City of Hamilton, Ohio

Written as a course project in my History class about my home town... probably not superbly written, but at least it's some cool info!

The city of Hamilton, Ohio has a long, rich history attached to it. Hamilton is known nationally and internationally for many reasons. Many famous people have been born in Hamilton. Hamilton was once known as the only city in the United States that legally included punctuation in its name. Hamilton! Hamilton was a target for the Russians during the Cold War, due to its proximity to a uranium refining facility, bomb shell casings made in Hamilton, proximity to Wright Patterson Air Force Base and Voice of America. Hamilton also was a major manufacturer of bank safes in the U.S. as well as home to major paper mills of Champion and Beckett paper. Hamilton got its start long before there was ever a city occupying this land. Before Hamilton became Hamilton, there was Fort Hamilton. Fort Hamilton was a fort in colonial days used as a base to fight the American Indians.

Construction on Fort Hamilton was ordered by Arthur St. Clair in 1791. Fort Hamilton was to be the first fort north of the Cincinnati area and was built in Native American Territory. Fort Hamilton was named after Alexander Hamilton, George Washington’s Secretary of Treasury and friend of General St. Clair. It was also to serve as an outpost and supply depot for the expeditions against the Native Americans. Fort Hamilton was constructed as a square stockade having 4 walls, approximately 50 yards long each. Fort Hamilton had 4 protruding diamond shaped walls. Fort Hamilton construction was completed in the month of October of 1791. The very next year, in 1792, General Anthony Wayne added onto Fort Hamilton to add stables. (“History Central”)

General St. Clair led his troops to battle Tecumseh and was defeated at Fort Recovery. Tecumseh was later beaten by Mad Anthony Wayne in Fallen Timbers. Tecumseh was quoted to say “Unless we support one another with our collective forces, they will soon conquer us, and we will be driven away from our native country and scattered as leaves before the wind..." (butlercountyohio.com) After the battle of Fallen Timbers in 1796 where Tecumseh was defeated, Fort Hamilton was dismantled. (“Monument”) General’s St. Clair and Wayne were always rivals in their own military. General St. Clair in history seems to have gone down less favorably; however a section of present day Hamilton is named after him.

In 1794 Hamilton was laid out to be called Fairfield. Fairfield later was named Hamilton, after Alexander Hamilton. In present day, Fairfield is a neighboring city to Hamilton. First incorporated in 1810 by the act of Ohio General Assembly however it lost its status in 1814 after failure to hold elections. In 1827 Hamilton joined with Rossville, a town across the river and re-incorporated. After a period of time they severed their relationship, only to rejoin in 1854. Hamilton officially became a city in 1857. Rossville and other towns with in Hamilton are now preserved as historical districts. The historical districts are rich with architecture and cuisine that is reflective of the heritage and culture of those that once inhabited the area, mostly German or Italian.

In 1840, Hamilton had a population of just over 1400 people. It consisted of two rail lines and two canals (Miami and Erie) which ran through the city. In forty years time, new residents from Europe raised the population to over 12,000! The town had several newspapers, factories and a brewery.

President Lincoln arrived in Hamilton in the afternoon of Sept. 17, 1859, on the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad. He arrived at the Hamilton Station (the station still exists and has been placed on the city's Historic Preservation list). Lincoln spoke in Hamilton, Ohio that day about Popular Sovereignty. Lincoln began his speech paying tribute to the Miami Valley. He said: "This beautiful and far-famed Miami Valley is the garden spot of the world." (“Warren County Local History”)

The year of celebration was in 1891 for the city of Hamilton. Hamilton was celebrating the Centennial of establishment. Invitations were sent out to prominent residents and those who had moved away to come and speak or attend the celebration. Many of the response letters were published and show great admiration and love towards the town they were born in or grew up in. One of the letters, by George L. Andrew, states “Then hail to the dear old town-city now, as she enters with ‘strength renewed as the eagles,’ upon her second century. Thankful for her past, we look forward with hope and trust to the future that has in it yet greater things for her. God bless her.” (“Google Books”)

Champion paper incorporated and opened doors in Hamilton in the year of 1893. It saw devastation twice, once by fire in 1901 and a second time by a flood and which sparked a fire in 1913. The plant, however, did not let the fires stop them. Twice they rebuilt and bought all new equipment, which in turn gave them a hefty leg up against their competition that were stuck using outdated and overworked equipment. Champion thrived as a company, making high quality coated papers and never ventured into the business of newspaper paper. Although the depression hurt them temporarily, they were quick to bounce back. In the early to mid 1900’s paper Industry in Hamilton boomed with the availability of German and Italian workers

In 1913 Hamilton experienced “The Great Flood” which destroyed what was left of Fort Hamilton. (“Monument”) Today there are markets on all old buildings and even some new buildings showing how high the water levels rose to. There are many flood plains and barrier walls as well as dams in place now to prevent another devastating flood.

