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History · Cincinnati

Cincinnati’s post office opened in 1857

Most of Cincinnati was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1899 on.

1857first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Cincinnati’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Cincinnati began

When was Cincinnati founded?

1857

The Cincinnati post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 306169 years
Founding year: the first Cincinnati post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Cincinnati’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18993 editions of the USGS map, 1899 to 1972. Watch Cincinnati change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cincinnati’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cincinnati’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewInstitutional structures by Gilbert.] […: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Cincinnati on the map, 1899 to 1972

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cincinnati. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Cincinnati on the 1899 USGS mapCincinnati on the 1904 USGS mapCincinnati on the 1972 USGS map1899Siloam Springs sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Cincinnati.

The story

How Cincinnati came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Cincinnati.

Read it all →

In the early years before 1857, Cincinnati was first known as Buzzard Roost, then Silvia. This early settlement was such a thriving center of commerce that people came from Fayetteville, Arkansas for supplies.

Three of Cincinnati's inhabitants died during the 2010 New Year's Eve tornado outbreak. Another died four days later from injuries sustained in the tornado.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Cincinnati, 1857 to 1912

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857Post officeThe Cincinnati post office opens
  3. 1899On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1911Post officeThe Cincinnati post office closes
  6. 1912In the archiveInstitutional structures by Gilbert.] [Sketches
By decade

Cincinnati, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
Institutional structures by Gilbert.] [Sketches1912Institutional structures by Gilbert.] [Sketches
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Institutional structures by Gilbert.] [Sketches
Retake this viewInstitutional structures by Gilbert.] [Sketches, 1912

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Cincinnati’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Cincinnati

Nobody well known was born in Cincinnati itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
C
C. G. MaxwellAmerican actor · b. 1902
Margaret PittmanAmerican bacteriologist · b. 1901
L
Lela Viola BartonBotanist · b. 1901
Atalie UnkaluntCherokee singer, activist, and designer · b. 1895
Clement V. RogersSenator and judge · b. 1839
Ray PowellAmerican baseball player · b. 1888
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Cincinnati had its own post office from 1857 to 1911.

Cincinnati
1857–1911
18501940today
1cemetery inside Cincinnati
Old Union

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Cincinnati’s history

What year was Cincinnati founded?

The Cincinnati post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.