Florence Y'all Water Tower

Last updated

Florence Y'all Water Tower Florence-yall.jpg
Florence Y'all Water Tower
Location of Florence Y'all Water Tower in Kentucky KYMap-doton-Florence.PNG
Location of Florence Y'all Water Tower in Kentucky
The Florence "Mall" Tower before the M was changed to Y-apostrophe Old Florence Mall Water Tower.JPG
The Florence "Mall" Tower before the M was changed to Y-apostrophe

The Florence Y'all Water Tower is a water tower owned by the city of Florence, Kentucky, United States. It stands between the Florence Mall and Interstate 75/Interstate 71, [1] where it is seen by millions of interstate motorists annually. The tower, built in 1974 and initially painted with the words FLORENCE MALL in giant letters, became a regional landmark after the M was changed to Y' to address legal concerns.

Contents

The water tower, which can hold about 1 million US gallons (3,800 m3), stands in Boone County in northern Kentucky, due south of Runway 18L/36R of Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport and between I-75/I-71 and Mall Circle Road, northeast of the mall.

History

In the early 1970s, the developers of the yet-to-be-built mall gave the land for the tower to the city, stipulating that the words "Florence Mall" be painted on it in view of interstate motorists. [2] The tower would thus advertise the mall, which would open in September 1976.

The tower was built by the Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel Co. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and painted in 1974 by the Virginia Erection Co. The giant advertisement immediately raised legal concerns. In July 1974, state Bureau of Highways officials told the city that the tower's sign was illegal because it advertised something which didn't yet exist. [3]

Among the discussed possibilities were repainting the tower or covering the words with a large tarpaulin. With time running out to comply with the law, civil staff met for a brainstorming session at the Stringtown Restaurant with C.M. "Hop" Ewing, then mayor of Florence, who "sketched different ideas on a napkin". [4] Ewing ultimately devised the idea of removing the vertical lines at the sides of the M in MALL, adding a stem to make it a Y and adding an apostrophe; resulting in "Y'all". [5] Ewing called it a "corny solution, but cost-effective", because the minor alteration would cost one-third of a full repainting. [5] The city paid $472 to the W.T. Marx Company [6] of Cincinnati, Ohio, to make the changes.

The publicity surrounding the Florence Y'all tower advertised the mall better than a passive sign alone. On the mall's opening day in late 1976, mall-goers created a traffic jam at the Kentucky Route 18 exit from I-75. [2]

Further developments

As a general rule, water towers are cleaned about every five years and repainted about every ten. [1] [7] The repaintings of the Florence tower have hidden the original patchwork modification. At some point,[ when? ] the red and white stripes on the tower were extended onto the top, where they converge in a spoke pattern easily visible from aircraft.

The tower's rewritten words have become a local motto of sorts. A town festival held around Labor Day was renamed the "Florence Y'all" fest. The words can be found on lapel pins, bumper stickers, mousepads, postcards, and T-shirts. A local miniature golf course, Florence's World of Golf, features a Florence Y'all replica. [8] The "Soft Play" area in Florence Mall has its own replica tower. [9]

The local independent-league baseball team renamed itself the Florence Y'alls in January 2020, [10] but it had celebrated the tower even during its 16 seasons as the Florence Freedom. The team's mascot is a large inflatable "Y'all Star" mascot; [11] the team has given away Florence Y'all water tower bobblehead dolls. [12] When the Freedom hosted the Frontier League's annual all-star game in 2016, they marketed it as the "Y'All-Star Game", with the water tower in the official logo. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florence, Kentucky</span> City in Kentucky, United States

Florence is a home rule-class city in Boone County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 31,946 at the 2020 census. It is the second largest city in Northern Kentucky, the eighth-largest city in Kentucky and the state's largest that is not a county seat. Florence is part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Independence, Kentucky</span> City in Kentucky, United States

Independence is a home rule-class city in Kenton County, Kentucky, United States. It is one of its county's two seats of government. The population was 28,676 at the time of the 2020 census. It is the third largest city in Northern Kentucky after Covington and Florence, and is part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kings Island</span> Amusement park in Ohio

Kings Island is a 364-acre (147 ha) amusement park located 24 miles (39 km) northeast of Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio, United States. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, the park was built by Taft Broadcasting and opened in 1972. It was part of a larger effort to move and expand Coney Island, a popular resort destination along the banks of the Ohio River that was prone to frequent flooding. After more than $300 million in capital investments over the years, the park has grown to feature over a hundred attractions including fourteen roller coasters and a 33-acre (13 ha) water park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florence Y'alls</span> Independent minor league baseball team that plays in the Frontier League

The Florence Y'alls are a professional baseball team based within the Greater Cincinnati region in the city of Florence, Kentucky. The Y'alls are a member of the West Division of the Frontier League, an independent baseball league. Since 2004, they have played their home games at Thomas More Stadium, which is located near Interstates 71 and 75.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge</span> Suspension bridge between the Ohio River

The John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge is a suspension bridge that spans the Ohio River between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky. When opened on December 1, 1866, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world at 1,057 feet (322 m) main span, which was later overtaken by John A. Roebling's most famous design of the 1883 Brooklyn Bridge at 1,595.5 feet (486.3 m). Pedestrians use the bridge to get between the hotels, bars, restaurants, and parking lots in Northern Kentucky. The bar and restaurant district at the foot of the bridge on the Kentucky side is known as Roebling Point.