In the prohibition period of the 1920’s and 30’s many Chicago gangsters visited Hamilton on a regular basis giving Hamilton the name “Little Chicago”. The city had a reputation for gangsters, guns and booze. Members of John Dillinger's gang hid out here in the 1930’s. Many gangsters were known to have second homes in the area. (“Profile for Hamilton”)

During WWII, area soldiers were prohibited for entering the entire city of Hamilton due to the high incidences of bars, gambling and brothels. Prostitution and gambling were very common along a street now know as Pershing Ave. (“Hamilton, Ohio”) Pershing today is still known as an area of town to stay away from due to low income and high crime. Ironically the local branch campus of Miami University is only a block away.

The Cold War put Hamilton on the map as a likely hit list location. Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Fernald Uranium Plant and Voice of America were all in the vicinity and bomb casings were made locally in Hamilton.

In attempt to gain national recognition, in the 1980’s Hamilton, Ohio became the first city to add punctuation to the official name. Hamilton became Hamilton!. “Hamilton is a city, a self-contained town, a suburb, a satellite in the orbits of both Cincinnati and Dayton, a minor metropolitan cluster, a county seat, a bump on the plain, a galactic microdot where 63,189 people wait to see what will happen next.” (Hometown 1982 Peter Davis)

A historical moment was marked in 1999 for the city of Hamilton, as Hamilton had previously been the second largest city not connected to a major interstate highway. In 1999 a Butler County Regional Highway (129) was put in and has brought tremendous new growth to Hamilton as well as surrounding townships.

Famous Hamiltonians include, but are not limited to: Charles Richter, Ray Combs, and Joe Nuxhall. Charles Richter is the invented the Richter Scale in 1932. The Richter Scale measures seismic activity, most notably, earthquakes. Until 1979 when the Moment Magnitude Scale was developed, it was the only resource for measuring earthquakes and helping scientist understand the seismic activity. Ray Combs was a famous comedian the second, if not most popular host of the popular show “Family Feud”. Joe Nuxhall was a professional baseball player. He played most of his career as a left handed pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds. He is known as the league’s youngest player. He entered professional baseball at the age of 15, due to the lack of players during WWII.

The City of Hamilton continues to re-invent itself in new ways like now being known as the “City of Sculpture”. (“Arts & Culture – City of Hamilton”) The cities involvement in the arts reflects all over town with the yearly sculpture contests which are displayed all along the city streets, as well as permanent statues and sculptures. A popular destination to spend the day within Hamilton is Pyramid Hill. Pyramid Hill is famous for his pyramid shaped permanent resident home as well as sculptures, photography contests and craft fairs. Another art center in Hamilton is the Fitton Center. The Fitton Center is a non-profit organization that encourages local artists by offering a wide variety of educational classes as well as displaying art work of many different mediums.

Hamilton has its quirks and lower income areas around town, but the rich history and diverse culture make it an enjoyable place to live. When in participating in local events you can see the pride that the people of this city hold for their home and its history. Hamilton’s beginning days as a fort to now having the sole hospital in town being the fort’s namesake has been an interesting journey. Little pieces of history are still in the making and I look forward to watching its progress.

References

Fort Hamilton. (2006) Butler County Monument. Butler County Monument. Retrieved October
4, 2009, from the World Wide Web: http://www.butlercountyohio.org/monument/index.cfm?page=fthamilton

Fort Hamilton (2005) Ohio History Central. Retrieved October 4, 2009, from the World Wide
Web: http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=707

Ohio Pix. (unknown) Ohio Pix. Ohio Pix. Retrieved October 4, 2009, from the World Wide Web: http://ohsweb.ohiohistory.org/ohiopix/search.cfm?searchfield=LCSubject&searchterm=Fort%20Hamilton%20(Ohio)

1881 History of Hamilton County Index. (2000-2008) 1881 History of Hamilton Ohio. Retrieved on October 4, 2009 from the World Wide Web: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ohhamilt/histhc/mnindex.html

City of Hamilton. (2008) City of Hamilton OH Department History. Retrieved on October 4,
2009 from the World Wide Web: http://www.hamilton-city.org/index.aspx?page=234

Hamilton, Ohio (2009) Ohio History Central. Retrieved on October 11, 2009 from the World
Wide Web: http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1938

Champion International Corporation. (1998) Funding Universe. Retrieved on October 11, 2009
from the World Wide Web: http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Champion-International-Corporation-Company-History.html

Abraham Lincoln Visits Southwestern Ohio (2004) Warren County Local History. Retrieved on
October 11, 2009 from the World Wide Web: (http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ohwarren/Bogan/bogan045.htm

The Centennial Celebration of Hamilton. (1892) The Centennial Anniversary City Hamilton,
Ohio, September 17-19, 1891. Retrieved October 11, 2009 from the World Wide Web via google books. http://books.google.com/books?id=BzwVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA315&lpg=PA315&dq=history+of+the+city+of+hamilton,+ohio&source=bl&ots=RaxS75HfcZ&sig=e1FaGegCdJpMVVdqDx-JkJfTPSk&hl=en&ei=8GnSStXXDcvFlAeIr6mpCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CCkQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=history%20of%20the%20city%20of%20hamilton%2C%20ohio&f=false

Profile for Hamilton, Ohio. (2007) Hamilton Community Profile. Retrieved October 11, 2009
from the World Wide Web: http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=16821