | St. Xavier High School | |
| Withrow International High School | Seton High School | |
| Withrow University High School | Ursuline Academy | |
| Woodward Career Technical High School | ||
| Call sign | Channel | Description |
| WLWT | Channel 5 | (NBC), owned by Hearst-Argyle |
| WCPO | Channel 9 | (ABC), owned by Scripps-Howard |
| WKRC | Channel 12 | (CBS), owned by Clear Channel |
| WXIX | Channel 19 | (FOX), owned by Raycom Media |
| WSTR-TV | Channel 64 | (WB), owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group |
| WOTH-LP | Channel 25 | (A1/UATV), owned by WBQC |
| WBQC-CA | Channel 38 | (UPN) |
| WCET | Channel 48 | (PBS) |
| Professional (equity) theater | Professional (non-equity) theater | Community (non-professional) theater | Educational theater |
| Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park | Know Theatre Tribe | Mariemont Players | University of Cincinnati |
| Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati | Clear Stage Cincinnati | Falcon Productions | Xavier University |
| Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival | Ovation Theatre Company | Northern Kentucky University | |
| Cincinnati Public Theatre | Cincinnati Music Theatre | ||
| Stage First Cincinnati | If Theatre Collective | ||
| New Edgecliff Theater | Showbiz Players | ||
| The Performance Gallery | The Nativity Players | ||
| The Children's Theatre | The East Side Players | ||
| Wyoming Players | |||
The suburb of Mason hosts the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters, one of the nine (men's) tennis events in the ATP Tennis Masters Series. Nearby Sparta, Kentucky is home to Kentucky Speedway.
In March, 2005 and 2006, the U.S. Bank Arena will host the Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball tournament.
Every May since 2000, Cincinnati has hosted the annual Flying Pig Marathon which winds through downtown and northern Kentucky.
Cincinnati also has one un-official sister city : Netanya (Israel).
All-America City | Cincinnati, Ohio | Cities in Ohio | County seats in Ohio | Hamilton County, Ohio | 1788 establishments | Birthplaces of United States presidents
Cincinnati | Cincinnati | Cincinnati | Cincinnati | Cincinnati | Cincinnati | Cincinnati, Ohio | Cincinnati (Ohio) | סינסינטי | Cincinnati | シンシナティ (オハイオ州) | Cincinnati | Cincinnati | Cincinnati | Cincinnati | Cincinnati | Cincinnati, Ohio | Cincinnati | 辛辛那堤
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