Mount Adams, Ohio
Encyclopedia
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
, located directly east of downtown Cincinnati
Downtown Cincinnati
Downtown Cincinnati is the central business district of Cincinnati, Ohio, and one of its 52 neighborhoods.-Geography:Downtown Cincinnati's streets are arranged in a grid configuration. It is bisected by Vine Street....
, south of Walnut Hills
Walnut Hills, Cincinnati, Ohio
Walnut Hills is a neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio.A large diverse area on the near East side of Cincinnati. Home of highly ranked Walnut Hills High School and located within five minutes of the University of Cincinnati and ten minutes driving of downtown Cincinnati; the beautiful Eden Park is the...
, south-west of East Walnut Hills, and west of the East End
East End, Cincinnati, Ohio
East End is a neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the location of the Cincinnati Municipal Lunken Airport and Columbia Parkway....
.
Mt Adams is surrounded by one of Cincinnati's finest parks—Eden Park, Cincinnati
Eden Park, Cincinnati
Eden Park, owned and operated by the Cincinnati Park Board, is located in the Mt. Adams community of Cincinnati, Ohio. The park began as the designation for the city's water supply, purchased in 1859. However, early on the city saw that the area could also serve the dual purpose of city park...
. The park borders the hill on three sides and gives residents a sense of removal from the hustle and bustle of the city. Located within the park is the Krohn Conservatory
Krohn Conservatory
Krohn Conservatory is a conservatory located in Eden Park within Cincinnati, Ohio.The conservatory was completed in 1933, and named in honor of Irwin M. Krohn who served on the Board of Park Commissioners...
and one of Cincinnati's oldest water works projects, now part of the park. Mt. Adams landmarks include the Cincinnati Art Museum
Cincinnati Art Museum
The Cincinnati Art Museum is one of the oldest art museums in the United States. Founded in 1881, it was the first purpose-built art museum west of the Alleghenies. Its collection of over 60,000 works make it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Midwest.Museum founders debated locating...
, Playhouse in the Park, Rookwood Pottery (now converted to a restaurant), Pilgrim Chapel, Holy Cross Monastery and the Immaculata Church
Immaculata Church
The Church of the Immaculata, or Immaculata Church, is a Roman Catholic church atop Mt. Adams, a neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Church is located at 30 Guido Street. The church commemorates the Immaculate Conception and serves the Holy Cross–Immaculata Parish in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati...
.
Today, Mount Adams is popular among the 21+ age group for its assortment of bars and restaurants. As owners of some of the city's most sought-after real estate, the 1,600 residents of Mt. Adams have one of the highest per capita incomes in the city.
History
Mount Adams was originally known as Mount Ida. The namesake was from Ida Martin, a washerwoman who lived in the hollowTree hollow
A tree hollow or tree hole is a semi-enclosed cavity which has naturally formed in the trunk or branch of a tree. These are predominantly found in old trees, whether living or not...
of an old sycamore tree located on a steep hill.
In 1830 the area, which was largely considered a useless wasteland, was owned by Nicholas Longworth. During the 1830s and 1840s Longworth cultivated the Catawba grapes, which were used in making his champagne known as Golden Wedding.
Allegedly to increase his property value Longworth donated a portion of the hilltop to the Cincinnati Astronomical Society for an observatory. When the observatory opened in 1843 it owned the most powerful telescope of its kind. The hill was renamed Mount Adams in honor of President John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States . He served as an American diplomat, Senator, and Congressional representative. He was a member of the Federalist, Democratic-Republican, National Republican, and later Anti-Masonic and Whig parties. Adams was the son of former...
, who delivered the observatory's dedication address. The observatory is still in operation today, though in 1871 it was moved to its current location in Mount Lookout due to excessive smoke from downtown buildings. The old observatory later became the Holy Cross Monastery and expanded, but closed in 1977. The monastery is now used for commercial office space.
Although Cincinnati was largely Presbyterian
Presbyterian Church in the United States of America
The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America was a Presbyterian denomination in the United States. It was organized in 1789 under the leadership of John Witherspoon in the wake of the American Revolution and existed until 1958 when it merged with the United Presbyterian Church of North...
in its early history, Mount Adams was originally a strongly Catholic community. The first Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
church of any denomination to be founded in that neighborhood was Pilgrim Presbyterian Church on Ida Street, near the Ida Street Viaduct.
During the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
two artillery emplacements were installed on the hill to help defend the city from the Confederacy. One was installed at Fort View Place and the other near the present location of the Playhouse in the Park. Neither gun was ever fired.
The Mount Adams Incline
Mount Adams Incline
The Mount Adams Incline was a funicular, or inclined plane, located in the Cincinnati neighborhood of Mount Adams. Completed in 1872, it was the longest-running of the city's five inclines, closing in 1948. It has since been demolished.-External links:**...
was completed in 1872 and linked downtown Cincinnati with the hilltop community. Around that time the hill became occupied by a working-class blue-collar population.. The Incline was closed in 1948.
Then in 1892 Maria Longworth, daughter of Nicholas Longworth, opened Rookwood Pottery. Her work is still collected today by many and highly sought after.
In the late 1960s people began to redevelop the hilltop, the neighborhood attracted many downtown workers, who wanted to live near their work.
