Great set of photos.  Sure wish that the Red Top Malt sign had survived on Sycamore Street!

One of the things that stands out to me:  In seemingly most photos before say...1920, it seems like the hillsides are all denuded.  Nothing like our present day densely wooded hillsides.

 

Anybody else see this?

yes, this is true. i'd say the cleared hillsides persist into the 1940's and that's when they really start filling up --- as disinvestment starts to accelerate post-war

Not just hillsides, but all land was nearly cleared of trees.

The pioneers found an unspoiled wilderness. By about 1915 practically everything had been cleared, if not for farms and building sites then for forest products.

 

Keep in mind that before the widespread use of electic ranges, natural gas furnaces, etc., lots of folks heated and cooked with wood. Coal and petroleum are not the principal sources of industrial energy, but as late as 1915 locomotives and riverboats were still manufactured as wood burners. A lot of land was used as pasture through about 1940.

 

Aerial photos show that by the 1940's, the forests started to recover. We now have more forest cover in Hamilton County than we have since about 1915.

Stan Hedeen's book, The Mill Creek: Unnatural History of an Urban Stream discusses this. I want to say Cincinnati was 80% deforested by 1880 but I might just have 80 on my mind.

I have seen pictures of Northside from 100 years ago & there are no friggin' trees.

Not much old growth forest left in the state.  The nature display at Chilo Lock 34 Park in Clermont county has a small exhibit talking about the amount of land logged in the state.  I forget the exact percentages but I think the state was about 85% forested before settlers and was down to around something like 20% in the 1960s. 

 

Another thread talking about it.  http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=15354.0

here's a good view of the barren hills in the late 30s/40s

 

http://www.blogotr.com/otr/then-now-east-clifton-avenue/

Striking.  Really!  The vintage pic looks like an old west town. And the new one looks like a rain forest. 

I checked out the blog. Paul Briol is no joke. I really love the Union Terminal shot with the dome framing downtown.

Just to throw it out there again. Kenton county has a great collection (albeit of NoKY) pics.  You should check out some of the highway construction pics.

 

Here's an oldie of the area between the cut and Spence.

 

http://www.libraries.uc.edu/libraries/arb/exhibits/bearcat/index.html

 

This is a good cluster of photos about the UC Bearcat. My favorites are the two below. One shows houses in what used to be Corryville butting up against Nippert Stadium in the background. The second is just scary.

 

 

Ever wonder what the south side of FS looked like before the Westin?

 

This is form the same collection as the post above.  1975.

 

From L-R: The Sheraton, ???, ???, The RKO Albee, ???.  Feel free to fill in the blanks.  Oh, to have that collection of buildings along 5th at FS again.  Instead we have the Westin.  Why would you have ever demolished that Sheraton?!?!

 

 

BTW, this flickr feed has dozens of great FS historicals by Tim Hubbard.

And another from 1973:

 

^ Link to the flickr feed, please?

 

Cool pics.

It's from the US National Archives.

 

Here's one of my favs: "Light Arrow"

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/usnationalarchives/3887101693/#in/photostream/

Indeed.  Sorry about the lack of linkage.

Ok, thanks.

 

Anyone know what happened to the D'aug Days festival? It sounds awesome, and would be nice to have annually (again).

Ok, thanks.

 

Anyone know what happened to the D'aug Days festival? It sounds awesome, and would be nice to have annually (again).

 

I don't know how it ended but I'm not a fan of the contraction "D'aug"

Obviously with August being "dog days". The "aug" short for August is the rest, I guess.  Oh and the "d'" just gives it that foreign schtick.  Whatevs.

And another from 1973:

 

 

I've always thought that 5/3 was extremely sleek without the signage on top.  It's so monolithic and meets the sky in such a clean way.  Now the giant horizontal sign that it has throws the aesthetic of whole building off.

Cincinnati magazine has its entire archive on google, its sometimes fun to look through.  The last reference I see to D'Aug Days was in 1975, it was run by the CAC as a way to encourage people to come downtown (though as I understand it in those days downtown was still really vibrant, Cincinnati actually held out longer than most cities in for this).  There is another magazine that actually talks about it in past tense from 1978, but they don't allow searches of their archives.

