What to See in Cincinnati - Top Sights and Attractions

Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio. The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is a museum in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, based on the history of the Underground Railroad. Opened in 2004, the Center also pays tribute to all efforts to "abolish human enslavement and secure freedom for all people."

It is one of a new group of "museums of conscience" in the United States, along with the Museum of Tolerance, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the National Civil Rights Museum. The Center offers insight into the struggle for freedom in the past, in the present, and for the future, as it attempts to challenge visitors to contemplate the meaning of freedom in their own lives. Its location recognizes the significant role of Cincinnati in the history of the Underground Railroad, as thousands of slaves escaped to freedom by crossing the Ohio River from the southern slave states. Many found refuge in the city, some staying there temporarily before heading north to gain freedom in Canada.^[1]

Art museum in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Cincinnati Art Museum is an art museum in the Eden Park neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1881, it was the first purpose-built art museum west of the Alleghenies, and is one of the oldest in the United States. Its collection of over 67,000 works spanning 6,000 years of human history make it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Midwest.

Museum founders debated locating the museum in either Burnet Woods, Eden Park, or downtown Cincinnati on Washington Park. Charles West, the major donor of the early museum, cast his votes in favor of Eden Park sealing its final location. The Romanesque-revival building designed by Cincinnati architect James W. McLaughlin opened in 1886. A series of additions and renovations have considerably altered the building over its 136-year history.

In 2003, a major addition, The Cincinnati Wing was added to house a permanent exhibit of art created for Cincinnati or by Cincinnati artists since 1788. The Cincinnati Wing includes fifteen new galleries covering 18,000 square feet (1,700 m2) of well-appointed space, and 400 objects. The Odoardo Fantacchiotti angels are two of the largest pieces in the collection. Fantacchiotti created these angels for the main altar of St. Peter in Chains Cathedral in the late 1840s. They were among the first European sculptures to come to Cincinnati. The Cincinnati Wing also contains the work of Frank Duveneck, Rookwood Pottery, Robert Scott Duncanson, Mitchell & Rammelsberg Furniture, and a tall case clock by Luman Watson.

The CAM is part of the Monuments Men and Women Museum Network, launched in 2021 by the Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art.^[2]

Historic venue housing plants and wildlife. The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden is the second oldest zoo in the United States, founded in 1873 and officially opening in 1875, after the Roger Williams Park Zoo. It is located in the Avondale neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. It originally began with 64.5 acres in the middle of the city, but has spread into the neighboring blocks and several reserves in Cincinnati's outer suburbs. It was appointed as a National Historic Landmark in 1987.

The zoo houses over 500 animals and 3,000 plant species. In addition, the zoo also has conducted several breeding programs in its history, and was the first to successfully breed California sea lions. In 1986, the Lindner Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife (CREW) was created to further the zoo's goal of conservation. The zoo is known for being the home of Martha, the last living passenger pigeon, and to Incas, the last living Carolina parakeet.

The zoo is an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), and a member of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).

A 2014 ranking of the nations's best zoos by USA Today based on data provided by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums lists the Cincinnati Zoo among the best in the country. A 2019 reader's choice ranking of the nation's best zoos by USA Today named the Cincinnati Zoo the top zoo in North America.^[3]

Planetarium in Norwood, Ohio. Drake Planetarium & Science Center is a 70-seat planetarium and science center located within Norwood High School in Norwood, Ohio, a city surrounded by Cincinnati. Drake Science Center is located on the first floor of Norwood Middle School. The facility is named after Dr. Frank Drake, in honor of his research on extra-terrestrial life.

The planetarium includes a 35-foot domed theater, featuring an analog Spitz system custom built in Germany, a high-definition full-dome projection system, and high efficiency LED flood lighting. The optical star projector and an immersive projection system produce a vibrant night sky and immersive full dome technology 180 degrees overhead. Programs are available for audiences ranging from preschool age to senior citizens, and for two months of the year, the Drake Planetarium also houses a laser projection system used for special programming.

Drake Planetarium & Science Center has been operated by Tri-State Education & Technology Foundation since 1982. This foundation is a nonprofit educational organization with the mission to provide STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) learning experiences for the youth of Greater Cincinnati.^[5]

Park in Cincinnati, Ohio. Burnet Woods, owned and operated by the Cincinnati Park Board, is an 89.3-acre city park in Cincinnati, Ohio. The neighborhoods of Clifton and University Heights bound the park on three sides, while the University of Cincinnati west campus forms the southern border. Burnet Woods is bounded by Martin Luther King Drive on the south, Bishop Street on the east, Jefferson and Ludlow Avenues on the north, and Clifton Avenue on the west. Two streets — Brookline Avenue and Burnet Woods Drive — also pass through the park. The original park area was purchased by the city in 1872, with additional purchases made in 1881 and since. In 1875 an artificial lake was added. The park contains a bandstand constructed in 1911, The Lone Star Pavilion, Diggs Fountain Plaza, a playground area and the Trailside Nature Center. The Trailside Nature Center was a museum originally constructed as part of the Works Progress Administration.^[9]

