Cincinnati 2017...I

Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio that serves as county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the north side of the confluence of the Licking with the Ohio River. With a population of 298,800, Cincinnati is the 3rd largest city in Ohio and the 65th largest city in the United States. Its metropolitan statistical area is the 28th largest in the United States and the largest centered in Ohio. The city is also part of the larger Cincinnati–Middletown–Wilmington combined statistical area, which had a population of 2,172,191 in the 2010 census.

For a photographer, Cincinnati is that city that’s great for photos. Lots of walking around and shooting as I always do, and very interesting things that catches the “eye”. One thing that caught my eye while pulling up in downtown Cincy on day one was this huge, bright blue bridge that reminded me of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York. Come to find out, it’s called the John A. Roebling Bridge, and the man who designed it and for which it’s named for used this bridge as his prototype for designing the Brooklyn Bridge, which I also love to photograph! The bridge allowed me to get great views of the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge, downtown buildings as well as Smale Riverfront Park below. And in walking across the bridge to the other side, I was in Covington, Kentucky, which made for great photos of the Cincinnati skyline from Covington. From the Roebling bridge, I had a clear view of the Covington skyline, which was small but very interesting. Also from the bridge I photographed Paul Brown Stadium, home of the Cincinnati Bengals football team, Smale Riverfront Park, Carol Ann’s Carousel and Great American Ball Park, home of the Cincinnati Reds baseball team.

Walking through downtown afforded me the opportunity to see the new rising of downtown Cincinnati as well as the old, Historic sites. I walked through Piatt Park, the oldest park in Cincy, which dates back to 1817. That was great! I also walked past another Historic site…the former site of The Burnet House Hotel. The Burnet House had many important associations with Cincinnati life. Abraham Lincoln stopped there in February 1861 while on his way to Washington. Around mid-March of 1864 Generals Grant and Sherman met in Parlor A of the Burnet House, spread out their big war maps, and discussed the campaign that soon resulted in Sherman's historic devastation of Georgia and South Carolina. I also visited the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, and photographed the Berlin Wall Memorial out front. The tall towers of Scripps Center and Great American Tower overlooked downtown very proudly. Other notable, and fine architectural structures I loved were the General Electric Building, Cincinnati Bell, Kroger Building and Macy’s Building. The Cincinnati Club is another Historic building downtown, which has been there since 1923, when the building originally opened as a grand hotel and private club.