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The Universalist religious movement spread across Ohio as the state was settled in the 1800s. Universalists proclaimed a loving God and universal salvation. Believers were sometimes scorned as “no-Hell-ers.” Olmsted’s First Universalist Society was founded in 1834. Early church members included Olmsted pioneers Asher Coe, David Stearns, Charles Olmsted, Elias Frost, and their families. Initially, services were held in the Union House of Worship, which Universalists shared with Methodists and Presbyterians. In 1847, the Olmsted Universalist congregation built this Greek Revival style church at the corner of Butternut and Coe Ridge (now Lorain) Roads. John Ames supervised the construction of the building, which cost $974. The church bell in use today was cast in Boston in 1851. The bell sounded the alarm for fires and tolled when community members died, as well as announcing worship services.
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In 1817 twenty-two men, including future President William Henry Harrison, chartered Cincinnati’s first Episcopal parish, Christ Church. In 1835 members erected a Gothic Revival-style church on this site. The neighborhood evolved as the city grew with the influx of immigrants. Parish women raised funds to teach, feed, clothe, and shelter tenement families, and alleviate suffering during floods and disease outbreaks. In 1883 the women helped establish what became Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. In 1909 members opened the Late Gothic-style Parish House, a community center with kitchen, classrooms, library, auditorium, clinic, gymnasium, and bowling alley. By the parish’s centennial in 1917, music had expanded beyond worship to public concerts. In 1940 the annual Boar’s Head Festival of music and pageantry began. Since the 1960s, members have collaborated with local agencies to advocate for social and economic justice, a mission continuing into the 21st century. (Continued on other side)
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Findlay Market is the heart of the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood and has been a gathering place for political, religious, and social events since opening in 1855. Inspired by the Cincinnati Reds World Championship in 1919, a group of fans –“rooters” – from Findlay Market organized a parade to celebrate the start of the team’s 1920 season. The parade became an annual event, with marching bands, horse-drawn “Tally-Ho” wagons and rooters processioning to Redland and later Crosley Field, where they presented gifts to Reds officials. (Continued on other side)
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Findlay Market is the heart of the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood and has been a gathering place for political, religious, and social events since opening in 1855. Inspired by the Cincinnati Reds World Championship in 1919, a group of fans – “Rooters” – from Findlay Market organized a parade to celebrate the state of the team’s 1920 season. The parade became an annual event, with marching bands, horse-drawn “Tally-Ho” wagons and rooters processioning to Redland and later Crosley Field, where they presented gifts to Reds officials. (Continued on other side)
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The Ohio and Erie Canal Lock 22, constructed from 1830-1831, is the only canal lock in Groveport. Constructed by W.H. Richardson as part of his $2,937 bid to build section 52 of the canal, the sandstone lock is 117 feet long and ten feet deep and has a sixteen foot wide channel. Its purpose was to raise and lower canal boats to meet the changing terrain. The canal’s presence helped fuel commercial and population growth in Groveport in the 19th century by providing a fast and reliable form of transportation to move people, goods, and services to and from the Ohio frontier. It was also a source of recreation as residents used its waters for fishing, row boating, and ice skating. The canal basin at the western end of Lock 22 was a favorite spot for ice skating parties.
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Chestnut Street Cemetery is the first Jewish cemetery in Ohio and the earliest west of the Allegheny Mountains. It was established in 1821 when Nicholas Longworth sold land to Joseph Jonas, David I. Johnson, Morris Moses, Moses Nathan, Abraham Jonas, and Solomon Moses for $75 as a “burying ground.” Benjamin Lape (or Leib) was the first buried there with Jewish rites. The purchase of the original plot marks the beginning of an organized Jewish community in the Queen City. Chestnut Street Cemetery, although enlarged by adjacent purchases, closed in 1849 when cholera ravaged the city and filled available space. In all, there are approximately 100 interments on the site. Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Cincinnati maintains Chestnut Street Cemetery as well as many other Jewish cemeteries in the region.
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“Lifting As We Climb”: The Cincinnati Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs (CFCWC) was organized May 6, 1904, during a meeting called by Mary Fletcher Ross at the Allen Temple A.M.E. Church. Gathering together eight existing African-American women’s clubs, the CFCWC sought to unite in their work promoting “the betterment of the community.” At a time when both government and private philanthropies overlooked the needs of Black Americans, CFCWC members helped to organize the city’s first kindergartens for Black children, taught in Cincinnati African-American public schools –including the Walnut Hills Douglass and Stowe schools—and raised money for the Home of Aged Colored Women. Since 1904, the Cincinnati Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs has ensured the civic and constitutional rights of all African Americans while meeting the needs of their city.
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In 1911 local doctors founded the St. Clair Hospital. The home adjacent to the hospital served as a residence home and training school for nurses. In 1940, the hospital was converted into a convalescent home. In 1948, Mr. and Mrs. William J. Garrett, an African-American couple, transformed the facility into a hotel. The Hotel St. Clair, which closed in 1976, accommodated African Americans who were not permitted to stay in white hotels. It also served as a social gathering place for members of Columbus’ black community.