<i>The Cincinnati Enquirer</i> Daily newspaper in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States

The Cincinnati Enquirer is a morning daily newspaper published by Gannett in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States.

<i>The Cincinnati Post</i> Defunct afternoon daily newspaper in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States

The Cincinnati Post was an afternoon daily newspaper published in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. In Northern Kentucky, it was bundled inside a local edition called The Kentucky Post.

<i>Yall</i> Contraction of you and all

Y'all is a contraction of you and all, sometimes combined as you-all. Y'all is the main second-person plural pronoun in Southern American English, with which it is most frequently associated, though it also appears in some other English varieties, including African-American English and South African Indian English. It is usually used as a plural second-person pronoun, but whether it is exclusively plural is a perennial subject of discussion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forest Fair Village</span> Abandoned shopping mall near Cincinnati, Ohio, US

Forest Fair Village is an abandoned enclosed shopping mall in the northern suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is situated on the border between Forest Park and Fairfield, at the junction of Interstate 275 and Winton Road. The mall, built in phases between 1988 and 1989 as Forest Fair Mall, has become noted for its troubled history; despite being the second-biggest mall in the state and bringing many new retailers to the market, it lost three anchor stores and its original owner LJ Hooker to bankruptcy less than a year after opening. The mall underwent renovations throughout the mid 1990s, attracting new stores such as Kohl's, Burlington Coat Factory, and Bass Pro Shops. Mills Corporation renamed the property to Cincinnati Mills in 2002 and renovated the mall once more in August 2004. Following the sale of Mills's portfolio to Simon Property Group, the mall was sold several times afterward, while continuing to lose many of its key tenants. After having been renamed to Cincinnati Mall and again to Forest Fair Village in the 2010s, the property received significant media attention as an example of a dead mall. It also received a number of proposals for renovation, none of which were realized. Following years of tenancy decline, it closed to the public on December 2, 2022.

Ronald Reagan Cross County Highway, formerly and locally known as Cross County Highway, is a west-east freeway in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. It stretches 16.4 miles (26.4 km) from southern Colerain Township to Montgomery, connecting many of Cincinnati's northern suburbs to Interstate 71 and Interstate 75. State Route 126 is routed over most of the highway, while the remainder is a county-maintained road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hebron, Kentucky</span> Unincorporated community in Kentucky, United States

Hebron is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Boone County, Kentucky, United States. It is named after the biblical city of Hebron. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 6,195. The wider Hebron area is home to the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, which serves Cincinnati and the Tri-State (Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana) area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas More Stadium</span> American sports venue

Thomas More Stadium is a stadium in Florence, Kentucky. It is primarily used for baseball and is the home field of the Florence Y'alls of the Frontier League, an independent baseball league. It originally opened in 2004 as Champion Window Field and holds 4,500 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas More University</span> Catholic university in Crestview Hills, Kentucky

Thomas More University is a private Roman Catholic university in Crestview Hills, Kentucky. It serves about 2,000 full and part-time students. The university was founded in 1921 by the local Benedictine Sisters as Villa Madonna College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Shillito Company</span> Department store in Cincinnati, Ohio

John Shillito & Co. was Cincinnati's first department store. In 1817 John Shillito arrived in Cincinnati. The nine-year-old lad was soon working for the Cincinnati business Blatchley & Simpson. In 1830 he left to form a partnership with William McLaughlin, selling dry goods. A year later, McLaughlin left the company, and was replaced with Robert W. Burnett and James Pullen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tri-County Mall</span> Abandoned shopping mall in Springdale, Ohio, United States

Tri-County Mall was a shopping mall located on State Route 747 just south of Interstate 275 in the city of Springdale, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Originally known as Tri-County Shopping Center, it opened in 1960 and has been expanded several times in its history. The original shopping center was an open-air property featuring H. & S. Pogue Company (Pogue's) and John Shillito Company (Shillito's) as the anchor stores. An enclosed wing anchored by Sears was added in 1969, followed by the enclosure of the rest of the mall. Shillito's was later known as Shillito-Rike's, Lazarus, Lazarus-Macy's, and then just Macy's; Pogue's was consolidated with L. S. Ayres and then converted to JCPenney. A mall expansion begun in 1990 and finished in 1992 added a second level of stores and McAlpin's as a fourth anchor store. The mall underwent a slow decline in the 21st century, owing mainly to the center's age and increased competition and lost all of its anchors. Both JCPenney and Dillard's relocated to newer shopping centers in the 2010s, while Sears closed in 2018 and Macy's closed in 2021. The mall itself closed on May 15, 2022. It is owned by MarketSpace Capital and Park Harbor Capital.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 75 in Kentucky</span> Interstate Highway in Kentucky

