My Uncle Jim and Aunt Jo O’Brien and their six children lived in the Price Hill area of Cincinnati, Ohio. As a child my family visited them and all the children were taken to a municipal pool/playground area where we spent hours having fun.
I remember both how hilly the city was and the Catholic Church next door to the O’Brien’s home. Uncle Jim was a salesman for the 3M Corporation and had the Irish gift of conversation and conviviality. The oldest son became a Christian Brother and Brother Patrick raised millions for the university in Memphis, Tenn.. He too could charm the socks off anyone.
The current mayor grew up in the Price Hill area of the city. Mayor John Cranley is the youngest Cincinnati mayor, at 39.
Cincinnati began in December 1788 with the original surveyor, John Filson, naming it “Losantiville.” The area had three settlements between the Little Miami and Great Miami Rivers. In 1789 Fort Washington was built to protect the settlements in the Northwest Territory.
In 1790 Arthur St. Clair, the governor of the Northwest Territory, changed the name of the settlement to Cincinnati in honor of the Society of the Cincinnati of which he was president. The society was named for Cincinnatus, the Roman general and dictator, who saved the city of Rome from destruction and then quietly retired to his farm. Cincinnati’s connection to Rome continues through its nickname of “The City of Seven Hills.”
By 1835, the city was the country’s chief hog packing center and herds of pigs traversed the streets. It was the first city in the U.S. to establish a Jewish Hospital. It is where America’s first municipal fire department was established in 1853. In 1880, Cincinnati was the first municipality to build and own a major railroad. In 1888 the German Protestant community started a “Krankenhaus” staffed by deaconesses. It evolved into the city’s first general hospital and included a nurses’ training school.
The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County has 41 regional branches with a budget of $64 Million. More than one Million visitors are recorded yearly. In 2013 the Library received the National Medal for Museum and Library Service. It is the Nation’s highest honor conferred on museums and libraries for service to the community.
Its Children’s Garden is a secure walled garden with attractive plantings, teak benches, and a hopscotch spiral. The garden has three permanent sculptures. There are two large brick library buildings which turned out to be the largest library I have yet visited in the USA. It was spacious, huge, modern, and quiet.
The main library offers all the usual services, including story times, Summer reading tutoring, reading without walls, TECH Thursday, family events, Tween Takeover, monthly author presentations, library babies, STEAM Team, and seasonal events. The Library has some of my books.
Other cities and library locations which have copies of some of my titles, include Lima, Lafayette, Newtown, St. Bernard, Francisville, Hebron, Reading, in Ohio, Ohio State University Library in Columbus, and Indianapolis, Ind..
This Ohio book tour was arranged in lovely sun-filled weather and the six-hour drive, mostly on I-65 South, was smooth. The hotel chosen on expedia.com was quite nice and the staff was exceptionally pleasant. Southern hospitality. Traffic was considerable and trucks zoomed in and out as if there were no other vehicles on the highway.
Cincinnati is a city I would like to visit again and see some of my cousins who are numerous! The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Rockwood Pottery, Music Hall, Cincinnati Zoo, and the second largest world Oktoberfest, after Munich, all would be interesting to visit. The New York Times named Cincinnati No. 8 on a list of 52 places to go in 2018.