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Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. The municipality is located north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border. The population within city limits was estimated to be 333,200 in 2009, making it the state's third-largest city. According to a 2008 Census Bureau estimate, the Cincinnati Metropolitan Area had a population of 2,155,137 making it the largest MSA in Ohio (surpassing Cleveland, which ranks 26th, and whose MSA has nearly fallen below 2,000,000) and the 24th most populous in the United States Residents of Cincinnati are called Cincinnatians.
In the early nineteenth century, Cincinnati was the first American boomtown in the heart of the country to rival the larger coastal cities in size and wealth. As the first major inland city in the country, it is sometimes thought of as the first purely American city. It developed initially without as much recent European immigration or influence as took place in eastern cities. But by the end of the nineteenth century, with the shift from steamboats to railroads, Cincinnati's growth had slowed considerably. The city was surpassed in population by many other inland cities, especially Chicago.
Cincinnati is home to major sports teams, including the Cincinnati Reds and the Cincinnati Bengals, and it sponsors annual events such as the Cincinnati Masters tennis tournament, the Ohio Valley Jazz Festival, and the Thanksgiving Day race. The University of Cincinnati traces its foundation to the Medical College of Ohio, which was founded in 1819.
Cincinnati is known for having one of the larger collections of nineteenth-century Italianate architecture in the U.S., primarily concentrated just north of Downtown in an area known as Over-the-Rhine. Over-the-Rhine, for many years a neighborhood of German immigrants, is one of the largest historic districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Cincinnati was founded in 1788 by John Cleves Symmes and Colonel Robert Patterson. Surveyor John Filson (also the author of The Adventures of Colonel Daniel Boone) named it "Losantiville" from four terms, each of a different language, meaning "the city opposite the mouth of the Licking River". Ville is French for "city", anti is Greek for "opposite", os is Latin for "mouth", and "L" was all that was included of "Licking River".
In 1790, Arthur St. Clair, the governor of the Northwest Territory, changed the name of the settlement to "Cincinnati" in honor of the Society of the Cincinnati, of which he was a member. The society honored General George Washington, who was considered a latter day Cincinnatus, the Roman farmer who was called to serve Rome as dictator, an office which he resigned after completing his task of defeating the Aequians. To this day, Cincinnati in particular, and Ohio in general, are homes to a statistically significant number of descendants of Revolutionary War soldiers who were granted lands in the state as payment for their war service.
In 1802, Cincinnati was chartered as a village. David Ziegler (1748–1811), a Revolutionary War veteran from Heidelberg, Germany, became the first mayor. Cincinnati was incorporated as a city in 1819. The introduction of steam navigation on the Ohio River in 1811 and the completion of the Miami and Erie Canal helped the city grow to 115,000 citizens by 1850.
Construction on the Miami and Erie Canal began on July 21, 1825, when it was called the Miami Canal, related to its origin at the Little Miami River. The canal became operational in 1827. In 1827 the canal connected Cincinnati to nearby Middletown; by 1840, it had reached Toledo. The name was changed to the Miami and Erie Canal, signifying the connection between the Little Miami River and Lake Erie.
During this period of rapid expansion, citizens of Cincinnati began referring to the city as the "Queen" city. In his poem "Catawba Wine", Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote that the city was "the Queen of the West".
Railroads were the next major form of transportation to come to Cincinnati. In 1836, the Little Miami Railroad was chartered. Construction began soon after, to connect Cincinnati with the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad, and provide access to the ports of the Sandusky Bay on Lake Erie.
The first sheriff, John Brown, was appointed September 2, 1788. The Ohio Act in 1802 provided for Cincinnati to have a village marshall and James Smith was appointed; the following year the town started a "night watch". In 1819 when Cincinnati was incorporated as a city, the first city marshal, William Ruffin, was appointed. In May 1828 the police force consisted of one captain; one assistant and five patrolmen. By 1850 the city authorized positions for a police chief and six lieutenants, but it was 1853 before the first police chief, Jacob Keifer, was appointed and he was dismissed after 3 weeks.
Cincinnati accompanied its growth by paying men to act as its fire department in 1853, making the first full-time paid fire department in the United States. It was the first in the world to use steam fire engines.
