OTR Profile

Over-the-Rhine Historical Sites


The Kroger Company - 1404 Vine Street
Kroger Company Site of one of the original Kroger Grocery Baking Company’s first stores, where Bernard H. Kroger served this area of contrasts, “Over-the-Rhine”, since 1902. B.H. Kroger was 23 years old when he opened his first store at 66 East Pearl Street near the Cincinnati Riverfront in July of 1883, “The Great Western Tea Company”. By 1902 when the company was incorporated as The Kroger Grocery & Baking Company, he has 40 stores. In 1908, Kroger had 200 muledrawn wagons that served its customers. Determined to give the community every bit of the quality they paid for, Kroger was the first to combine meats and groceries under one roof and the first grocery company to operate its own bakery. Kroger is a significant business in the community and a major contributor to the local economy.
OVER-THE-RHINE - 1404 Vine Street
In the 1840’s Cincinnati’s basin area, Over-the-Rhine, what’s now Central Parkway was the Cincinnati end of the Miami and Erie Canal. This area north of the canal welcomed German, Irish and Italian immigrants. Home were built, businesses started and life flourished. In the 1900’s these streets beckoned new immigrants – Appalachian families and African Americans displaced from the West End. A little dry humor turned the canal into the Rhine, and the area became Over-the-Rhine. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, today, urban pioneers and new economy entrepreneurs arrive from the suburbs and add to the mix. The “Basin” continues its traditional roles as home for those seeking new life.
WOODWARD HIGH SCHOOL - 1310 Sycamore
Woodward High School William and Abigail Cutter Woodward founded Woodward High School, the first public high school west of the Allegheny Mountains, on this site October 24, 1831. Concerned that the poor of Cincinnati has no avenues for education, the Woodwards donated land, time funding, and expertise to this venture that brought the arts and sciences to “those who have not the means of procuring such advantages themselves.” Notables include Dr. Joseph Ray, principal, 1851-1855, author of several popular mathematics texts; Professor William McGuffey, author of the well-known readers and spellers; and William Howard Taft, Class of 1874, former U.S. President. From 1856-1863, the home of Levi and Catherine Coffin was also located on this site. Both were legendary abolitionists who helped enslaved people escape to freedom in Canada. Levi is often referred to as the “President of the Underground Railroad.
SCHOOL FOR CREATIVE AND PERFORMING ARTS – 1310 Sycamore Street
Since 1976, this site has been home to the School for Creative and Performing Arts, the first, oldest, and, in 2003, still the only school of its scope and breadth in the world. Founded in 1973, SCPA is a public high school for grades 4-12, offering a complete college preparatory academic training in eight arts majors – Dance, Drama, Instrumental Music, Music Theater, Technical Theater, Visual Arts, Vocal Music, and Writing. Created as a magnet school to achieve equality in education for all students, the school’s mission is to provide children who excel in the arts an education that will help them achieve their dreams.


FINDLAY MARKET - Findlay Market, corner of Elder and Elm
Ohio's oldest surviving municipal market house, Findlay Market was designed under the direction of City Civil Engineer Alfred West Gilbert (1816-1900). It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. The structure was among the first market houses in the United States to use iron frame construction technology. Originally an open pavilion, much of the market was erected in 1852, but disputes with contractors delayed its opening until 1855. The center masonry tower was built in 1902. Soon after, public health concerns prompted enclosure of the market stalls and the addition of plumbing and refrigeration. Until then, vendors found cool storage in deep cellars beneath nearby breweries. The tower bell was brought from Cincinnati's Pearl Street Market in 1934. Findlay Market was renovated in 1973-74 and again in 2002-03.
GENERAL JAMES FINDLAY (1770-1835) - Findlay Market, corner of Elder and Elm
General James Findlay James Findlay, early settler, civic leader, entrepreneur, and namesake of Findlay, Ohio, opened a log store near the Ohio River in 1793 and prospered despite Native American attacks. He helped establish a public library in 1802, was Mayor of Cincinnati in 1805 and 1810, commanded a regiment during the War of 1812, became a Major General in the Ohio Militia, and was elected to the U.S. Congress. With profits from his successful mercantile business, Findlay purchased considerable acreage in the forested Northern Liberties, an area known as Findlay's Woods. In 1833 he recorded a town plat showing Findlay, Green, Race, and Elm streets as they are today and designating an open area for a market. The Findlay estate later donated the market space the city for establishment of a municipal market named for and maintained as a memorial to General Findlay.
THE NORTHERN LIBERTIES – Findlay Market, corner of Race and Elder
The Northern Liberties roughly correspond geographically with the Over the Rhine (North) Local Historic District established in August 2001. The Historic District Designation Report documents expansion of the ethnic German immigrant community in Over the Rhine into the Northern Liberties during a wave of German immigration between 1830 and 1840. Developers subdivided the land, laid out streets, and began to build houses and businesses. German churches, cultural institutions, and newspapers were founded, including the nation's only German language daily newspaper. German entrepreneurs developed an extensive brewing industry in the area consisting of 36 individual breweries by 1860. German immigration to Over the Rhine continued through the last half of the 19th century. Most of the 950 structures in the Over the Rhine North district were erected between 1860 and 1900. According to the Historic District Designation Report, "Over the Rhine's collection of commercial, residential, religious and civic architecture is one of America's largest and most cohesive surviving examples of an urban, nineteenth century community."
CINCINNATI PUBLIC MARKETS – Findlay Market, corner of Race and Elder Streets
Cincinnati Public Markets During the 18th and 19th centuries, public markets were a primary source of perishable food for residents of America's growing, densely populated cities. Many cities, including Cincinnati, built and operated large municipal markets that housed butchers and fish sellers and attracted farmers and produce vendors to surrounding streets. Cincinnati operated nine public markets at the start of the Civil War.
ANTI-GERMAN HYSTERIA – Findlay Market, South Side
The United States declaration of war of Germany in April 1917 resulted in a tragic display of hysteria directed against everything and anything German. In Cincinnati, German teachers were dismissed from public schools, German professors were censored, German collections and publications were removed from circulation at the Public Library, businesses with German names had their names “Americanized” and, by police order, only English language public meeting could be held.
ANTI-GERMAN HYSTERIA(cont) – Findlay Market, South Side
As a result of the anti-German hysteria during World War I, name changing became the rage. The Cincinnati City Council followed the trend by changing German street names on April 9, 1918. Among those changed were: German Street to English Street, Bismark Street to Montreal Street, Berlin Street to Woodrow Street, Bremen Street to Republic Street, Brunswick Street to Edgecliff Point, Frankfort Street to Connecticut Avenue, Hamburg Street to Stonewall Street, Hanover Street to Yukon Street, Hapsburg Street to Merrimac Street, Schumann Street to Meredith Street, Vienna Street to Panama Street, and Humboldt Street to Taft Road.