December 2, 200519 yr The object in photo no. 6 looks familiar. Could it be the lightpole or flagpole mentioned in the fountain square thread? I have also wondered about that Central Parkway postcard. Sometimes postcard artists took there liberties to make a pretty picture. The Eden Park photo below it, for example, seems to be based on a photograph, but the pavement and cars appear to be superimposed or hand drawn. As a result, the street looks wider and cleaner. In particular, there is a tall, skinny skyscraper in the distance in the Central Parkway postcard. I've never come across that one anywhere else. To be fair, there have been some buildings demolished on Central Parkway and turned into parking lots.
December 2, 200519 yr Sorry, I take back what I said about the tall skinny skyscraper on Central Parkway. It shows up in a photo. It might be a chimney or a tower, not a skyscraper, though. Anyone notice anything different about the Roebling Bridge photo? It has a solid deck! (The present deck is a steel grate.) I had no idea. Thanks for the photos.
December 2, 200519 yr That shot from the '37 flood is amazing...just hard to imagine water that high...
December 14, 200519 yr I found these on the Library of Congress website, where larger versions are available: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsahtml/fahome.html For those interested, the site also contains numerous photos of the Greenhills project, under Ohio-Hamilton County. Captions from the LoC website. No caption. Oct. 1938. Downtown Street. Sept. 1939 Old theatre converted into modern shop fronts. Oct. 1938. The flag is going by, sesquicentennial parade. Oct. 1938. Fountain Square Oct. 1938 Fountain Square Oct. 1938 Man reading newspaper in Fountain Square, Oct. 1938 Fire Prevention Week, Oct. 1938 Watching the parade go by, Oct. 1938 Waiter and chef watching Cincinnati's sesquicentennial parade, Oct. 1938 Woman selling ice cream to parade watchers, Oct. 1938 Roman chariot at the tail end of the sesquicentennial, Oct. 1938 Parking Lot, Oct. 1938 Theater. Sept. 1939. House at 1400 Block, Eastern Ave. Dec. 1935. No caption. Dec. 1935. Cheap brick houses. Dec. 1935. Bernard Cochran, a Greyhound bus driver, leaving the terminal. Sept. 1943 The skyline as seen from the towboat Ernest T. Weir on the Ohio River. Sept. 1943 Houses on Laconia St. in a Cincinnati suburb (now Bond Hill/Roselawn area). Dec. 1935 Narrow frame house. Dec. 1935 Suburban section. Dec. 1935 Typical wood fram house. Dec. 1935
December 14, 200519 yr Wow...just wow. So I'm guessing the last one is Sycamore, right at the turn... Interesting, the 1400 block of Eastern either means Twain's Point or Ted Berry Park... Thank you so much for posting these - they're fantastic!
December 14, 200519 yr Nice find! A couple of those Fountain Square photos show the bottom of that monument I was wondering about in another thread a little while ago. Does anyone know what it is?
December 14, 200519 yr Powerful photo. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
December 15, 200519 yr PigBoy, If you are referring to the "monument" in the 5th picture, I believe that is the base of the flag poll. It was still part of fountain square until demo started. As far as I know, they will put it back up after the redo.
December 15, 200519 yr Yeah, I think that is the same base that was in the square until last month. It was near the west elevator entrance. I don't think the last one is the top of Sycamore, because there were a bunch of old buildings at the top that were torn down in the 1980's that aren't in that photo. I'm trying to figure out what street the roman chariot is crossing! Could it be Reading at Sycamore?
December 15, 200519 yr Guys - here's something very, very cool. I was looking for some information on the sesquicentennial parade featured in several of these photos. They were taken by John Vachon (1914-1975) in 1938. Turns out there's a book called "John Vachon's America". I found it through Google book search. Anyway, it turns out he didn't even plan to be at the parade that day. Here's what he says on p.136: "October 11, 1938 Cincinnati, Ohio my sainted wife: ... I got up about 9 o'clock went down breakfast and then out to find a haircut, when whoops! Millions of people milling and muttering, mewling and puling, lining the streets for blocks and blocks to watch the parade go by. Cincinnati's Sesquicentennial parade. And me without a camera. So up I scoots to the 10th floor, loads me Leica, and down I am again. First I takes in the post office, reads your lovely letter, sighs for you, and then starts snapping. ... Really got some good material. I don't know what it's worth to John Citizen who is paying for it, but it pleases me, and it was a great deal of fun. Our organization really should be part of the WPA art project." ...Which apparently it was to end up on the website I found it! Page 137 of the book has the photo that ColDay correctly identified as "powerful" which was taken outside the post office (now the federal court house) right after the photographer read a letter from his wife. Having first-hand narrative from the photographer about a 70-year-old set of photos is amazing to me.
