Over-the-Rhine Historic District | |
Location | Bounded by Central Parkway to the south, Central Parkway to the west, Sycamore St. to the east, and Mulberry, W Clifton & Klotter St. to Brighton Approach to the north.Cincinnati, Ohio |
---|---|
Coordinates | 39°6′47″N84°30′58″W / 39.11306°N 84.51611°W |
Area | 319 acres (1.29 km2) |
Architectural style | Greek Revival and Late Victorian [1] |
NRHP reference No. | 83001985 [1] |
Added to NRHP | May 17, 1983 [1] |
Over-the-Rhine, also known as "Cincinnati's Rhineland", and the "Rhineland of America", is a German cultural district of Cincinnati, Ohio. [2] [3] [4] Over-the-Rhine is among the largest, most intact urban historic districts in the United States. [5] Germans from Ohio are known as "Ohio Rhinelanders" (German : Ohio Rheinländer), named after the Ohio Rhineland. [6] [7] [8] The Cincinnati Reds baseball team was highly supported by Ohio Rhinelanders, and was commonly known as the "Cincinnati Rhinelanders", referring to Cincinnati's German heritage. [9]
The neighborhood's name comes predominantly from Rhinelanders and other Germans who settled the area in the mid-19th century. [10] Many walked to work across bridges over the Miami and Erie Canal, which separated the area from downtown Cincinnati. The canal was nicknamed "the Rhine" in reference to the river Rhine in Germany, and the newly settled area north of the canal as "Over the Rhine". [11] [12] In German, the district was called über den Rhein.[ citation needed ]
An early reference to the canal as "the Rhine" appears in the 1853 book White, Red, Black, in which traveler Ferenc Pulszky wrote, "The Germans live all together across the Miami Canal, which is, therefore, here jocosely called the 'Rhine.' " [13] In 1875 writer Daniel J. Kenny referred to the area exclusively as "Over the Rhine." He noted, "Germans and Americans alike love to call the district 'Over the Rhine.' " [14]
Eventually, the canal was drained and capped by Central Parkway; the resulting tunnel was to be used for the now-defunct Cincinnati Subway project.[ citation needed ]
Built in the nineteenth century during a period of extensive German immigration, first settled by Pennsylvania Dutch and bolstered by Rhinelanders and other Germans, Over-the-Rhine began to change demographically as residents moved to the suburbs following World War II. [15] The city and area had lost many of the industrial jobs that once supported its workers. By the end of the century, the area was noted for its poverty. Residents united and created many life-saving organizations. [11] Following social unrest in 2001, the neighborhood has since been the focus of millions of dollars of redevelopment.[ citation needed ]
Over-the-Rhine, one of the largest, most intact urban historic districts in the United States, [5] has several districts. The Northern Liberties [16] and the Brewery District [17] are north of Liberty Street. South of Liberty are the Gateway Quarter and Pendelton.[ citation needed ]
In recent years, developers have renamed this portion of Over-the-Rhine as "The Gateway Quarter". This area has been the focal point of gentrification, which has displaced African Americans and low-income residents. More than 1,000 African Americans left this area between 2000 and 2010, and by 2012 it had become a predominantly white, wealthy and exclusive section of the neighborhood. [18]
North of Liberty Street sat the heart of Cincinnati's beer brewing industry. [19] Christian Moerlein established his first brewing company in Over-the-Rhine in 1853. Eventually the Christian Moerlein Brewing Co. became the city's largest brewery and expanded into the national market. At its height the brewery occupied three entire city blocks. Prohibition brought an end to the company in the 1920s. [20] In 2010 the revived Christian Moerlein Brewing Co. began brewing beer in the Brewery District once again. [21]
This area of the neighborhood has been relatively untouched by recent "gentrification efforts" and may resemble 1990s OTR better than other areas. [22]
In the late 1820s, English writer Fanny Trollope, mother of Anthony Trollope, lived in the Mohawk area, which today is considered part of Over-the-Rhine. [23] The acerbic portrayal of Americans of that period in her book Domestic Manners of the Americans is based in part on her interactions with the rough-hewn residents of the area.[ citation needed ]
