The document summarizes Ohio Historical Markers that highlight significant people and events in Cincinnati's history. It discusses how the Ohio History Connection erected the first markers in Cincinnati in 1969 to commemorate important figures and moments. Currently, there are 49 markers in Cincinnati, second only to Columbus. The markers cover a wide range of topics from Cincinnati's impact on baseball and technology to social issues like abolition, racism, and criminal justice reform. They help preserve and share Cincinnati's rich history with residents and visitors.

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E
very city has a story to tell.
Ours, which first began as
three small and desolate settle-
ments on the banks of the Ohio River, is
no exception. From the first professional
baseball team (the Cincinnati Red Stock-
ings in 1869) to the first glass door oven
(Camp Washington, 1909), Cincinnati has
and continues to leave a mark on Ameri-
can history and culture.
LEAVING OUR MARK
Ohio Historical Markers highlight Cincinnati’s past
WORDS BY RICHARD LOVELL • photos by Robert Misleh

2. december03-09,2014|15
To help commemorate the significant moments of our
nearly 200-year history, throughout Cincinnati you can find
brown double-sided aluminum plaques, each coated with
gold lettering and its own unique body of text. While seem-
ingly ubiquitous, these plaques blend into the backdrop like
often-ignored construction signs. These plaques are known
as Ohio Historical Markers, and here in the Queen City they
tell the story of a once-proud and flourishing municipality,
with all her vitality and shortcomings put on display.
◆◆◆
The historical markers are products of the Ohio History
Connection. A nonprofit based out of Columbus, it was
incorporated in 1885 as The Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Society, nearly 100 years after Marietta became
the first permanent settlement of the Northwest Territory
and present-day Ohio. The organization’s original purpose,
according to its website, was to “preserve the state’s past
and address concern that the state’s past was being entirely
lost or sent away to museums and libraries in other states
and countries.” The Ohio History Connection has become
the largest state-supported network of historical sites and
museums in the country, operating 60 sites, 300 buildings and
4,800 acres of land.
The idea of marking Ohio’s history with historical mark-
ers wasn’t realized until nearly 70 years after the group’s
founding. The markers serve to identify, commemorate and
honor important places, events and people of Ohio, including
right here in Cincinnati.
“It lets communities share what’s unique, what’s special
[and] what’s notable about them,” says Andy Verhoof, the
Ohio historical marker coordinator for the Ohio History
Connection, who has been with the organization for nearly
20 years. “An important part of a person’s identity is where
they’re from, and markers help to explain how a place came
to be.”
The first marker in Cincinnati was erected in 1969, com-
memorating Francis McCormick, founder of Methodism in
the Northwest Territory during the Second Great Awakening,
during which membership grew rapidly amongst Baptist
and Methodist congregations. The second was dedicated
less than a year later, erected right across from what is now
called the Duke Energy Convention Center, remembering the
First National Correctional Congress of the National Prison
Association. Meeting in October of 1870, the group’s hope
was to reform and improve our penal system, writing the
following in its Declaration of Principles: “The supreme aim
of prison discipline is the reformation of criminals, not the
infliction of vindictive suffering.”
◆◆◆
With 49 in total — second only to Columbus — the
markers located in Cincinnati present quite a diverse his-
tory. Lest people forget, Cincinnati was one of the 10 most
populous U.S. cities from 1830 up to the 1910 Census, and
the downtown markers present our impact on the abolition-
ist movement and the Civil War, national politics, religion, the
public schooling system, medicinal advancements and, yes,
even sports: The Cincinnati Reds are the only professional
sports team in Ohio to have its own historical marker (insert
cheap shot at Cleveland sports here). Located on Crosley
Terrace at Great American Ball Park, the marker remembers
the 1869 Red Stockings, the first professional baseball team
in America. Even Cold War hysteria and blatant World War
I racism are topics of Cincinnati markers, showing the wide
range of history the Ohio History Connection is willing to
cover. The application process for proposing a marker is
surprisingly simple.
A local sponsor submits an application for a marker
to the Ohio History Connection, and all costs — marker
production, marker instillation, ongoing maintenance and
upkeep — are covered by that sponsor. The Ohio General
Assembly established the Ohio Bicentennial Commission
in 1995 to help commemorate the state’s 200th anniver-
sary. They’re responsible for the production of more than
20 markers downtown, including two commemorating
prosperous Cincinnati businesses, the Kroger Co. and
Procter & Gamble.