December 15, 200519 yr PigBoy, If you are referring to the "monument" in the 5th picture, I believe that is the base of the flag poll. It was still part of fountain square until demo started. As far as I know, they will put it back up after the redo. Ah, thanks. After checking, I think it's actually a different thing that I had been wondering about.
December 15, 200519 yr I'd be surprised if any city homes, even in poor neighborhoods, still depended upon outhouses as late as 1935, but those do look like outhouses. Outhouses usually wouldn't have been in front of the house, or so far away. Some are obviously in very bad repair and about to fall over. My grandmother had a structure like that beside her house into the late 1950's, but it was a coal shed where she kept hard coal (anthracite) for her big parlor stove. After she replaced the parlor stove with a gas heater, she had the shed torn down. In 1989 while renovating my 1860's house and digging for foundation repairs, I uncovered the former location of a coal shed -- about a six-inch layer of hard coal about four feet across, a little less than a foot below the surface. Next to that and somewhat deeper I found pieces of broken dishes and other discarded items, probably the pit of the outhouse. I suppose the two were side-by-side in the same shed. As near as I can tell, my house got plumbing and an indoor bathroom (in the basement) and central heat about 1905.
December 16, 200519 yr I don't think the last one is the top of Sycamore, because there were a bunch of old buildings at the top that were torn down in the 1980's that aren't in that photo I think this is at the top of sycamore hill where sycamore st bears a sharp right. What do you think jimmy? I am guessing that the chariot photo was taken looking east towards mt adams around central pkwy or maybe 6th or 7th st? hmmm
December 16, 200519 yr Yes, that postcard photo is definitely the top of Sycamore. A couple of buildings in the photo are still there. Unfortunately none of those with the balconies exist anymore. Nor any of them in the foreground. I took photos in the 80's of one of the balcony buildings which was vacant and had huge cracks from slipping down the hill. They were owned at the time by the City Health Commissioner, and were demolished by the city. One of them had a dramatic fire about 10 years ago, and I got some photo then of the 5-6 story shell with all the wood burned-out! I'll have to find them and post. Great postcard! I had never seen that one.
February 27, 200619 yr Insane how much it's changed. How awesome would it be to go back in time to like the late 1800s, early 1900s and just explore donwtown Cincinnati
March 4, 200619 yr It looked so much more filled in than it does now :( There's such a huge amount of wasted space in various parts between Price Hill and downtown that should be utilized.
November 4, 200618 yr Ran across this one and had to bump it...what a fantastic set of photos you found, kendall!
November 4, 200618 yr I wouldn't be surprised if all those men sitting around the base of the flagpole amid pigeons and tattered newspapers are jobless, with nothing else to do. In 1938, the country was only beginning to come out of the Great Depression, and hardship was still pretty widespread among the working class.
November 4, 200618 yr Wow, I'd almost forgotten about this thread. There are lots of great historic photos available online, especially from government sites. I'm sure there are more available now then a year ago when I downloaded these.
November 4, 200618 yr Ran across this one and had to bump it...what a fantastic set of photos you found, kendall! Nice bump...I had never seen this thread before :cry: I feel better now that I have seen more of the years that were still kind to cities :|
November 23, 200618 yr love love love these candid pix. the "Gaity Burlesque" billboard (what would our current sheriff think!), "Tables for Ladies", "Vote for Luebbers". a general sense of community. you can also feel the 'appalachia' in some of those shots. Thanks for resurfacing these.
