Cincinnati

a city of Ohio, the metropolis of the Ohio Valley. "The Queen City." It is situated on the northern bank of the Ohio River, very near the geographical center of the Ohio Valley. The site of the city is an amphitheater of hills from two to three miles in diameter. The center of the city is about sixty-five feet above low water. Terraces of approximately one hundred feet in height succeed each other to the level of the surrounding country which is from four to five hundred feet above the river. These terraces, interrupted by ravines in which the remnants of native forests still stand, afford one of the most beautiful residence sections in the world. Shaded dooryards command a magnificent prospect of river and valley and the Kentucky hills beyond. A public fountain, cast in bronze at Munich, cost $200,000. The city extends along the bank of the river for a distance of about fourteen miles. At the business center the sloping bank is paved with cobblestones. Floating piers, or wharves, that adjust themselves to the varying stages of water, are anchored by huge cables. The most noticeable commercial features are the great warehouses of tobacco, and the scows of coal that lie at anchor. The city is also one of the greatest pigiron markets in the United States, if not in the world. Numerous lines of steamers ply up and down the river carrying an immense amount of freight. Sixteen railroads enter the city, most of them through a long ravine that finds its way out through the amphitheater to the west. The river is spanned by five bridges, including the cantalever bridge of the Baltimore and Ohio Railway and a suspension bridge leading to the Kentucky suburbs of Covington and Newport.

Named in order of commercial importance, the leading manufactures are iron work, men's clothes, meat packing, distilled liquors, boots and shoes, carriages and wagons, tobacco and cigars, and beer. A vast amount of capital is invested in minor industries, such as tanning, furniture making, roasting coffee, and grinding spices. Saddles, harness, pickles, preserves, watches, organs, soap, candles, electric lamps, flour, patent medicine, and a great number of other articles are made for the various trades. It is estimated that over $500,000,000 worth of goods are distributed from Cincinnati annually.

Originally the city was a center of the mound builders. Some remains of the mounds may still be seen. An Indian trail leading southward from Detroit into Kentucky crossed the river at this point. The original town was surveyed in 1788. Cincinnati owes much to the enterprise and business sagacity of German citizens who are still a prominent element in the city. Cincinnati has one of the great music halls of the world. The population, as returned by the last census, was 325,902. It is safe to assert that, at the beginning of the new decade, the present population of the city, with its suburbs, is 400,000.

Cincinnati has one of the most complete systems of public education in the country. Primary schools and grammar schools are succeeded by a system of high schools, followed in turn by the University of Cincinnati, an institution maintained largely at public expense. Lane Seminary is a theological school maintained by the Presbyterians.

See Ohio