Until 1849, today's Liberty Street, then called Northern Row, was the corporation line forming Cincinnati's northern boundary. The area north of Northern Row was not subject to municipal law and was called "The Northern Liberties". In 1955, the city decided to widen Liberty Street to connect with Reading Road as an east-west crosstown access point for the interstate highway system. Buildings on the south side of the street were demolished and the street was widened from two to five lanes. As of 2019, efforts are underway to narrow Liberty Street to bridge the gap between these halves of the neighborhood. [24]
Over-the-Rhine, the site of the 2001 Cincinnati riots, became the city's most dangerous neighborhood by 2009. However, it has since seen intensive redevelopment efforts. [25] Private development corporations and city officials have begun to address the problems that come with a neighborhood with low employment and high crime rates. A neo-liberal urban renewal strategy encourages private corporations rather than the city government to take on renewing and updating this area. [26]
The Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC) is a private, non-profit real-estate development and finance organization focused on revitalizing Cincinnati's urban core with the city government and local corporations. Its work is focused on the central business district and in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. The organization is widely credited with revitalizing OTR. [27] The organization began as a full-service real estate developer, but has since branched out and produces more than 1,000 events per year [28] at the four civic spaces it manages: Fountain Square, Washington Park, Ziegler Park and Memorial Hall.[ citation needed ]
In July 2003, 3CDC was formed by former mayor of Cincinnati Charlie Luken and other corporate community members. This was a result of a recommendation by a City of Cincinnati Economic Development Task Force. Most funds are gathered through corporate contributions. In 2004, 3CDC accepted responsibility for overseeing Cincinnati New Markets Fund and Cincinnati Equity Fund. As of May 2018, those funds total over $250 million and have resulted in over $1.3 billion [29] invested in downtown and Over-the-Rhine real estate projects.[ citation needed ]
Over-the-Rhine has been praised for its collection of historic architecture. The New York Times described the neighborhood as having "a scale and grace reminiscent of Greenwich Village in New York." [30] Its architectural significance has also been compared to the French Quarter in New Orleans and the historic districts of Savannah, Georgia and Charleston, South Carolina. [30] [31] When Arthur Frommer, founder of the Frommer's travel guides, visited Over-the-Rhine he described it as the most promising urban area for revitalization in the United States, and claimed that its potential for tourism "literally could rival similar prosperous and heavily visited areas." [32] [33]
Most of Over-the-Rhine's ornate brick buildings were built by German immigrants from 1865 to the 1880s. [30] The architecture of Over-the-Rhine reflects the diverse styles of the late nineteenth century— simple vernacular, muted Greek Revival, Italianate and Queen Anne. [34] Most of the buildings in Over-the-Rhine are one of these styles, but other motifs include the Art Deco American Building on Central Parkway; the Germania Building at Twelfth and Walnut streets, ironically one of the few examples of German ornamentation in the neighborhood; Music Hall, a mixture of styles best described as Venetian Gothic; a handful of buildings with Gothic architecture; and the new SCPA on Central Parkway, the most notable example of Modern architecture in the neighborhood. [5]
Noted Indianapolis architect Evans Woollen III and his architectural firm of Woollen, Molzan and Partners helped redevelop the historic neighborhood in the 1970s and 1980s. Woollen designed the Over-the-Rhine Pilot Center (1972–84), a group of four modern, mixed-use buildings within a two-block area. [35] The Pilot Center buildings included a recreational center, a senior citizens center, a Montessori school and daycare center, and a meeting and event space. Funding for the $2.5 million project came from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. [36]
