Cincinnati, the largest city of Ohio, U.S., stands on the north bank of the river Ohio, 270 miles SE. of Chicago by rail, opposite the cities of Covington and Newport, in Kentucky, and the smaller towns of Dayton, Bellevue, and Ludlow. Steam-ferries and lofty bridges connect the city with the Kentucky shore. Cincinnati occupies an exceedingly broken and irregular site, the more densely built parts being inclosed between the river and steep hills. This lower portion includes the principal business streets, for the most part wide and well finished; but the lowest level is devoted largely to warehouses and manufacturing establishments, and at high stages of water is sometimes liable to be flooded. A second terrace is 50 or 60 feet higher, and is densely occupied. A district between the hills and the Miami Canal is known as 'over the Rhine,' and is appropriated to the large German colony. But the most interesting portions of the city are the suburbs, which are singularly beautiful. They are built on a succession of irregular hills, by whose steepness the beautiful suburban district has been broken into a succession of comparatively isolated villages, interspersed with parks (of which Eden Park, of 206 acres, is the largest), and approached at various points by noble winding avenues. The principal way of access, however, is by inclined steam-railways and horse-cars, or in one instance, by wagon and passenger elevators. This suburban region, and in fact a considerable part of the south-western angle of the state, is of that geological epoch in which the highly characteristic rocks of the so-called 'Cincin- nati group' were deposited. They are richly fossiliferous, and are the highest beds of what are known as the Lower Silurian rocks, corresponding nearly with the Upper Caradoc beds of British geologists. There are more than twenty-five such suburbs, most of them within the city limits; Clifton and Walnut Hills, the latter looking out over Kentucky, are especially striking, and Spring Grove has a fine cemetery of some 600 acres.
The city has an area of 24 sq. m., is well built and well drained, and the water-supply from the Ohio is ample. Among the principal public buildings are the post-office, an imposing structure; a massive and very admirable new Chamber of Commerce; a large art museum (unfinished); an art school, and a college of music (1878), of deservedly high repute; a large music-hall, with a noted grand organ; a commodious city building; and a court-house. There are more than 200 churches, several of them large and architecturally noteworthy, including a Roman Catholic cathedral; besides many handsome theatres, hotels, and public halls. The city has several ample hospitals and infirmaries (public and private), a large asylum for the insane, and many other institutions for charity and correction. There are public and private schools of every grade, among them three high schools, a normal school, a school of design, and a technical school. The fourteen professional schools include six medical schools, one school of law, and two of divinity, one of which (Lane Theological Seminary, Presbyterian) has a wide reputation. Cincinnati University is free to resident youths, and to it the Cincinnati Observatory and Astronomical School are affiliated. The city has several important libraries, one of which (the Free Public Library) contains some 150,000 bound volumes and 18,000 pamphlets. There is a Zoological Garden, and the Cuvier Club and the Historical and Philosophical Society possess considerable collections. Finally, Cincinnati is well known as a centre of musical and art culture, and its decorative pottery and wood-carving have a national reputation.
Besides its large river traffic, the city transacts a great amount of business by rail. A large number of railways converge to this place, and it is a receiving and distributing centre of great importance. The Miami and Erie Canal (1827), extending northward from Cincinnati (246 miles) to Toledo, is also the channel of a considerable trade. A very large proportion of Cincinnati's staples of trade are manufactured in the city, or its near vicinity. In 1872, 43,739 persons were employed in the manufactures, and the value of the goods produced was a little over 100,000,000; in 1890 the labourers numbered 92,000, and the products were valued at 181,500,000. Many steamboats and barges are built here. The city has sixteen banks, a clearing-house, a board of trade, a chamber of commerce and merchant's exchange, and other similar organisations. The condition of the labouring classes is in general very good. There are some 170 building associations, which greatly facilitate the ownership of houses by working-men. The book-trade is represented by several first-class and a number of minor publishing-houses. The slaughter-houses, stock-yards, and grain-elevators are very extensive.
Cincinnati was first settled by white men in 1780, and was permanently occupied in 1788. Its name was given in honour of the Society of the Cincinnati. It is believed that a portion of its site was occupied before the historic period by a considerable aboriginal population. Mounds containing various relics appear to confirm this opinion. It was incorporated as a city in 1819, and from its prosperity and attractiveness, it early attained the name of 'the queen city of the west.' The sobri- quet of 'Porkopolis' commemorates its immense trade in pork and other hog products, which has now been largely diverted to other cities. The first steamboat reached Cincinnati in 1811, descending the river from Pittsburg; and the first railway from the city was opened in 1845. Its first Roman Catholic bishop was consecrated in 1822, and the see became archiepiscopal and metropolitan in 1850. In the same year the lower part of the city suffered much from a great flood. Cincinnati very early became prominent for its social culture, and for a long time it was almost the literary capital or headquarters of the whole region west of the Alleghanies. The unusual local development of a taste for the fine arts and for music was likewise noticeable at an early date, and is still a characteristic of the town. Great riots occurred in 1884, and were with difficulty suppressed by the military. Pop. (1800) 750; (1850) 115,436; (1870) 216,239; (1880) 255,139, of whom 8128 were coloured; (1890) 296,908.