 

Reference in Cincy mag: http://books.google.com/books?id=GOsCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA79&lpg=PA79&dq=%22D'aug+days%22+festival&source=bl&ots=WRI1UJP8ok&sig=hQagnZWvkqSP7ctS0VJGEVFbfEM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=r2xgUJ7pKZCjqQG8-oHgAw&ved=0CEYQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=%22D'aug%20days%22%20festival&f=false

 

The search I ran:

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22D&aq=f&sugexp=chrome,mod=9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#hl=en&q=%22D'aug+days%22+festival&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbo=u&tbm=bks&source=og&sa=N&tab=wp&ei=oGxgUK-7JMafqwGfk4DYBg&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&fp=be1d9f75f625bd1c&biw=1280&bih=709

Cincinnati magazine has its entire archive on google, its sometimes fun to look through.  The last reference I see to D'Aug Days was in 1975, it was run by the CAC as a way to encourage people to come downtown (though as I understand it in those days downtown was still really vibrant, Cincinnati actually held out longer than most cities in for this).  There is another magazine that actually talks about it in past tense from 1978, but they don't allow searches of their archives.

 

Reference in Cincy mag: http://books.google.com/books?id=GOsCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA79&lpg=PA79&dq=%22D'aug+days%22+festival&source=bl&ots=WRI1UJP8ok&sig=hQagnZWvkqSP7ctS0VJGEVFbfEM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=r2xgUJ7pKZCjqQG8-oHgAw&ved=0CEYQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=%22D'aug%20days%22%20festival&f=false

 

The search I ran:

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22D&aq=f&sugexp=chrome,mod=9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#hl=en&q=%22D'aug+days%22+festival&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbo=u&tbm=bks&source=og&sa=N&tab=wp&ei=oGxgUK-7JMafqwGfk4DYBg&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&fp=be1d9f75f625bd1c&biw=1280&bih=709

 

Yep.  I've wasted hours going through that archive for CM.  Half of the fun for me is the advertising artifacts of companies gone away.  Different branding the city has gone through: Blue Chip City, etc.  There are a couple good issues about downtown development efforts that can really take you back.  IIRC, one actually details the development details of the Westin parcels.

 

Here is an article search from 2000 that talks about what used to be around FS.  Joy!

 

http://books.google.com/books?id=4O0CAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA69&ots=nLmi8SRVMq&dq=cincinnati%20magazine%20albee%20theater&pg=PA64#v=onepage&q=cincinnati%20magazine%20albee%20theater&f=false

The stuff Cincinnati lost :( - though at least they've been doing good things lately. :)

 

A couple of those photos feel more like San Francisco's Union Square than Fountain Square.

Obviously with August being "dog days". The "aug" short for August is the rest, I guess.  Oh and the "d'" just gives it that foreign schtick.  Whatevs.

 

Yeah, I get it. I just don't like it.

 

Bring back the Light Arrow!

UC to digitize four decades of city scenes

By Mark Heyne

 

 

A collection of negatives and prints that gives you a look into Cincinnati's past is going on the Web.  Work begins today at the University of Cincinnati Libraries to digitize 8,000 images that include both interior and exterior shots of homes and city scenes from 1920 to 1956.  They were taken as part of the city's failed subway development and also to document various street projects.

 

Kevin Grace, the head of UC's Archives and Rare Books Library where the collection resides, says the pictures give a crystal clear image of the city during that time.

 

 

 

http://wvxu.org/post/uc-digitize-four-decades-city-scenes

http://retro.cincinnati.com/

This isn't a photo, but an illustration by Winsor McCay for Life magazine from 1899 when he was living in Cincinnati. Nothing says it's Cincinnati but it sure looks like OTR.

http://www.allstarcomicart.com/cgi-bin/item.pl?item=34

It also has his address as 2137 Gilbert.

^-I never knew McCay lived in Cincinnati, wow. 

 

I do think its Cincinnati but downtown viewed from the east side of Downtown  or what was Bucktown facing west.  There is a clock tower that kind of looks like Cincy's city hall (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CincinnatiCityHall.jpg) and next to it is a domed building that looks like the old Unitarian church (http://www.pbase.com/csdameron/image/60111069.jpg)

looks like a conglomeration of different cincinnati buildings - almost sure was inspired by cincinnati and his view from Gilbert

Kinda getting back to the 'barren Cincinnati' thing...

