Cincinnati

Cincinnati is a river city located along the Ohio River in southwestern Ohio, directly across the water from Kentucky. The name honors the Society of the Cincinnati, an association of Continental Army officers named after the Roman statesman Cincinnatus. Early river travelers described the settlement as the Queen of the West due to rapid steamboat trade.

Colonel Robert Patterson, Matthias Denman, and Israel Ludlow founded the river outpost in 1788 under the name Losantiville. Arthur St. Clair, governor of the Northwest Territory, renamed the settlement Cincinnati shortly afterward to honor Revolutionary War officers. Steamboat commerce established the river landing as a vital transit point in the early 19th century, supporting livestock stockyards and pork processing. A state charter granted city incorporation in 1819 as stone warehouses and foundries spread along the riverbanks. Administrative offices and local courts gathered in the central commercial district in the 1890s.

Procter & Gamble began as a candle and soap maker in the 1830s and now makes Tide laundry detergent, Bounty paper towels, and Crest toothpaste. The Kroger Company opened its first grocery store in the city in the 1880s and grew into a national supermarket chain. Cintas Corporation, founded in the city in the 1920s, manufactures corporate uniforms, entrance floor mats, and workplace first-aid equipment. Gorilla Glue Company manufactures polyurethane adhesives, epoxy formulas, and heavy-duty waterproof sealing tapes in suburban facilities.

The John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge spans the Ohio River with twin sandstone masonry towers completed in the 1860s. Cincinnati Music Hall features red-brick Venetian Gothic architecture constructed in the 1870s to host classical symphony concerts and choral singing festivals. Cincinnati Museum Center occupies the former Union Terminal, a 1930s Art Deco passenger rail station with an expansive half-dome rotunda and glass mosaic murals. Great American Ball Park hosts major league baseball games along the riverfront, flanked by outdoor plazas and commemorative bronze statues.