CINCINNATI

city, seat of Hamilton county, southwestern Ohio, U.S. It lies along the Ohio River (bridged) opposite Covington and Newport, Kentucky, 15 miles (24 km) east of the Indiana border. Cincinnati is Ohio's third largest city, after Cleveland and Columbus. Picturesquely situated between the Little Miami and Great Miami rivers at their influx into the Ohio, it is encircled by hills rising 400600 feet (120180 metres). It is the hub of a seven-county, three-state metropolitan area that includes Hamilton county in Ohio and Campbell and Kenton counties in Kentucky. Columbia, the first settlement, was founded near the mouth of the Little Miami in 1788. Another settlement was laid out and called Losantiville. Fort Washington was built near the site in 1789. In the following year, General Arthur St. Clair, newly appointed governor of the Northwest Territory, renamed Losantiville to honour the Revolutionary War Officers' Society of the Cincinnati and made it the county seat. Growth began after General Anthony Wayne's victory (1794) at Fallen Timbers lessened the threat of Indian attacks. Cincinnati emerged as a river port after 1811, when the first steamboat on western waters, the New Orleans, arrived on its downriver voyage from Pittsburgh. The Miami and Erie Canal was completed to Dayton in 1832, and the first section of the Little Miami Railway was laid in 1843. River commerce, which reached its height in 1852, stimulated steamboat building and industry. At that time, because of its renown as a pork-packing centre, the city was often called Porkopolis. In 1842 Cincinnati was one of the few American cities admired by the British author Charles Dickens. The origins of such nicknames as Queen City and Queen of the West are unknown, though the latter was immortalized in a poem (1854) by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. During the Civil War, Cincinnati sided with the North despite its location on the Mason and Dixon Line and its close commercial and cultural ties with the South. The city's manufactures, now highly diversified, include transportation equipment, soap products, chemicals, clothing, building materials, furniture, cosmetics, printing, jet engines, and packaged meats. The city is also one of the nation's largest inland coal ports. A noted cultural centre, Cincinnati has a symphony orchestra, opera and ballet companies, and museums of art and natural history. The city is the seat of the University of Cincinnati (1819) and of Cincinnati State Technical and Community College (1966). There are two Roman Catholic institutes of higher educationXavier University (1831) and College of Mt. St. Joseph (1920). Other religious institutions include the Athenaeum of Ohio (1829; in suburban Norwood), Hebrew Union CollegeJewish Institute of Religion (1875; the oldest rabbinic college in the United States), and Cincinnati Bible Seminary (1923). Also of interest are the birthplace of President William Howard Taft (at Mount Auburn, now a national historic site), the Harriet Beecher Stowe House, and the Tyler-Davidson Fountain (1871) by the sculptor August von Kreling. The city's zoo, second oldest in the United States, is notable for its successful breeding of animals in captivity and for its use of naturalistic surroundings. Northeast of Cincinnati is Kings Island, a theme amusement park. Riverfront Stadium, completed in 1970, is the home of the Cincinnati Reds (1869; the nation's oldest professional baseball team) and Bengals (American football). The Showboat Majestic, a historic monument, is exhibited on the riverfront, and renovated stern-wheelers are based across the Ohio River at Covington. The birthplace of General Ulysses S. Grant (restored as a museum) is at Point Pleasant, a few miles southeast. Inc. town, 1802; city, 1819. Pop. (1990) city, 364,114; Cincinnati PMSA, 1,526,090; Cincinnati-Hamilton CMSA, 1,817,569; (1994 est.) city, 358,170; (1995 est.) Cincinnati PMSA, 1,591,837; Cincinnati-Hamilton CMSA, 1,907,438.