Historic span connecting Kentucky and Ohio. The John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge, originally known as the Cincinnati-Covington Bridge, spans the Ohio River between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky. When opened on December 1, 1866, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world at 1,057 feet main span, which was later overtaken by John A. Roebling's most famous design of the 1883 Brooklyn Bridge at 1,595.5 feet. Pedestrians use the bridge to get between the sports venues in Cincinnati and the hotels, bars, restaurants, and parking lots in Northern Kentucky. The bar and restaurant district at the foot of the bridge on the Kentucky side is known as Roebling Point.

Ramps were constructed leading directly from the bridge to the Dixie Terminal building used for streetcars. These provided Covington–Cincinnati streetcars "with a grade-separated route to the center of downtown, and the terminal building was originally intended to connect, via underground pedestrian passages, with the never-built Fountain Square Station of the infamous Cincinnati Subway." When streetcar service ceased in the 1950s, the terminal was converted to a diesel bus terminal. The ramps were removed in 1998 when it ceased being used as a bus terminal.^[14]

Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio. Heritage Bank Center is an indoor arena located in downtown Cincinnati, next to the Great American Ball Park. It was completed in September 1975 and named Riverfront Coliseum because of its placement next to Riverfront Stadium. In 1997, the facility became known as The Crown, and in 1999, it changed its name again to Firstar Center after Firstar Bank assumed naming rights. In 2002, following Firstar's merger with U.S. Bank, the arena took on the name U.S. Bank Arena and kept that name until 2019.

The arena seats 17,556 people and is the largest indoor arena in the Greater Cincinnati region with 346,100 square feet (32,150 m2) of space. The arena underwent a $14 million renovation project in 1997. The current main tenant is the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL.^[17]

Iconic performing arts venue since 1878. Music Hall, commonly known as Cincinnati Music Hall, is a classical music performance hall in Cincinnati, Ohio, completed in 1878. It serves as the home for the Cincinnati Ballet, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Opera, May Festival Chorus, and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. In January 1975, it was recognized as a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior for its distinctive Venetian Gothic architecture. The building was designed with a dual purpose – to house musical activities in its central auditorium and industrial exhibitions in its side wings. It is located at 1241 Elm Street, across from the historic Washington Park in Over-the-Rhine, minutes from the center of the downtown area.

Music Hall was built over a pauper's cemetery, which has helped fuel its reputation as one of the most haunted places in America.

In June 2014, Music Hall was included on the National Trust for Historic Preservation's annual list of America's 11 most endangered historic places.^[18]

Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. Nippert Stadium is an outdoor stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, on the campus of the University of Cincinnati. Primarily used for American football, it is the home field of the Cincinnati Bearcats football team. The stadium has also been used as a soccer venue, serving as the home of FC Cincinnati of Major League Soccer from their inaugural 2016 USL season through the 2020 MLS season, following which they moved to TQL Stadium. Nippert Stadium has a seating capacity of approximately 40,000 following the expansion and renovation performed in 2014, and the 2017 removal of corner seats to accommodate FC Cincinnati during their transition to the MLS. In rudimentary form since 1901, permanent concrete stands were built along each sideline for the 1915 season and as a complete horseshoe stadium since 1924, making it the fourth-oldest playing site and fifth-oldest stadium in college football, respectively.^[20]

Historical place in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Tyler Davidson Fountain or The Genius of Water is a statue and fountain located in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is regarded as the city's symbol and one of the area's most-visited attractions. It was dedicated in 1871 and is the centerpiece of Fountain Square, a hardscape plaza at the corner of 5th and Vine Streets in the downtown area. It is surrounded by stores, hotels, restaurants and offices. Originally, and for more than 130 years, it was located in the center of 5th Street, immediately west of Walnut Street. In 2006, renovations were undertaken to Fountain Square and the Tyler Davidson Fountain was temporarily removed. When reinstalled it was relocated to a much wider space near the north end of the reconfigured square, closer to the Fifth Third Bank Building and away from street traffic. The fountain is turned off for the winter months and turned on again in time for the first home game of Major League Baseball's Cincinnati Reds.^[24]

Park in Cincinnati, Ohio. Washington Park is bounded by West 12th, Race and Elm Streets in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The park is owned and operated by the Cincinnati Park Board. The 6-acre park served as Presbyterian and Episcopal cemeteries before it was acquired by the city from 1858 to 1863. The park has an old-fashioned bandstand and many trees. Several American Civil War cannons and busts of Civil War heroes Frederick Hecker and Colonel Robert Latimer McCook, who commanded the German 9th Ohio Infantry are in the park. There is also a bronze tablet given by Sons and Daughters of the 9th O.V.I.

