Downtown Buildings 1

   The second image above is the key to the names of the buildings seen in the first aerial photograph. This is rather awkward to use because it is in two parts but it was the only way I could present it. This was compiled in the 1970s. A more recent image in the 2nd view above is much more easier to use although many of the items mentioned are not buildings and some of the structures mentioned are not well known, it is still interesting. The next map is entirely different, it shows shopping, nightclubs and restaurants back in 1949. The last map (I promise) shows still more points of interest.

DIXIE  TERMINAL

                                
Entrance          Looking toward entrance           Looking up                   Staircase                          Ceiling      
Photographs

Old Image

                   
                                 Arcade

  The Dixie Terminal is located at the s. w. corner of 4th and Walnut. Constructed in 1921 it really consists of two structures. There is the 4 story south building which extends to 3rd Street for (at that time) the loading and unloading of passengers from streetcars from the northern Kentucky area (seen in the 6th postcard). Later on busses replaced the streetcar. The other structure was the 10 story north building which contain offices and shops plus the Cincinnati Stock Exchange. It is also notable for its 3 story Arcade. When it opened on October 21, 1921 it had more sq. footage than any other building in the city.

                          
These are not postcards

   The first, 1917,  photograph above shows 4th Street looking east with the Dixie Terminal building on the right. The second, 1921, photo is 3rd Street looking west. You can clearly see how the streetcars, and later busses, entered and left the terminal building. They entered using the closer ramp and made a left turn inside, they then left using the second, further, ramp. These ramps led directly to the Suspension Bridge over the Ohio. You can see it all in the third image.

GWYNNE  BUILDING

These are not postcards
               

               
N. E. corner 6th and Main 

   The Gwynne building was constructed in 1914 and named for the wife of Cornelius Vanderbilt II, Alice Gwynne Vanderbilt. Not seen in the postcards above is the decorative grillwork covering the central windows that consist of alternating G for Gwynne and V for Vanderbilt. From 1935 to 1956 this building was the headquarters for P&G, and is now the home for Richter & Phillips Co. jewelers. The top 3 are photographs with the center one showing one of the cow heads that can be seen around the building about 3/4s of the way up. On August 3, 1979 The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

  GROTON  BUILDING

                               
                        7th and Race                                                Present day photograph

   The Groton building was constructed in 1925. Over the years it once had a Dow's Drug Store and was used by the Central Trust. in 1997 it was converted into 42 apartments and is now called the Groton Lofts. There is a jazz club on the ground floor. As you can see the original building was considerably enlarged at some time?. Any help on when would be gratefully accepted. (possibly when converted to apartments).

INGALLS  BUILDING

                                  
      M. Ingalls                                       These are not postcards                                  W. P. Anderson
                                                                                                                                          Builder

                             
                                                                                                                                                                             "Pine Street"

                             
                  "Ingals Bldg."                                        Same card-different traffic                    Glitter    "Ingolls"    Color             

   The Ingalls Building located on the northeast corner 4th and Vine was Built in 1903 to a height of 210 feet with 16 stories, it was the worlds first reinforced concrete skyscraper. Melville Ingalls, president of the Big Four Railroad, was also president of the Merchant National Bank. He wanted to give the bank a new home so he commissioned the construction of the skyscraper to house the Bank. The project was delayed 2 years because city building officials were skeptical about the design of the 16-story building- a unheard of height for a concrete building in those days. Skeptics predicted that the building would collapse of its own weight. Finally the city building commissioner washed his hands of the whole thing and declared that Ingalls and the construction firm would be responsible for any accidents if it failed. Once completed in 1903 it is said that a local editor stood by along with other spectators waiting for it to collapse.  It remained the worlds tallest reinforced concrete structure until 1923 when it was surpassed by the 281 foot Medical Arts Building in Dallas, Texas.
   It was renamed the Transit Building and then the ACI Building before becoming the headquarters for Queen City Metro. It was designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1973 by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The last two images are photographs with the last one showing a plaque that was installed in 1966 explaining the structures historical significance.

MERCHANTS  BUILDING

       
n. w. corner 6th and College

OHIO MECHANICS INSTITUTE

                       
    1851                       Later Update                              Final Version

                    
                                                                                     Woodshop                  National Army Training     Present day photograph

   The O. M. I. is the oldest technical school west of the Alleghenies. Beginning in 1828 it had been located in several areas before they moved into the permanent building seen in the first row. The top row shows the development of their first building over the years. It was called Greenwood Hall and was located at 6th & Vine where it stood from 1848 until 1911, when they moved into the building shown in the other cards on the n. e. corner of Walnut and Canal (now Central Parkway). Greenwood Hall is where a young Thomas Edison read at the school's Apprentice's Library while working in Cincinnati as a telegraph operator. The founder, Miles Greenwood, was a manufacturer of iron products and was Cincinnati's first fire chief. This site was where Greenwood's Eagle Iron Works was located. In the last card I have no idea what kind of training the army was getting. O.M.I. is now part of the University of Cincinnati but still uses the building shown above.

The following non-postcard images are all from the institutes 1927 annual.

                       
    Entrance                                Main Stairway                          Roof Garden                            Conservatory

                   
              Chemistry  Lab                          Machine Shop             Mechanical Lab & Power Plant

THE WESTERN & SOUTHERN LIFE INSURANCE CO.

The Dexter mansion

   The beautiful engraving above is of the Dexter Mansion that was located on the northeast corner of 4th and Broadway. Built in 1856 by Edmund Dexter who had made his fortune as an importer of liquors. It was considered one of Cincinnati's finest residences. In 1910 the Western Southern Life Insurance Company took over the home for offices and in 1914 the company demolished it to make room for its new building seen in the cards below. 

               
West side of Broadway between fourth and Fifth Sts.

Present day photograph

TRACTION  BUILDING

   Located on the s. e. corner of 5th and Walnut. The Building you see behind it is the Mercantile Library Building. The last image is a black & white present day photograph.

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