Here is a PDF of a pamphlet published in 1911 documenting Northside homes.

http://www.northside.net/PDF/Northside_Homes_1911.pdf

Unfortunately, it was scanned as linework so the photos are kinda encrapulated but you can get the idea.

http://cdm16007.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p267401coll34/id/4509/rec/18

^Other than the corner building on the left, most of buildings behind that one are gone today.  Sad...

check out the church steeple at the end of Race

The building on the immediate right would later become a Gold Star Chili (although it's been closed for a few years now).  Most of the buildings on the right side are still there today, as is the church, of course:

 

 

Streetview

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this. If it's not could somebody with the ability move it?

 

Anyway, I was on Buzzfeed and saw this absolutely amazing look at the old Public Library Downtown where the low extension of the Macy's Building currently sits.

 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/briangalindo/15-gorgeous-photos-of-the-old-cincinnati-library

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I cannot even begin to handle how absolutely stunning that main hall is. What I wouldn't give to be inside that space. I had absolutely no idea this is what used to stand at this spot. I cringe just thinking about someone suggesting demolishing this building. So shortsighted. It is just so overwhelmingly gorgeous.

Yeah. pretty amazing. IIRC it was originally intended to be an opera house, before it was re-envisioned as a library. Thanks for posting this.

 

Duh. I just visited the site you posted and it mentions the opera house.

 

Isn't it nuts? Nobody would be allowed to use the stacks today; way too much liability and ADA requirements would blow them out of the water. Everything's so narrow and small, not all Duplo and spaced out like stuff is today.

 

Look at how low the safety barriers are on the stacks. They'd only be a little above my knees. People had such huge balls back then. I think there was a way that people could use cables and little seats to climb through there as well.

^Yeah the third to last picture shows that rail isn't even above the guy's thighs. So many things in that building go against current code. But man how awesome it would be to search for a book through those stacks. I have a slight fear of heights so that may get in the way of my enjoyment, but it wouldn't stop me!

 

Seats on cables? That sounds pretty incredible. I wonder if there are any photos of that system in use.

 

Did society just collectively lose its mind after WWII? How did people just demolish stuff like this without even thinking about how important it may be for future generations to experience?

A whole generation of Kasichs had a "better" idea.

Seriously.

 

So what was here directly following its demolition? Obviously the Macy's Building is there now, but was anything there in the time gap?

WOW

I thought the library is where the library was.

One thing about a library is that is is kind of a museum and you do have to embrace the tech to preserve the old books & avoid fires, etc.

That said, people don't seem to get the idea of awe inspiring, fascinating, inviting spaces anymore.

I think in many of those older libraries the public did not actually retrieve books from the stacks; librarians retrieved books upon request. This would be similar to how many retail stores used to operate, when the public just came to a counter and the majority of merchandise was fetched from behind the counter or a back room.

 

Cincinnati's main library was a gem, but I can certaily understand how it would have seemed extremely primitive by the 1950's.

Although Cincinnati did not preserve its original main branch, it did a fantastic job maintaining its historic Carnegie-funded branch libraries. Cincinnati saw eight (8) branches built between 1905 and 1915 using grant funds from Andrew Carnegie and six (6) are still operating. One branch (Columbia Tusculum) was closed but has been preserved as an arts center and a small branch in the West End was closed and demolished with the surrounding blocks in the 1947. By contrast, Toledo built five (5) Carnegie branches and only one (1) still operates; Cleveland built fifteen (15) Carnegie branches and only six (6) still operate. Columbus used Carnegie funds to build a grand main library which remains open today.

 

Avondale

 

Columbia Tusculum

 

Corryville

 

Cumminsville (Northside)

 

Hyde Park - this is the original facade, unfortunately redone in the 1970's

 

Price Hill

 

Walnut Hills

They even have a FB page with a bunch of interior shots

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Friends-of-Cincinnati-Carnegie-Libraries/144635038910306

I think in many of those older libraries the public did not actually retrieve books from the stacks; librarians retrieved books upon request. This would be similar to how many retail stores used to operate, when the public just came to a counter and the majority of merchandise was fetched from behind the counter or a back room.

 

I'm pretty sure that was the case here. Patrons certainly were not allowed on the cables. But some of these pictures show a lot of people in the stacks.

There is a book about the library: Free and Public, by John Fleishman. It includes more photos. And yes, there was at least one death from falling: John Sloan, a book shelver, was found dead at the bottom of an elevator shaft in 1902.

 

 

Is that available at today's non-Aggrocrag main library?

^Absolutely fabulous reference there sir. Exquisite.