The Centennial Exposition of the Ohio Valley and Central States was held at the park in 1888. It was, in addition to the celebration of Ohio's progress, designed to celebrate the settlement of the Northwest Territory.

The park stands in the shadow of the Cincinnati Music Hall. While the now-demolished Washington Park School was located at its north end, a new School for Creative and Performing Arts currently stands across Twelfth Street at its south end.^[26]

Public library system. Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library is a public library system in the United States. In addition to its main library location in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, CHPL operates 40 regional and branch locations throughout Hamilton County.

As of 2016, the CHPL's collection held nearly 9 million volumes and nearly 12 million items, the 13th-largest overall library collection in the U.S. and the 2nd-largest public library collection in the U.S. Its electronic book holdings were nearly six million, the most of any public library in the country.

In 2019, CHPL had an annual circulation of over twenty-one million items, the second highest circulation of any public library in the country. The downtown location alone circulates over four million items annually, the most of any single library location in the country, and has an area of 542,527 square feet (50,402.4 m2). CHPL's various locations had 5,154,502 visitors in 2019.

The library first received Library Journal's highest rating of five stars in 2013, and has received the honor every year since. In 2020, it scored second in the nation among libraries with expenditures over US$30 million.^[31]

Theatre in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park is a regional theatre in the United States. It was founded in 1959 by college student Gerald Covell and was one of the first regional theatres in the United States. Located in Eden Park, the first play that premiered at the Playhouse on October 10, 1960, was Meyer Levin's Compulsion. The Playhouse has maintained a regional and national reputation in the theatre community for bringing prominent plays to Cincinnati and for hosting national premieres such as Tennessee Williams' The Notebook of Trigorin in 1996 and world premieres such as the Pulitzer Prize-nominated Coyote on a Fence in 1998 and Ace in 2006.

The Playhouse facility comprises two theatres, the larger Robert S. Marx Theatre and the smaller Shelterhouse. The Playhouse is among the members of the League of Resident Theatres. In addition to a full ten-month season of plays, the Playhouse also offers acting classes and programs for children.

In 1973-1975, the Playhouse was the first professional regional theatre to be led by Harold Scott.

Scott was followed by Michael Murray, who was artistic director at the Playhouse until 1985. Murray was co-founder of the Charles Playhouse in Boston and is one of the early leaders of the Regional Theatre Movement.

The Playhouse was under the leadership of Edward Stern (Producing Artistic Director) and Buzz Ward (Executive Director) between 1992 and 2012. In 2012, Blake Robison became artistic director and Buzz Ward was promoted to managing director.

In 2004, the Playhouse received a Tony Award for Best Regional Theatre. In 2007, the Playhouse received a second Tony Award for their revival of Company, which won Best Revival of a Musical. The production was directed by John Doyle and also won Drama Desk, Outer Critic's Circle and Drama League Awards for Best Revival of a Musical.

The Shelterhouse theatre was named for Jay Thompson until 2017 and will be renamed the Rosenthal Shelterhouse Theatre in 2019.

Currently Mount Adams, home of the Cincinnati Art Museum and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, is undergoing major renovation that will result in beautiful approaches to the summit. https:www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2020/05/07/cincinnati-art-museum-to-unveil-first-phase-of-art.html^[32]

Theater in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Taft Theatre is a 2,500-seat theater, located in Cincinnati, Ohio. The theatre was built in 1928, as evidenced by its Art Deco interior.

All seats are unobstructed, giving every seat a clear view of the stage. It is part of the Masonic Temple Building at Fifth and Sycamore streets. It is home to The Children Theatre of Cincinnati.

As of 2010, it is operated by Music & Event Management Inc. a subsidiary of Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Music & Event Management Inc. also operates Riverbend Music Center and PNC Pavilion.

The theatre underwent $3 million worth of upgrades and renovations for air conditioning, seating, restroom improvements and other amenities.

It is used for Broadway shows, concerts, comedy and other special events.

The theatre played host to the politically motivated Vote for Change Tour on October 2, 2004, featuring performances by Keb' Mo', Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne.^[33]

19th-century astronomical observatory. The Cincinnati Observatory is located in Cincinnati, Ohio on top of Mount Lookout. It consists of two observatory buildings housing an 11-inch and 16 inch aperture refracting telescope. It is the oldest professional observatory in the United States. It was a key facility for astronomical research and education at the University of Cincinnati and currently operates as a 19th-century observatory. There are regular viewings through both historical telescopes as well as tours and additional programs. The observatory also has an extensive outreach program, providing astronomical education for the Ohio/Kentucky/Indiana region.

The Cincinnati Observatory is a contributing property to the Observatory Historic District.^[34]