Why is Cincinnati Known as The Queen City?
From the Cincinnati Historical Society Library’s Web site: How did Cincinnati come to be known as the Queen City? During the first forty years after its founding, Cincinnati experienced spectacular growth. By 1820, citizens, extremely proud of their city, were referring to it as The Queen City or The Queen of the West. On May 4, 1819, B. Cooke wrote in the Inquisitor and Cincinnati Advertiser, “The City is, indeed, justly styled the fair Queen of the West: distinquished for order, enterprise, public spirit, and liberality, she stands the wonder of an admiring world.” In 1854, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote his poem, Catawba Wine, to memorialize the city’s vineyards, especially those of Nicholas Longworth. The last stanza of the poem reads: “And this Song of the Vine, This greeting of mine, The winds and the birds shall deliver, To the Queen of the West, In her garlands dressed, On the banks of the Beautiful River.