November 23, 200618 yr Unfreakinbelievable! I love the following photo. As someone that has strong ties to the south through my mother (specifically Memphis) I can tell you that you would NEVER see this in 1938 - hell probably not even 30-40 years after this photo was taken.
December 1, 200618 yr Wow I love these pictures... Does anyone know where I could buy copies of old pictures like this...Ive been thinking a framed set would make an awesome gift for my friend
December 26, 200618 yr I ran accross about 12 old pictures that I believe belonged to my great-great-grandfather and took digital pics of some of the more interesting shots. Can anyone identify any of the locations w/o notable landmarks or the year these would have been taken?
December 26, 200618 yr Beautiful. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
December 26, 200618 yr Photo 1. Don't know, but possibly the Cincinnati riverfront Photo 2. Don't know. Photo 3. Eighth Street Viaduct. See Jake's site: http://www.cincinnati-transit.net/8thtour7.html Photo 4. Roebling Suspension Bridge from Cincinnati side. Photo 5. Roebling Suspension Bridge from Kentucky side. PHoto 6. Cincinnati Riverfront with CG&E building in foreground. The year is unquestionably 1937. The '37 flood was the highest in recorded history. The high water mark on the Roebling pier is enough to verify it. The buildings and automobiles match as well. Photo 1 shows an interesting boat. The lines seem to indicate an open water boat, as opposed to a river boat. The Coast Guard donated boats in 1937. I wonder if this was one of them. Fascinating photos! Thanks for sharing.
December 26, 200618 yr Photo 2. is the temporary causeway leading to the Suspension Bridge on the Kentucky side. I found another photo including the same building from a different angle.
December 27, 200618 yr so the photobug thing is hereditary eh? thanks for posting these unique glimpses is this the same (or near) as your 3rd pic? Thanks Ink!
December 28, 200618 yr Compare this photo: <img src="http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b316/inkaelin/100_71221.jpg"> With this one: <img src="http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c252/otrfan1/West%20End/CincyMiscPan.jpg"> I'm not certain that the two photos were taken from the same spot or not. The railing obviously doesn't appear in the second photo. Anyway, there's another thing I noticed. The first photo shows some white marks on the columns, and also on the railing. Was that the high water mark? Perhaps the photo was taken when the water was on the way down. Or, maybe it is paint. The second photo shows blue paint at about the same place. Why is it there? Does it mark high water, or is it just reflective paint for traffic? But here is the really interesting thing. In the center of the second photo is a slanted concrete column thing with a steel track. I think that is part of the floodwall. During a flood, a gate made of steel beams would be placed inside that slanted track to keep the water out. I find it interesting to see that the gate reaches a little bit above the blue paint. Anybody know any more about this?
December 28, 200618 yr from another angle - standing on Evans St. looking southward. You can see a retaining wall running off to the right there, so I think you are correct Eight&State - this must be a slot for a section to close off the street. very near the Mill Creek at this point - the flood waters back up from the Ohio into this basin pretty quickly I would believe. Good eyes there Columbo!
December 28, 200618 yr ^I'm glad to see they've restored the spires on the bridge, those caps make the structure looks short and unimpressive. ^^^^^Thanks for the pics OTR, I didn't know Cincy ever had an Army Corps of Engineers District, I guess we fall under Louisville today.
December 28, 200618 yr I guess we fall under Louisville today. Don't you EVER speak words like that again...EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
December 28, 200618 yr Ink, a fantastic find! Thanks so much for posting them! How many more are there?
December 28, 200618 yr This photo certainly appears as though it was shot while looking down the recently demolished ramp although I think it's taken from quite a bit higher on the ramp than one would expect. I think the buildings that are visible on the left were long ago torn town, they were on the east side of State Ave. and the still standing "Mahkatawah Hall" is not visible. Also the retaining wall marking the end of the underground part of 8th St. looks confusing in this old photo because it is being struck by light from the still exisisting ramp on the viaduct's western end. I bet that the flood controls visible in this photo are where those buldings stood.
December 28, 200618 yr Ink, a fantastic find! Thanks so much for posting them! How many more are there? About 6, but most are pics of individual houses, flooded areas with floating wood, etc. Someday, I'll post the rest.
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