“We have a lot of different kinds of local sponsors,”
Verhoof says. “Our program is really very universal in the
sense that any community group can propose a marker.
… We have local historical societies propose markers,
local preservation groups, veterans groups, museums.”
The sponsor also must provide the title of the marker
and a classification, e.g. historic event, building or person,
natural history, archeological site, ethnic association,
historic district, geology or legend. Most importantly, they
must provide a statement of significance, explaining why
a person, place, event or “thing” is worthy of recognition
with an Ohio Historical Marker.
“We get the application, we look it over, and we pay
attention to that statement of significance, where the local
sponsor tells us why this is worthy of a historical marker,”
Verhoof says. “The next step, the ball is in our court. We
fact-check the marker, we revise the text and send it back
to the local sponsor for their review.”
Then it’s off to Sewah Studios in Marietta, where the
historical marker can finally come to fruition.
The studio was founded in 1927, and the production of
historical markers has become its specialty. All in all, it takes
roughly a week to complete a marker and costs around
$2,000. The studio can knock out about six markers per day,
and nearly 1,200 markers are cast per year.
The studio produced two Cincinnati markers dedicated
earlier this year. The first is located at the Westwood Town
Hall Recreation Center and celebrates the local and national
impact of James N. Gamble, co-founder of Procter & Gamble
and the inventor of Ivory Soap. The other marker is Nor-
wood High School, “a source of community pride.” At least
two more markers have been approved and are waiting ap-
propriate dedication ceremony dates for next year: St. Aloy-
sius Orphanage in Bond Hill, which took care of German-
speaking children abandoned during the cholera epidemic in
the 1830s; and the Good Will Fresh Air Camp, a 100-acre site
in North Bend founded and operated by Reverend Richard E.
Scully, the founder of Cincinnati Goodwill.
◆◆◆
With new markers being dedicated and erected each year,
there are plenty of historic places and people of Cincinnati
still left to be commemorated. Markers commemorate our
rich German and Irish heritage, but no marker tells the story
of the Shawnee Indians that occupied the region before its
settlement, or the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, which
encouraged more settlers to the Cincinnati area. Our history
as the pork-processing center of the United States (“Porkop-
olis”) and a major iron producer are also noticeably absent.
And despite 28 buildings being designated as local historic
Historical markers line Bicentennial
Commons at Sawyer Point.

3. 16|december03-09,2014
landmarks by the city of Cincinnati, only a select few are
commemorated with a marker.
The Historic Conservation Board of Cincinnati has
erected two historical markers separate from the Ohio
Historic marker program: outside Herzog Studios on Race
Street, where Hank Williams recorded his hit single “I’m So
Lonesome I Could Cry” and the Mercantile Library on Walnut
Street, where famous authors Herman Melville, Harriet
Beecher Stowe and Ralph Waldo Emerson have all given
addresses.
This just means the dedication of markers in Cincinnati
will continue well into the future, if local sponsors are willing
to cover the costs. The Ohio Historic Marker program is here
to help tell our story. And it seems residents are more than
willing to listen.
While every one of the nearly 50 markers downtown is
worthy of inclusion, here is a list of some of the most inter-
esting and unique markers of Cincinnati:
Union Terminal (1301 Western Ave., Queensgate): On
Nov. 4, residents overwhelmingly passed Issue 8, a sales tax
increase for the renovation of Union Terminal. But it was
more than that. It was also a memorandum on our city’s will-
ingness to preserve our distinct and vital history. A symbol of
Cincinnati despite its discontinuance as a working railroad
station in 1972, it currently houses the Cincinnati History
Museum, the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History and the
Omnimax theater, and is a popular field trip destination for
Cincinnati schools. The passage of Issue 8 will raise $172
million for its upkeep and renovation.
