Welcome to Cincinnati! This loop starts at Fountain Square, the city's symbolic center, and visits an Art Deco tower, a Romanesque city hall, a Venetian Gothic concert hall, a park that was once a cemetery, Ohio's oldest public market, the city's oldest church and a record-setting library.
Each stop's audio starts by itself when you're within about 100 ft (free and unlocked stops only). Keep this page open with the screen on. Distances are straight-line, so follow the streets and watch for traffic.
Welcome to Cincinnati! This is Fountain Square, the symbolic center of the city since 1871. Long before that, an Indian mound stood here when the first white settlers arrived, and later a butcher's market. The square was a gift from businessman Henry Probasco, in memory of his brother-in-law and business partner, Tyler Davidson.
Probasco went to Munich looking for a fitting memorial, and he found a design by August von Kreling and Ferdinand von Miller of the Royal Bronze Foundry of Bavaria. The bronze fountain in front of you is called The Genius of Water, and it's known as the Tyler Davidson Fountain. Probasco asked for four extra figures with animals that would act as drinking fountains. Originally the square sat on an island in the middle of Fifth Street.
A 1971 renovation turned the fountain slightly and enlarged the plaza, and in the early 2000s the square was completely redesigned, with the fountain restored and moved to a more central spot. Today it hosts concerts, movies, festivals and a seasonal ice rink.
🚶 Walk to the next stop (500 ft · ~2 min walk): Cross to the southwest corner of Fifth and Vine. The Art Deco tower is Carew Tower. About 2 minutes.
This is Carew Tower, a 49-story, 574-foot Art Deco skyscraper. It was Cincinnati's tallest building from 1930 until 2011, when Great American Tower passed it, and it's still the second tallest. It's named for Joseph T. Carew, owner of the Mabley and Carew department store, who was the namesake of an earlier building on this site.
The developer, industrialist John J. Emery, wanted a city within a city: an office and retail tower, a hotel, and a parking garage. The project was announced just before the Great Depression began in 1929, but work went on anyway. The tower topped out in July 1930, and the whole complex was finished by early 1931 at a cost of 33 million dollars.
It had a retail arcade on the lower floors and an observation deck at the top. The hotel opened in 1931 as the St. Nicholas Plaza, but it has mostly been known as the Netherland Plaza. In 2022 a developer bought the tower, planning to turn it mostly into homes.
🚶 Walk to the next stop (0.5 mile · ~11 min walk): Head west along Fifth Street, then north up Elm Street and over to Plum Street. City Hall, with its tall clock tower, is at Eighth and Plum. About 11 minutes.
Enjoying this?
That was the last free stop. The full tour continues with 6 more stops: Cincinnati City Hall, Cincinnati Music Hall, Washington Park, Findlay Market, Old St. Mary's Church, Cincinnati Public Library, each with narration, audio and walking cues.
🏁 Be the first!
The first person to use code FIRSTCINCI at checkout gets the full tour free.
