Cincinnati

Settlers from the east founded a village on the north bank of the Ohio River in 1788, opposite the mouth of the Licking River, and called it Losantiville. In 1790 the governor of the Northwest Territory, Arthur St. Clair, renamed it Cincinnati after the Society of the Cincinnati, a club of Revolutionary War officers named in turn after the Roman farmer-statesman Cincinnatus. Fort Washington protected it, and the river made it the gateway to the West.

Steamboats turned Cincinnati into one of the largest cities in the country by the middle of the 19th century. It packed so much pork that it was nicknamed Porkopolis, and from the hogs' fat and the river trade came businesses such as Procter & Gamble, founded in 1837 by a candle-maker and a soap-maker. German immigrants poured in, settling the district north of the Miami and Erie Canal that became known as Over-the-Rhine, with its breweries, churches and beer halls. Across the river lay the slave state of Kentucky, and Cincinnati was a major crossing on the Underground Railroad; Harriet Beecher Stowe lived here for years and drew on stories she heard for Uncle Tom's Cabin. The Roebling bridge opened to traffic in 1867, and in 1869 the Red Stockings became the first all-professional baseball team.

In the 20th century anti-German feeling in the First World War and then Prohibition hit the city's breweries hard. The city's Art Deco era left Union Terminal and the Carew Tower, and Procter & Gamble and Kroger grew into national giants. After the Second World War freeways cut through the West End and residents moved to the suburbs; Over-the-Rhine declined, and unrest followed a police shooting there in 2001. Since the mid-2000s the district has been heavily renovated, the riverfront has been rebuilt, and a streetcar opened in 2016.

Cincinnati is a city of old institutions. Its symphony orchestra, May Festival and art museum all date from the 19th century, Music Hall and the Rookwood pottery reflect the city's Gilded Age wealth, and its zoo is the second oldest in the country. German heritage shows in the architecture of Over-the-Rhine, in the beer and sausages, and in Oktoberfest Zinzinnati, billed as the largest in the United States. Bockfest celebrates the neighbourhood's brewing past each year.

African American history runs deep: the Underground Railroad crossings, the Freedom Center on the riverfront, and a strong musical tradition that includes King Records, the Cincinnati label that helped launch the career of James Brown. Sport matters enormously. Reds Opening Day is treated almost as a holiday, with a parade from Findlay Market, and the Bengals and FC Cincinnati draw large crowds.

Locals identify strongly with their neighbourhoods — the city counts over fifty of them, many on separate hills — and with their high schools, many of them Catholic. The city sits on the Kentucky border, and its manners are a blend of Midwestern and Southern: friendly, conservative in some habits and fiercely loyal to local brands, from chili parlours to ice cream.

About 310,000 people live in the city itself and around 2.3 million in the wider metropolitan area, which spreads across south-west Ohio, northern Kentucky and a corner of Indiana. The city lost much of its population after 1950 and has only recently begun to grow again: the 2020 census recorded the first increase since 1950.

The economy rests on large headquarters — Procter & Gamble, Kroger and Fifth Third Bank among them — alongside hospitals, the University of Cincinnati, GE Aerospace in the suburbs and the airport's big cargo hub across the river. Many families live in older inner-ring neighbourhoods of brick houses on steep streets, such as Northside, Clifton or Price Hill, or in the spread-out suburbs, and almost everyone drives. Gentrification in Over-the-Rhine, poverty in parts of the West End and the east, and the future of public transport are common topics of debate.

Life has a strong neighbourhood rhythm: parish festivals through the summer, chili parlour lunches, and evenings at Reds games or on the riverfront. Many people work in Ohio and live in Kentucky, or the other way round, crossing the river daily.

Cincinnati chili is the city's signature. Developed in the 1920s by Macedonian immigrants, it is not a stew but a thin meat sauce spiced with cinnamon, cloves and other flavourings from Greek cooking, served over spaghetti or hot dogs. Order by number: a three-way is spaghetti, chili and a heap of finely shredded cheddar; a four-way adds onions or beans; a five-way has both. A coney is a small hot dog under chili, mustard, onion and cheese. Chili parlours, from big chains to independents, are found across the city.

Goetta is the German contribution: a breakfast sausage of pork, sometimes with beef, mixed with steel-cut oats and spices, sliced and fried until crisp. Bratwurst and other German-style sausages are served at festivals and ball games, and Findlay Market has butchers selling them. Graeter's ice cream, made in small batches since the 19th century, is a local loyalty, and pizza from the regional chain LaRosa's is another.

The city's brewing past is reviving too. Before Prohibition Cincinnati was a national leader in brewing; today taprooms fill old brick buildings in Over-the-Rhine and beyond, and the city's Oktoberfest pours German-style beer by the gallon. Across the river, Covington and Newport add pubs, bourbon bars and riverside restaurants.