Commercial metropolis of the
valley of the Ohio, and county seat of
Hamilton county, Ohio; on the
Ohio River; connected by railroads and steamboats with all important parts of the country.
Under the census of 1900 it was the tenth city in the
United States in point of population.
The city is noted for the extent and variety of its manufactures and for its great pork-packing interests.
In the fiscal year ending June 30, 1900, the imports of merchandise amounted in value to $1,562,408. On Dec. 1, 1899, the assessed valuation of all taxable property was $197,020,800, and the net debt, $25,546,456. In 1895 the villages of
Avondale,
Clifton, Linwood, Riverside, and
Westwood were annexed to
Cincinnati, which assumed their indebtedness.
The population in 1890 was 296,908; in 1900, 325,902.
Ensign Luce, of the United States army, was charged with the selection of a site for a block-house on
Symmes's Purchase.
Symmes wished him to build it at
North Bend, where he was in command of a detachment of troops; but
Luce was led farther up the river, to the site of
Cincinnati, on account of his love for the pretty young wife of a settler, who went there to reside because of his attentions to her at the
Bend.
Luce followed and erected a
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blockhouse there; and in 1790
Major Doughty built
Fort Washington on the same spot.
It was on the eastern boundary of the town as originally laid out, between the present Third and Fourth streets, east of
Broadway.
A village grew around it. A
pedantic settler named it Losantiville, from the words l'os anti ville, which he interpreted “the village opposite the mouth” —mouth of
Licking Creek.
It was afterwards called
Cincinnati.
The name was suggested by
General St. Clair in honor of the Society of the Cincinnati.
The fort was made of a number of strongly built log cabins, hewn from the timber that grew on the spot.
These were a story and a half high, arranged for soldiers' barracks, and occupied a hollow square enclosing about an acre of ground.
In the autumn of 1792
Governor St. Clair arrived at the post and organized the county of
Hamilton, and the village of
Cincinnati, then begun around the fort, was made the county seat of the territory.
In 1812 it contained about 2,000 inhabitants.
During the
Civil War, when
Gen. E. Kirby Smith invaded
Kentucky in advance of
Bragg.
he pushed on towards the
Ohio River with the purpose of capturing
Cincinnati.
The invader was confronted by an unexpected force near that city.
Gen. Lew. Wallace was at
Cincinnati when the news of the disaster at
Richmond.
Ky., reached that place.
He was ordered by
General Wright to resume the command of
Nelson's shattered forces, but was called back to provide for the defence of
Cincinnati.
Half an hour after his arrival he issued a stirring proclamation (Sept. 1, 1862) as commander of that and the cities of
Covington and
Newport, on the
Kentucky side of the river.
He informed the inhabitants of the swift approach of the invaders in strong force, and called upon the citizens to act promptly and vigorously in preparing defences for the city.
He ordered all places of business to be closed, and the citizens of
Cincinnati, under the direction of the mayor, to assemble, an hour afterwards, in convenient public places, to be organized for work on intrenchments on the south side of the river.
He ordered the ferry-boats to cease running, and proclaimed martial law in the three cities.
This was a bold, startling, but necessary proceeding.
The principle of action embodied in the proclamation was, “Citizens for labor; soldiers for battle.”
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Wallace demanded the services of all ablebodied people.
The response was wonderful.
In a few hours he had an army of workers and fighters 40,000 strong.
They streamed across the river on a pontoon bridge and swarmed upon the hills about
Covington.
Within three days after the issuing of the proclamation a line of intrenchments 10 miles in length, of semicircular form, was constructed.
These were just completed when fully 15,000 of
Smith's troops appeared.
Astonished and alarmed, they retreated in great haste.
Cincinnati was saved, and the citizens gave public honors to
General Wallace as the deliverer of the city.
See
Bragg, Braxton;
Smith, Edmund Kirby;
Wallace, Lew.