In 2011 the Over-the-Rhine Foundation, which works to prevent historic building loss in OTR, won third place in the National Trust for Historic Preservation's nationwide "This Place Matters" community challenge. [37] In 2006 the National Trust for Historic Preservation listed the status of Over-the-Rhine as "Endangered." [34] Since 1930, about half of Over-the-Rhine's historic buildings have been destroyed. [32] More will follow unless deteriorating buildings are repaired. [34] Between 2001 and 2006, the city approved more than 50 "emergency demolitions," which were caused by absentee landlords' allowing their buildings to become so critically dilapidated that the city declared them a danger to the public. Reinvestment could have saved them. [32] [38] Due to the situation, the National Trust for Historic Preservation declared Over-the-Rhine one of Eleven Most Endangered Historic Places in 2006. [34] Over-the-Rhine was included in the 2008 book, Frommer's 500 Places to See Before They Disappear, which noted the district's "shocking state of neglect". [39]
According to WCPO in 2001, some of the worst-kept properties at the time were owned by Over-the-Rhine's non-profits, [40] which let the buildings sit vacant and deteriorating because of lack of funds [41] or volunteers. [42] With some buildings on the verge of collapse, investors and real-estate developers are trying to restore them before deterioration to the point of requiring demolition. [30] According to the U.S. Census Bureau in 2010, part of Over-the-Rhine had one of the highest rates of abandoned and vacant homes in the country. They classified it then as the sixth hardest area in the nation to get an accurate population count. [43]
In recent years there has been a burst of restoration and development slowly moving northward year by year from Central Parkway, with a focus on attracting local small businesses rather than national chains. [44] Developers have restored and renovated the abandoned buildings, the city renovated nearby Washington Park, and businesses and residents have moved into what were abandoned spaces. Local chefs and artisan brewers in particular embraced the area, and in 2018 Food & Wine Magazine called it "one of the country's most promising food scenes." [45]
Year | Pop. | ±% | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1819 | 10,283 [46] | — | ||
1850 | 13,032 | +26.7% | ||
1860 | 19,226 | +47.5% | ||
1870 | 32,726 | +70.2% | ||
1880 | 33,472 | +2.3% | ||
1890 | 31,525 | −5.8% | ||
1900 | 39,500 | +25.3% | ||
1910 | 36,350 | −8.0% | ||
1920 | 30,200 | −16.9% | ||
1930 | 25,771 | −14.7% | ||
1940 | 24,246 | −5.9% | ||
1950 | 31,586 | +30.3% | ||
1960 | 27,577 | −12.7% | ||
1970 | 15,338 | −44.4% | ||
1980 | 10,206 | −33.5% | ||
1990 | 8,303 | −18.6% | ||
2000 | 6,497 | −21.8% | ||
2010 | 6,064 | −6.7% | ||
2020 | 5,622 | −7.3% | ||
| ||||
2007 population was estimated at 4970 [47] Wards were utilized from 1840-1890 which have slightly different boundaries from census tracts utilized from 1900-40. [48] [49] [50] |
Year | Pop. | ±% | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1950 | 9,933 | — | ||
1960 | 9,275 | −6.6% | ||
1970 | 7,312 | −21.2% | ||
1980 | 6,387 | −12.7% | ||
1990 | 5,212 | −18.4% | ||
2000 | 4,563 | −12.5% | ||
2010 | 4,298 | −5.8% | ||
2020 | 3,845 | −10.5% | ||
|
In 2001 there were an estimated 500 vacant buildings in Over-the-Rhine with 2,500 residential units. [22] Of those residential units 278 were condemned as uninhabitable. [22] Also in 2001 the owner-occupancy rate was between 3 and 4 percent compared to the citywide rate of 39 percent. [22] According to the "Drilldown", a comprehensive analysis of the city's actual population and demographics conducted in 2007, OTR's current population was just 4,970. [51] At the 2000 census, [52] the racial makeup of Over-the-Rhine was 19.4% White, 76.9% African American, and less than 4% of other races. 0.6% of the population were Hispanics or Latinos of any race.[ citation needed ]
The neighborhood's residents comprise roughly 1.2% of the population of the City of Cincinnati.[ citation needed ]
Recent gentrification has changed the demographic makeup of the area as residents moving in tend to have a higher income and are more likely to be white. [53] By 2018 the website statisticalatlas.com was estimating OTR's population to be 34% white and 54% black, with 56% of those between the ages of 20 and 24 being white. [54]
A partial list of Over-the-Rhine’s distinctive annual events includes:
Most of Over-the-Rhine's landmarks are related to the arts and are clustered in one area near Downtown.