Cincinnati’s German Heritage (Bicentennial Commons at
Sawyer Point, 801 E. Pete Rose Way, Downtown) commemo-
rates the impact German immigrants had on our social, cul-
tural, economic and political history. At the start of the 21st
century, nearly half of Cincinnati residents were of German
descent. Despite our rich German history, World War I saw
the rise of Anti-German Hysteria (Findlay Market, 119 W. El-
der St., Over-the-Rhine). German and Berlin Streets became
English and Woodard, and the Public Library removed all
German publications from its shelves. It was a trend that hit
all of America, as President Roosevelt denounced “hyphen-
ated Americanism” and German immigrants were seen as
too sympathetic to their home country.
First Glass Door Oven (2701 Spring Grove Ave., Camp
Washington): The first oven with a glass viewing-door was
invented and manufactured by Ernst H. Huenefeld of the
Huenefeld Company in 1909 at its factory on Spring Grove
Avenue, a technological breakthrough that is now a standard
feature in homes today.
1749 French Claims to Ohio River Valley (Bicentennial
Commons at Sawyer Point, 801 E. Pete Rose Way, Down-
town): The French, feeling threatened by British expansion
to the Ohio River Valley, buried inscribed lead plates at six
different tributaries to the Ohio River, including one at the
mouth of the Great Miami River. The lead plates established
Historical markers commemorate both Cincinnati’s German Heritage and post-WWII efforts to downplay German influence.

4. december03-09,2014|17
French claim of the area, and “as a monument
to the renewal we have taken of said River
Ohio and lands on both sides of its tributaries
to their sources.”
Cincinnati Breweries (200 block of West
McMicken Avenue, Over-the-Rhine): In the late
1800s, Cincinnati Breweries produced nearly
twice as much beer per resident than any other
city in the country, with 18 of 36 local brewer-
ies operating in Over-the-Rhine and the West
End. Given our rich German and Irish heritage,
it’s no surprise we know a thing or two about
beer production — and consumption.
John T. Crawford’s Legacy (1350 W. North
Bend Road, College Hill): John T. Crawford
was a white Union soldier who willed his 18
½-acre farm as a home “for aged, indigent
worthy colored men, preference to be given to
those who suffered the miseries of American
Slavery.” The Crawford Old Men’s Home oper-
ated from 1888 until 1964.
The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the
American Jewish Archives (Hebrew Union Col-
lege, 3101 Clifton Ave., Clifton): The archive
was created in the aftermath of World War II,
as Dr. Jacob Rader Marcus felt the urgency to
preserve North American Jewish history. It’s
now one of the world’s largest collections of
primary material on the history of American
Judaism.
The Sultana (Bicentennial Commons at
Sawyer Point, 801 E. Pete Rose Way, Down-
town): This ship was constructed in Cincinnati
and contracted by the U.S. government to
transport free Union prisoners north from Con-
federate stockades. The ship was carrying six
times its capacity during a trip in 1865, causing
a steam boiler to explode from too much
pressure and low water, killing an estimated
1,800. Ohioans accounted for 791 deaths, more
than any other state, including more than 50
Cincinnatians. It remains the worst maritime
disaster in U.S. history, even more deadly than
the sinking of the Titanic.
Cincinnati Moonwatch Team (Cincinnati
Astronomical Society, 5274 Zion Road, Cleves):
As part of Cold War tensions and hysteria, the
Cincinnati Moonwatch Team was activated by
the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory af-
ter the launch of Sputnik 1, the world’s first ar-
tificial satellite. They spent thousands of hours
optically observing and recording the position
and activities of satellites from 1957 to 1964.
The data was used by scientists to understand
how satellite orbits changed with solar activity
in the upper atmosphere and even provided the
basis for global positioning satellites (GPS) and
other future technology.
Elizabeth Blackwell (YWCA of Greater
Cincinnati, 898 Walnut St., Downtown): Born
in Bristol, England, Elizabeth Blackwell moved
to Cincinnati in 1838. In 1849, she received her
medical degree from Geneva Medical College
in New York, thus becoming the first accred-
ited female doctor in the United States.
Cincinnati Riots of 1884 (1000 Sycamore
St., Downtown): Citizens felt poorly about law
enforcement efforts as murderers and other
offenders received lenient punishments. On
March 28, 1884, thousands of city residents
stormed the county jail and courthouse after a
17-year-old was given only a 20-year sentence
for manslaughter. The rioting lasted three days,
54 people were killed and 200 wounded. The
riots led to the removal of political favoritism
in law enforcement and a larger police force in
the city. ©