By Angela Vanderbilt
In keeping with the neighborhood theme of last week’s blog, I wanted to take a closer look at some of the neighborhoods through which the collection of subway and street improvement photographs passes. The collection is a fantastic study of Cincinnati’s urban development as the city grew in those early decades of the 20th century and some neighborhoods expanded and others were established. Many of the streets and boulevards that bounded the neighborhoods of the collection have changed over time, with expansion as well as other city infrastructure improvements.
The collection begins its journey in downtown Cincinnati along “Canal Street”, known today as Central Parkway. The earliest photographs in the collection focus on subway construction work between Walnut Street to the east and Plum Street to the west, as well as street improvement work around the downtown area and along the riverfront. Using the information written on the negatives, we are able to identify the specific location of the majority of photographs on a map. However, some of the streets and alleys named in the photographs in this section of downtown no longer exist. High-rise office buildings, convention centers, and sports arenas now occupy the spaces through which they once ran. Continue reading →