Six years later, in 1859, Cincinnati laid out six streetcar lines, making it easier for people to get around the city. By 1872, Cincinnatians could travel on the streetcars within the city and transfer to rail cars for travel to the hill communities. The Cincinnati Inclined Plane Company began transporting people to the top of Mount Auburn that year.
The Cincinnati Red Stockings, a baseball team whose name and heritage inspired today's Cincinnati Reds, began their career in the 1800s as well. In 1868, meetings were held at the law offices of Tilden, Sherman, and Moulton to make Cincinnati's baseball team a professional one; it became the first regular professional team in the country in 1869. In its first year, the team won 57 games and tied one, giving it the best winning record of any professional baseball team in history.
During the American Civil War, Cincinnati played a key role as a major source of supplies and troops for the Union Army. It also served as the headquarters for much of the war for the Department of the Ohio, which was charged with the defense of the region, as well as directing the army's offensives into Kentucky and Tennessee. Due to Cincinnati's commerce with slave states and history of settlement by southerners from eastern states, many people in the area were "Southern sympathizers". Some participated in the Copperhead movement in Ohio. In July 1863, the Union Army instituted martial law in Cincinnati due to the imminent danger posed by the Confederate Morgan's Raiders. Bringing the war to the North, they attacked several outlying villages, such as Cheviot and Montgomery were attacked. The Tyler Davidson Fountain was dedicated in 1871 to Cincinnati by Henry Probasco and is a symbol for the city and the region.
In 1879, Procter & Gamble, one of Cincinnati's major soap manufacturers, began marketing Ivory Soap. It was marketed as "light enough to float." After a fire at the first factory, Procter & Gamble moved to a new factory on the Mill Creek and renewed soap production. The area became known as Ivorydale.
In 1884, one of the most severe riots in American history took place in Cincinnati. On Christmas Eve 1883 Joe Palmer and William Berner robbed and murdered their employer, a stable owner named William Kirk. The duo dumped his body near Mill Creek before they were captured. One of the men, William Berner, was spared the gallows in sentencing after his conviction, but the case had provoked outrage and an angry mob formed. Beginning on March 28, thousands of citizens stormed the county jail and set the Hamilton County Courthouse on fire while seeking Berner. A small group of Hamilton County deputies, led by Sheriff Morton Lytle Hawkins, fought to save the jail from a complete takeover. After losing ground, they succeeded in protecting the inmates from the mob. Two deputies were killed in the conflict, including Captain John Desmond, whose statue stands in the Courthouse lobby. In total, 45 men were killed and 125 injured in the rioting.
Cincinnati weathered the Great Depression better than most American cities of its size, largely because of a resurgence in river trade, which was less expensive than rail. The rejuvenation of downtown began in the 1920s and continued into the next decade with the construction of Union Terminal, the post office, and a large Bell Telephone building.
The flood of 1937 was one of the worst in the nation's history. Afterward the city built protective flood walls. After World War II, Cincinnati unveiled a master plan for urban renewal that resulted in modernization of the inner city. Like other older industrial cities, Cincinnati suffered from economic restructuring and loss of jobs following deindustrialization in the mid-century.
In the 1970s, the city completed Riverfront Stadium and Riverfront Coliseum, as the Cincinnati Reds baseball team emerged as one of the dominant teams of the decade. In fact, the Big Red Machine of the 1970s is considered by many to be one of the best baseball teams to play the game. Three key players on the team (Johnny Bench, Tony Perez, and Joe Morgan), as well as manager Sparky Anderson, were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, while a fourth, Pete Rose, still holds the title for the most hits in baseball history.
In 1988, the 200th anniversary of the city's founding, much attention was focused on the city's Year 2000 plan, which involved further revitalization.[citation needed] The completion of several major new development projects enhance the city as it enters the early years of the new millennium. Cincinnati's beloved Bengals and Reds teams both have new, state-of-the-art homes: Paul Brown Stadium, opened in 2000; and the Great American Ball Park, opened in 2003, respectively. Two new museums have opened: the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in 2003, and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in 2004.
The City of Cincinnati and Hamilton County are currently planning the Banks--development of a 24-hour urban neighborhood along the city's riverfront, to include restaurants, clubs, offices, and homes with sweeping skyline views. Cincinnati has received accolades for its quality of life:

* 1993, "Most Livable City" (1993);
* 2004, Partners for Livable Communities;
* 2004, Number 5 as a U.S. arts destination, American Style Magazine;
* 2004, Top ten "Cities that Rock", Esquire magazine, April 2004; and
* 2007, Highest rated city in Ohio for "Best Cities For Young Professionals" and 18th overall, Forbes magazine
* 2008, ranked the 10th most walkable city in the United States, and the most walkable in Ohio.