Interstate 75 (I-75) runs from near Williamsburg to Covington by way of Lexington in the US state of Kentucky. I-75 enters the Cumberland Plateau region from Tennessee, then descends into the Bluegrass region through the Pottsville Escarpment before crossing the Ohio River into Ohio. I-75 follows along the U.S. Route 25 (US 25) corridor for the entire length of Kentucky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 75 in Ohio</span> Interstate Highway in Ohio, United States

Interstate 75 (I-75) runs from Cincinnati to Toledo by way of Dayton in the US state of Ohio. The highway enters the state running concurrently with I-71 from Kentucky on the Brent Spence Bridge over the Ohio River and into the Bluegrass region. I-75 continues along the Mill Creek Expressway northward to the Butler County line just north of I-275. From there, the freeway runs into the Miami Valley and then passes through the Great Black Swamp before crossing into Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cincinnati</span> City in Ohio, United States

Cincinnati is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. Settled in 1788, the city is located in the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line with Kentucky. The city is the economic and cultural hub of the Cincinnati metropolitan area and has an estimated population of 2,265,051. The city is Ohio's largest metropolitan area and the nation's 30th-largest city. The population of Cincinnati is 309,317 which makes the city the third-most populous city in Ohio after Columbus and Cleveland, and 65th in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florence Mall (Kentucky)</span> Indoor shopping mall in Florence, Kentucky

Florence Mall is an indoor shopping mall in Florence, Kentucky, United States. Built in 1976 by Homart Development Company, the mall originally featured Sears, Shillito's, Pogue's, and JCPenney as its four anchor stores. The mall features over 100 stores and a food court. Another notable feature of the mall is the Florence Y'all Water Tower on the mall property; this water tower originally bore the mall's name, but was altered prior to the mall's opening. The mall's anchor stores are JCPenney and two locations of Macy's, with the former location of Sears being vacant. Florence Mall is owned and managed by Namdar Realty Group.

The Enquirer Media is a company in Cincinnati, Ohio. The company has a portfolio of over 50 print and digital brands. Other brands in the Enquirer Media include The Community Press and Recorder, Our Town, Deal Chicken, CareerBuilder.com, Cars.com, Homefinder.com and Apartments.com.

References

  1. 1 2 Kemme, Steve (April 7, 2001). "Water towers loom large". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Archived from the original on September 4, 2012. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
  2. 1 2 Kremer, Deborah Kohl (March 5, 2011). "The year chain retail stores came to NKY". Cincinnati Enquirer. Archived from the original on April 17, 2015. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Tower Given Southern Accent". No. August 16, 1974. The Cincinnati Enquirer. August 16, 1974. p. 1.
  4. ↑ Beale, Scott (October 4, 2007). "Florence Y'All Water Tower in Florence, Kentucky". Laughing Squid . Archived from the original on March 24, 2009. Retrieved March 20, 2011. comment by Ewing's grand-daughter Lindsey Whalen October 8, 2008
  5. 1 2 Attoun, Marti (January 22, 2006). "Whatta Water Tower!". American Profile. Archived from the original on December 17, 2012. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
  6. ↑ "W T Marx CO". Manta. Archived from the original on May 25, 2012. Retrieved March 20, 2011. An Amelia, Ohio, company that also does business as WT Marx Company, Inc.
  7. ↑ NKy Life, section C of NKy edition of Cincinnati Enquirer, page C1, picture caption, Friday, June 3, 2011
  8. ↑ Hansel, Mark (February 26, 2011). "Florence's World of Golf goes high-tech". Cincinnati Enquirer. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Soft Play Area". Florence Mall. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
  10. ↑ Rice, Briana (January 21, 2020). "Freedom no more: Introducing the Florence Y'alls". Cincinnati Enquirer. Archived from the original on January 22, 2020. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Mascot Appearances". Florence Yalls. Archived from the original on September 22, 2012. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
  12. ↑ Enquirer Media. "ISSUU – florence-recorder-123010 by Enquirer Media". Issuu. Archived from the original on January 14, 2016. Retrieved April 15, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  13. ↑ "Freedom to Host 2016 Frontier League "Y'all-Star Game"". Florence Freedom. Archived from the original on September 14, 2015.

38°59′51.6″N84°38′51.8″W / 38.997667°N 84.647722°W / 38.997667; -84.647722

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.