Philippus United Church of Christ

The congregation of Philippus Kirche formed in 1890 from members of St. Mattheus Church.  This Gothic Revival church designed by Anthony Kunz was completed in 1891.  This church has recessed arched windows on the outside with beautiful stained glass on the inside as well as an organ that was donated by the family of Christian Moerlein, a member of the congregation.  The most unique feature of the church is the gilded hand with an index finger pointing to heaven.  In 1968, a soldier’s helmet was placed on top of the cross above the entrance to the church to honor the members of the congregation who had served the country in time of war.

The church performed all services in German until 1921 when English-speaking services were introduced.  In 1933 the church became Philippus Evangelical and Reformed Church.  In 1957, the church became Philippus United Church of Christ.  German services were performed up until the 1980’s but there are special Christmas services in German today.    

Philippus United Church of Christ

106 West McMicken Avenue, Over-The-Rhine

General James Findlay/Findlay Market

Location: At Findlay Market along Race Street, Over-The-Rhine

The Power Building

The Power Building was built in 1903 and designed by architect Harry Hake.  This 10-story building was once home to a textile firm.  In 1996, the building was no longer used as commercial space and in 2002 the building was redeveloped into apartments and is now called Renaissance Apartments at the Power Building.

The building is on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the East Manufacturing and Warehouse District, an area significant for late 19^th and early 20^th century manufacturing in the city.

The Power Building

224 East Eighth Street, Downtown

Court Street Marketplace

At one time Cincinnati had nine public markets with the Court Street Market being one of them.  The Court Street Market was built in 1864 to replace the Canal Street Market.  Court Street was widened and the wooden building for the market was built in the center of the street between Vine and Walnut.  Beneath the market building was a tunnel lined with stone that was used to run hogs to the slaughterhouses and during the court house riots of 1884 residents of the city used the tunnel to hide from the violence on the street above.  The market was closed in 1912 due to unsanitary conditions and the building was demolished in 1914.

There are now parking spaces where the market building once stood and a variety of restaurants and shops can be found as well as a farmer's market during the summer.  Some of Cincinnati's popular restaurants can be found here as well as Avril-Bleh & Sons who have been in business in Cincinnati since 1894.

The Vision of Samuel Hannaford

This ArtWorks mural pays homage to architect Samuel Hannaford and depicts a room with a portrait of Samuel Hannaford with an open balcony overlooking Washington Park.  The surrounding area in the mural shows some of the great works of Hannaford like the Elsinore Arch, City Hall, and Music Hall.

The Vision of Samuel Hannaford

1308 Race Street, Over-The-Rhine

Little Miami Railroad

Location: Northeast corner of Eggleston Avenue and Pete Rose Way, Downtown.

The marker reads:

The Little Miami Railroad, chartered in 1836, was the first railroad to server Cincinnati; it began service between the city and Milford on December 14, 1841.  Eventually, the Little Miami provided an important link between southwestern Ohio and the communities further to the east, but in its early years, the line could not come all the way into Cincinnati.  City Council prohibited the new, dirty, and potentially dangerous means of transportation from coming inside city limits.  Therefore, the railroad’s yards, workshops, and first passenger depot were in Pendleton, a community that is part of the present-day East End.  Passengers rode into Cincinnati in horse-drawn omnibuses or in train cars pulled by horses.

Building the railroad was extremely expensive, and by 1842, the Little Miami was bankrupt.  A $100,000 loan from the City of Cincinnati and the able management of banker and steamboat owner Jacob Strader reversed the company’s fortunes.  Around 1844, the railroad built a new depot at East Kilgour and Front Streets, along the riverfront.  The law prohibiting locomotives inside the city was lifted in 1845.  The construction of these facilities marked the beginning of the Cincinnati riverfront’s role as a key link in the area’s railroad network.  By 1847, the Little Miami carried more than 78,000 passengers, used fifteen locomotives, and had a net profit of $112,000.

The Little Miami Railroad stimulated residential and commercial development in the villages east of Cincinnati.  Commuter suburbs developed in rural villages as land was subdivided, and factories and warehouses went up along the rail line.

In the late 1860s, the Little Miami took over two smaller lines in eastern Ohio, and then in 1870, was itself leased by the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad.  In the 1920s, the Pennsylvania Railroad took over the PCC&StL. Passenger and freight stations in Cincinnati were closed when Union Terminal opening in 1933 and were finally torn down for clearance of the riverfront and urban renewal in mid-century.

By the 1980s, the growing use of the riverfront district for recreation purposes led to the reduction of rail activity in this vicinity.

A Seventy-Foot Love Letter to the Queen

Located on the side of the Cincinnati Athletic Club building along Rusconi Place, this mural was created by artist William Schickel and commissioned by the city in 1977.  The mural is made of anodized aluminum and fluid enamel.  The curvilinear shapes of the mural were cut from 4 by 4-foot heat-treated aluminum panels painted in earth tones and scribbled with liquid enamel to represent the Queen City of the West.  The mural was elevated so that it could be seen from the skywalk.  The work not only makes use of these panels but are spaced apart to include the weathered brick wall as part of the work.

Not part of the mural but located directly below it on opposite sides of the wall are two articles from the Cincinnati Enquirer printed on metal plates.  The first article from 1903 commemorates the opening of the Cincinnati Athletic Club and the other from 1965 tells the story to how Rusconi Place got its name.