Cincinnati is located within a climatic transition zone at the northern limit of the humid subtropical climate and the southern limit of the humid continental climate zone (Koppen: Cfa/Dfa, respectively). Summers are hot and humid, with significant rainfall in each month. July is the warmest month, with highs just above 86 °F (30 °C), reaching 90 °F (32.2 °C) or above on 18 days per year, often with high dew points and humidity. Winters are slightly cold and snowy, with January, the coolest month, averaging at 29.7 °F (?1.3 °C); however, lows may reach 0 °F (?17.8 °C) several times a year. An average season will see just above 20 inches (51 cm) of snowfall, contributing to the annual 42.6 inches (1,080 mm) of precipitation, which is somewhat evenly distributed. Extremes range from ?25 to 109 °F (-32 to 43 °C) on January 18, 1977 and July 21, 1934, respectively.

As of 2007, the city's population was 52.0% White (49.3% non-Hispanic-White alone), 46.5% Black or African American, 0.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.0% Asian, 1.0% from some other race and 2.4% from two or more races. 1.7% of the total population were Hispanic or Latino (of any race).As of the census of 2000,[3] there were 331,285 people, 148,095 households, and 72,566 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,879.8.0 people per square mile (1,498.0/km²) with a housing density of 2,129.2/sq mi (822.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 52.97% White, 42.92% Black or African American, 0.21% Native American, 1.55% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.63% from other races, and 1.68% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.28% of the population. The top 4 largest ancestries include German (19.8%), Irish (10.4%), English (5.4%), Italian (3.3%).
There were 148,095 households out of which 25.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 26.6% were married couples living together, 18.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 51.0% were non-families. 42.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.15 and the average family size was 3.02.
The age distribution was 24.5% under the age of 18, 12.9% from 18 to 24, 31.6% from 25 to 44, 18.7% from 45 to 64, and 12.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 89.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $29,493, and the median income for a family was $37,543. Males had a median income of $33,063 versus $26,946 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,962. About 18.2% of families and 21.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 32.0% of those under age 18 and 14.8% of those age 65 or over.
For several decades the Census Bureau had been reporting a steady decline in the city's population. But according to the Census Bureau's 2006 estimates, the population was 332,252, representing an increase from 331,310 in 2005. Despite the fact that this change was due to an official challenge by the city however, Mayor Mark Mallory has repeatedly argued that the city's population is actually at 378,259 after a drill-drown study was performed by an independent, non-profit group based in Washington, D.C.
The Cincinnati-Middletown-Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area has a population of 2,155,137 people, making it the largest metropolitan area in Ohio and the 24th largest in the country. It includes the Ohio counties of Hamilton, Butler, Warren, Clermont, and Brown, as well as the Kentucky counties of Boone, Bracken, Campbell, Gallatin, Grant, Kenton, and Pendleton, and the Indiana counties of Dearborn, Franklin, and Ohio.

Several freight railroads service Cincinnati, the largest being CSX Transportation which operates a railroad yard west of Interstate 75. Other railroads include Norfolk Southern, which operates a large intermodal yard in the west end neighborhood of Queensgate and the Indiana & Ohio Railroad which operates several small predecessor yards throughout the city. The city has a river ferry and many bridges. The Anderson Ferry has been in continuous operation since 1817.
Cincinnati's major bridges include:
1. The Newport Southbank Bridge (a.k.a. the Purple People Bridge because of its status as a pedestrian-only bridge as well as its color)
2. The John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge Opened in 1866, this bridge was the prototype for the Brooklyn Bridge, also designed by Roebling.
