We recently posted some cool historical photographs of Cincinnati in the early 1900s. And now we are sharing historical photos of Cincinnati from the late 1930s that document the everyday life of the city. Nelson Ronsheim captured these photographs. He was the youngest photographer to record history through his camera at the age of 18. Nelson was a student of history, and he captured 800 pictures of the city during the 1930s.
Cool Vintage Photos That Capture Everyday Life Of Cincinnati In the Late 1930s
Those cavernous tunnels of the never-used underground line are said to hold the bodies of the lost and addicted
Take a look at Washington Park’s trajectory as well. A cemetery, an urban park, a gravel pit, and then another urban park.
You can see how much has changed in that area since 2007 just by traveling around it on Google Street View. Since I lived through it, it doesn’t feel like history, but it’s fascinating to see it unfold in real time. It would be great if we could view street view further back in time!
The 180 degree turn OTR has taken from what it was growing up to what it is now continues to amaze me
Subway tunnels are now used for utility lines and are all locked up. The music hall, however, is another story. Previously, it was a public burial ground. They found bones there during the initial construction and pretty much every time they renovated it. Several people claim it’s haunted.
Cincinnati would be like Chicago today if the highway stayed out of this and we implemented the subway construction successfully.
After I-75 was built, Chicago was about 7 times larger than Cincinnati, and both cities began losing population in the 1950s.
The main reason I said that was because I wonder what the city would look like if 75 didn’t cut through the middle. No, I didn’t mean to say it would replace Chicago. If there were a mass public transportation option, the downtown population would be much larger. Hahaha, the lake in Chicago is 100x prettier than our brown river
In my opinion, it would be on par with Minneapolis and ahead of St Louis at least now. In terms of metro area, it would be far ahead of Cleveland.
Sometimes I like to think about what it would take to move 75 so the city can be a city once again. Flying cars, pigs?
Mass transit and density
So exactly what the city had prior to Interstate 75 being run through the city??
Even if 75 is destined to remain under construction forever, it might as well serve as a means of undoing a massive crime against the West Side.
We used to be a real city
Gorgeous photos.