Cincinnati City Hall

Cincinnati City Hall is the seat of the municipal government of Cincinnati, Ohio. Completed in 1893, the Richardsonian Romanesque structure was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on December 11, 1972. The building was designed by Samuel Hannaford at a cost of $1.61 million.

Cincinnati City Hall
LocationCincinnati, Ohio
Coordinates39°06′16″N 84°31′08″W
Built1888-1893[1]
ArchitectSamuel Hannaford [2]
Architectural styleRichardsonian Romanesque[2]
NRHP reference No.72001017[2]
Added to NRHPDecember 11, 1972[2]

The main building comprises four and a half stories with a nine-story clock tower.[3] The building was constructed by the David Hummel company of Cincinnati using stone quarried in Wisconsin, Ohio, Missouri, and Indiana. Marble stairways and wainscoting originated in Italy and Tennessee, while granite columns were obtained from Vermont. Stained glass windows were installed which depict Cincinnatus and illustrate Cincinnati's early history.[4]

The first city hall was built on this site in 1852[5] and was demolished in 1888 to make way for the current structure. Construction costs for the building totaled $1.61 million of which $54,000 was paid to Samuel Hannaford as architect and construction superintendent.[6]

"Cincinnati's City Hall represents the prevailing architectural tastes at the time of its construction and the influence of H. H. Richardson on its designer, Samuel Hannaford. Richardson's winning design for the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce building was executed in the 1880s; however, the building's demolition in 1911 left City Hall the best remaining example of Richardson Romanesque in Cincinnati. Samuel Hannaford practiced from 1858 until 1897 and made a significant contribution to the architectural heritage of the Cincinnati area."

An optical trick known as forced perspective makes the building appear even larger than it actually is. As it becomes taller, its windows get smaller.[3]

Notes
  1. "History Of Cincinnati City Hall". mura.cincinnati-oh.gov. Retrieved 2019-12-30.
  2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. June 30, 2007.
  3. Grace, Kevin (2002). Cincinnati Revealed: A Photographic Heritage of the Queen City. Arcadia Publishing. p. 11. ISBN 9780738519555. Retrieved 2013-06-05.
  4. Grace, Kevin (Jan 4, 2012). Legendary Locals of Cincinnati. Arcadia Publishing. p. 34. ISBN 9781467100021. Retrieved 2013-05-07.
  5. Jones, Kent; et al. (Jul 18, 2011). Historic Downtown Cincinnati. Arcadia Publishing. p. 49. ISBN 9780738582917. Retrieved 2013-05-04.
  6. The Cincinnati City Hall 1802-1896 by Edwin Henderson
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