3. The Daniel Carter Beard Bridge (a.k.a. the Big Mac bridge for its yellow arches, reminiscent of the McDonald's logo) carries I-471 and connects Cincinnati with Newport, Kentucky
4. The Brent Spence Bridge A double-decker truss bridge carrying I-71/75 connecting Cincinnati with Covington, Kentucky
5. The Clay Wade Bailey Bridge
6. The Taylor-Southgate Bridge
7. The Combs-Hehl Bridge a twin-span truss, part of the I-275 loop and commonly called "The 275 Bridge," it travels through Fort Thomas, Kentucky and connects to the neighborhood of California, the easternmost neighborhood in the city limits. Cincinnati is served by three major interstate highways. Interstate 75 is a north-south route through the Mill Creek valley. Interstate 71 runs northeast towards Mount Adams and Walnut Hills. Interstate 74 begins at Interstate 75 west of downtown and connects to Indiana.
The city has an outer-belt, Interstate 275 (which is the longest circle highway in the country), and a spur to Kentucky, Interstate 471. It is also served by numerous U.S. highways: US 22, US 25, US 27, US 42, US 50, US 52, and US 127.
Cincinnati has an incomplete subway system. Construction stopped in 1924 when unexpected post-World War I inflation had doubled the cost of construction. As a result, the funds that were originally set aside were not enough to complete the subway system. There have been several attempts by SORTA to utilize the subways for a modern light rail system within Hamilton County. All of these initiatives have thus far failed when placed on the ballot, with the most recent (a $2.7 billion plan) failing 2 to 1 in 2002. Today the subway is used as a conduit for fiber optic and water lines.
There have been numerous attempts over the past decade to build commuter rail from Milford (in nearby Clermont County) to the Downtown Transit Center in Cincinnati. The most recent of these began gaining support in early July 2007. The $411 million plan currently calls for using and upgrading existing rail lines and new diesel cars called DMUs (diesel multiple units).
Cincinnati is also currently planning a streetcar line to connect Downtown, Over-the-Rhine and the area around the University of Cincinnati.An initial study conducted by Omaha-based HDR Engineers was completed on May 31, 2007 and estimated the cost to be around $100 million. Additions made later, of a connection from Over-the-Rhine to Uptown and a loop through Uptown, have raised the overall estimated cost to $185 million. It is predicted that the system could generate more than $1.4 billion in new private investment over the next 15 years through property redevelopment and attracting new residents. However, the plans have faced opposition from some groups arguing that there are more urgent needs on which to spend public funds. Opening of the first streetcar line would not take place before 2011 or 2012. According to Forbes Magazine, Cincinnatians spend 20% of their income on transit, which makes the city the sixth most expensive city for commuting in the United States. As of 2003[update], the port of Cincinnati is ranked 5th by trip ton-miles for an inland port.

Cincinnati is home to many major and diverse corporations such as Procter & Gamble, The Kroger Company, Macy's, Inc. (owner of Macy's and Bloomingdale's), American Financial Group, Convergys, Chiquita Brands International, Great American Insurance Company, Fifth Third Bank, Western & Southern Financial Group, The E. W. Scripps Company, Scripps Networks Interactive (owner of HGTV, Food Network), Cincom Systems, Cincinnati Bell, Kendle International, DunnhumbyUSA, and Kao Corporation's United States headquarters are based in Cincinnati. Cincinnati is also home to thousands of small and medium size businesses that are a vital part of the Cincinnati economy.
The Cincinnati area is also home to Ashland Inc. (neighboring city of Covington), Omnicare (Covington), General Cable Corporation (suburb of Highland Heights), GE Aviation (suburb of Evendale), United States Playing Card Company (suburb of Erlanger), Cintas (suburb of Mason), AK Steel Holding (suburb of West Chester), Cincinnati Financial (suburb of Fairfield), Columbia Sussex (suburb of Crestview Hills) and Sunny Delight Beverages Co. (suburb of Blue Ash). Toyota also has many operations in the Cincinnati area with U.S. headquarters of Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America (suburb of Erlanger) and Toyota Boshoku America.
Altogether, nine Fortune 500 companies and fifteen Fortune 1000 companies are headquartered in the Cincinnati area. With nine Fortune 500 company headquarters in Cincinnati USA, the region ranks in the nation's Top 10 markets for number of Fortune 500 headquarters per million residents, higher than New York, Boston, Chicago, or Los Angeles. In addition to Fortune 500 headquarters, more than 360 Fortune 500 companies maintain operations in Cincinnati. Cincinnati has three Fortune Global 500 companies; three of the five Global 500 companies in the state of Ohio.The largest employer in Cincinnati is the University of Cincinnati, with 15,862 employees. Kroger is the second largest, with 15,600 employees

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