Cincinnatus and other Cincinnati, OH General Tips

Favorite Thing: The City of Cincinnati was founded in 1788 near Fort Washington and was first called Losantville, meaning "town opposite the mouth of the Licking River." In 1790, Arthur St. Clair, Governor of the Northwest Territory, changed the name to Cincinnati, in honor of the Society of Cincinnati, of which he was president. The Society honored General George Washington, considered a latter-day Cincinnatus.

In 458 B.C. Rome was in deep trouble. An enemy, the neighboring Aequi, was at Rome's gate with new weapons and offensive tactics. Cincinnatus Lucius Quinctius was a Roman nobleman who had retired from public service and returned to his small farm. He was in his field when he learned he had been appointed dictator for six months by the Roman Senate. He laid down his plow and took up the sword to command Rome's army and lead them into victory over the Aequi. After that, Cincinnatus could have become Emperor for life. Instead, sixteen days after he had been named dictator, he relinquished his position and returned to his farm. He is considered a model of Roman virtue. How different from the polititians of today who will do anything just to hold on to their power.

This Statue of Cincinnatus is at Sawyer Point, on the downtown Ohio Riverfront of Cincinnati.


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Favorite Thing: Just about anywhere in the downtown Cincinnati area you are likely to see a whimsical flying pig. The pig pictured here can be found at Sawyer Point on the Ohio Riverfront. It is "Lucius (Lucky) Quinctus Pigasus," a creation of Eric Reed Greiner, sponsored by the Cincinnatus Association. The flying pigs are tied to Cincinnati's rich history in the pork processing industry, which once caused some people to refer to the city as Porkopolis.

A pig actually did fly in Cincinnati on November 4, 1909. Lord Brabazon of Tara, holder of the first pilot's license in the United Kingdom, took the piglet for a 3 1/2 mile joy ride over the Queen City. The squealer was in a basket tied to a wing strut of Brabazon's Short Brothers biplane. A sign on the basket read, "I am the first pig to fly," disproving once and for all the notion that pigs can't fly.


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Favorite Thing: In the Iroquois Indian tongue "Ohio" means "Beautiful," and that's where the river, and the state on it's northern banks, get their names. The first European to discover the Ohio was French explorer Sieur De La Salle in 1670. A little over 100 years later the river was included in the territory of the United States as a result of the Revolutionary War and the Treaty of Paris, 1776-1785.

The Ohio begins at the confluence of the Monongahela and the Allegheny Rivers at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and flows for 980 miles until it empties into the Mississippi River at Cairo, Illinois. For more than 200 years the Ohio was the great highway to the west of the American pioneer. Today it is still a working river, and Cincinnati is one of its principal ports. 49 locks and moveable dams have been built along the Ohio, giving it a 9-foot flood stage to river navigation. In this photo, taken from Eden Park, a barge is seen approaching the bridges that span the Ohio at Cincinnati.


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Favorite Thing: The twin towers that house the corporate headquarters of Procter and Gamble are not a tourist attraction, but visitors to our city might find them interesting. P&G, the largest consumer goods company in the world, had it's humble beginning in Cincinnati in 1837. William Procter, a candlemaker and James Gamble, a soapmaker's apprentice, married sisters and decided to become business partners. The large number of hogs being butchered in Cincinnati (sometimes called Porkoplois) gave them plentiful raw material (fat) for their industry. By 1890 they were manufacturing 30 different kinds of soap.

Ivory Soap was invented by P&G personnel, and became their first nationwide brand. The company has continued to grow and diversify over they years until today It manufactures and distributes hundreds of different products in 180 countries of the world. Although their corporate offices are here in Cincinnati, P&G employs 98,000 people in 80 different countries. One of their very best employees is my beautiful bride, Karen, a Customer Logistics and Financial Coordinator for their North American Division, Customer Service.

Procter and Gamble has 16 "billion dollar brands." They are: Pampers, Crest, Tide, Ariel, Always, Pantene, Charmin, Bounty, Iams, Folgers, Pringles, Downy, Olay, Head & Shoulders Wella and Actonel. There are also numerous smaller brands, and all together they are used or consumed 2 billion times a day worldwide. Whenever you see the P&G moon and stars logo - wherever you are - thank Cincinnati.

The distinctive P&G towers can be viewed along I-71 or from 5th Street on the East side of downtown Cincinnati.


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Favorite Thing: Another large company with corporate headquarters in Cincinnati is The Kroger Company. They are best known for Kroger Supermarkets, the closest thing America has to a national grocery chain. However, in many parts of the country Kroger also operates supermarkets under 16 different labels. And their diversifacation doesn't stop there. Kroger owns 794 convenience stores under six banners, 439 jewelry stores under 4 banners, Price Impact Warehouses on the west coast under two banners, and 42 manufacturing facilities nationwide. Oversight of this vast empire is from their corporate headquarters at 1014 Vine Street in downtown Cincinnati.

Fondest Memory: My fondest memory is of Fowlers Grocery, the little mom and pop store where we bought groceries and penny candy when I was a kid. Mr. and Mrs. Fowler knew everybody in the neighborhood by name, and they were happy to extend credit and even make deliveries if you needed it. What a different world it is today.

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Favorite Thing: Cincinnati College and the Medical College of Ohio were founded in 1819. The Medical College, later changed to the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, is one of the oldest medical schools in the nation. The University of Cincinnati began in 1870, and later absorbed the two earlier schools. UC is a public comprehensive university, and since 1977 has been one of Ohio's State Universities. It is the largest employer in the Cincinnati region and graduates 5,000 students per year.

Many discoveries have been made at the University of Cincinnati which have created a positve change for society. These include:
The oral polio vaccine
The first electronic organ
The first safe anti-knock gasoline
The first antihistamine

I am particularly proud that my son, Christopher, earned his Ph.D. in cellular biology at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. As a graduate student he studied and worked in the building pictured here, the Vontz Center for Molecular Studies. Today Chris does cancer research at University Hospital in Denver, Colorado.


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Favorite Thing: Topography, architecture and history combine to give Mt. Adams a unique atmosphere and focus among Cincinnati's legendary hills and neighborhoods. It is one of our favorite sections of the city.

Originally called Mt. Ida, the name was changed in 1843 to honor President John Quincy Adams who visited to dedicate the Cincinnati Observatory. At the time it was the most powerful observatory in the United States. In the early 1800s this hill was the site of the Nicholas Longworth Vineyard. The Catawba grape was developed here, and from it came America's first champagne, Golden Wedding. For a brief period of time Mt. Adams was the center of winemaking in America.

In the mid 19th century many German and Irish immigrants settled on Mt. Adams, building their homes to conform to the steep topography, from wood and stone which was quarried nearby. The Mt. Adams Incline, which operated from 1874 - 1948, carried residents from their homes to downtown Cincinnati.

Today Mt. Adams retains much of its historic quaintness and charm. It is a neighborhood of narrow winding streets, well maintained old homes and gardens, spectacular views, and an ecclectic assortment of shops and restaurants. Many artists and craftsmen make their homes here.

Mt. Adams Today


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