German Village is a historic neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio, just south of the city's downtown. It was settled in the early-to-mid-19th century by a large number of German immigrants, who at one time comprised as much as a third of the city's entire population. It became a city historic district in 1960 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, becoming the list's largest privately funded preservation district, and in 2007, was made a Preserve America Community by the federal government. In 1980, its boundaries increased, and today it is one of the world's premier historic restorations.
Findlay Market in historic Over-the-Rhine, Cincinnati, Ohio, is the state's oldest continuously operated public market. The Findlay Market Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on June 5, 1972. The market is the last remaining of the nine that once served Cincinnati. In 2019 Newsweek named it one of the top ten public markets in the world.
Philippus United Church of Christ is located on the northwest corner of West McMicken and Ohio Avenues, in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, in Cincinnati, Ohio. The church is a landmark because of a gilded hand, with its index finger pointing to the heavens, on its tall steeple. The church is an outgrowth of the now-defunct St. Matthews German Evangelical Church at Elm and Liberty Streets, which was a stronghold of "Free" Protestantism. Free Protestantism was very strong in Cincinnati at that particular time. Philippus Church is a red brick church completed in 1891. The church features Gothic Revival-style details. Recessed pointed-arch windows flank the gabled pointed-arch entrance and projecting tower with its rose window. Membership was large from the beginning.
The Hamilton County Memorial Building, more commonly called Memorial Hall, is located at Elm & Grant Streets, in Cincinnati, Ohio. The building is next to Cincinnati's Music Hall and across from Washington Park in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. It was built by the Grand Army of the Republic and Hamilton County in 1908, as a memorial to the military of the city and county. The building was built in the Beaux-Arts style. The building, including the Annie W and Elizabeth M Anderson Theater, is used for over 300 events per year.
The former Nast Trinity United Methodist Church, now known as The Warehouse Church, is a historic congregation of the United Methodist Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Designed by leading Cincinnati architect Samuel Hannaford and completed in 1880, it was the home of the first German Methodist church to be established anywhere in the world, and it was declared a historic site in the late twentieth century.
The Apostolic Bethlehem Temple Church is a historic church building in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. A German Gothic Revival structure built in 1868, it was constructed as the home of the German Evangelical and Reformed Church, Cincinnati's oldest German Reformed Church. Founded in 1814, the church changed its name to "St. John's German Protestant Church" in 1874, although it remained in the German Reformed Church. This situation continued until 1924, when it departed for the American Unitarian Association and changed its name to "St. John's Unitarian Church." Little more than twenty years later, the congregation abandoned its old building, leaving it vacant until it was purchased by the present owners, a Pentecostal church.
Pendleton is one of the 52 neighborhoods of Cincinnati, Ohio. It is located within the city's urban basin. The population was 1,088 as of the 2020 census.
West End is one of the 52 neighborhoods of Cincinnati, Ohio. Originally a large residential neighborhood, the majority of the area was demolished in the mid-20th century for the construction of highway interchanges and an industrial park known as Queensgate. The population was 6,824 at the 2020 census.
The Connector is a streetcar system in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The system opened to passengers on September 9, 2016. The streetcar operates on a 3.6-mile (5.8 km) loop from The Banks, Great American Ball Park, Paycor Stadium, and Smale Riverfront Park through Downtown Cincinnati and north to Findlay Market in the northern edge of the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. Future extensions have been proposed to the Uptown area, home to the University of Cincinnati, the regional hospitals on Pill Hill, and the Cincinnati Zoo; and to Northern Kentucky.
Downtown Cincinnati is one of the 52 neighborhoods of Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the central business district of the city, as well the economic and symbiotic center of the Cincinnati metropolitan area. Originally the densely populated core of the city, the neighborhood was transformed into a commercial zone in the mid-20th century. The population was 5,835 at the 2020 census.
The School for Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA) is a magnet arts school in Cincinnati in the US state of Ohio, and part of the Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS). SCPA was founded in 1973. Of the approximately 350 arts schools in the United States, SCPA is one of the oldest and has been cited as a model for both racial integration and for arts programs in over 100 cities.
Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC) is a private, non-profit real-estate development and finance organization focused on strategically revitalizing Cincinnati's downtown urban core in partnership with the City of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati corporate community. Its work is specifically focused on the central business district and in the Over-the-Rhine (OTR) neighborhood. The organization is widely credited with revitalizing OTR, which during the early 2000s was considered one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the United States. While the organization began as a full-service real estate developer, it has since branched out and become a significant event programmer in Cincinnati, producing over 1,000 events per year at the four civic spaces it manages: Fountain Square, Washington Park, Ziegler Park and Memorial Hall.
The history of Over-the-Rhine is almost as deep as the history of Cincinnati. Over-the-Rhine's built environment has undergone many cultural and demographic changes. The toponym "Over-the-Rhine" is a reference to the Miami and Erie Canal as the Rhine of Ohio. An early reference to the canal as "the Rhine" appears in the 1853 book White, Red, Black, in which traveler Ferenc Pulszky wrote, "The Germans live all together across the Miami Canal, which is, therefore, here jocosely called the 'Rhine'." In 1875 writer Daniel J. Kenny referred to the area exclusively as "Over the Rhine". He noted, "Germans and Americans alike love to call the district 'Over the Rhine'."
Christian Moerlein Brewing Co. is a private beer company that began production in 1853 in Cincinnati, Ohio, by German immigrant Christian Moerlein. Before closing its doors in 1919 as result of prohibition, Christian Moerlein was among the ten largest American breweries by volume. In 1981, the brand was revived by the Hudepohl Brewing Company as a "better beer" a precursor to the craft beer category and is considered a pioneer craft beer of the craft beer movement. In 1999, Hudepohl-Schoenling Brewing Co. sold out to a group of investors, a sale that included the Christian Moerlein craft beer brand.
St. Paulus Kirche is a former German Evangelical Protestant church located at the corner of 15th and Race Streets in the Over-the-Rhine historic district of Cincinnati, Ohio. It is one block from the headquarters of 3CDC which are located in Saengerhalle. Built in 1850, it is the oldest surviving Protestant church in the city and the second oldest church in Cincinnati.
Sangerhalle is a historic building in the Over-the-Rhine historic district of Cincinnati, Ohio situated at the corner of 14th and Race Streets across from Washington Park and Cincinnati Music Hall.
The Steps of Cincinnati refers to roughly 400 sets of city-owned steps in Cincinnati, Ohio, in the United States. The steps are an unusual and integral mode of transportation in the city. In addition to practical use, the steps offer recreational users exercise and serve as a scenic attraction to tourists.
TQL Stadium is a soccer-specific stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is the home of FC Cincinnati, a Major League Soccer (MLS) team that has played there since the stadium opened on May 16, 2021. The stadium holds approximately 26,000 spectators and is located in the West End neighborhood, at the former site of Stargel Stadium on Central Parkway at Wade Street. It has a hybrid grass surface. During construction, it was also known as the West End Stadium.
Rhinegeist Brewery is a craft brewery and craft cidery based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The company also sells their ciders under the name Cidergeist, using an alternative apple-shaped skull logo. The brewery's 25,000 square feet (2,300 m2) taproom and production facility is located in Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, and occupies the former, pre-Prohibition bottling plant of Christian Moerlein Brewing Co. Rhinegeist operates an additional shipping, storage and innovation brewing facility in Cincinnati's Camp Washington neighborhood.