Introduction to Cincinnati History

Study• Use your books to travel through time

• Hand out books

• Discuss purpose

TIME PERIODLATE 1700s

We are studying the settlers who arrived to Cincinnati in the late

1700s. Did anyone live in this area before they

arrived?

• Cincinnati originally began as a fort in 1789. The fort was called Fort Washington, in honor of George Washington.

Losantiville

• However, the name was soon changed to Losantiville. Not much is known on the origin of the name Losantiville. Then, in 1790, Arthur St. Clair, the first governor of the Northwest Territory, renamed the area Cincinnati. This name comes from a group of Revolutionary War officers. The group formed a society called the Society of Cincinnati, to which George Washington belonged.

•Columbia-Founded in 1788 was Cincinnati's 1st neighborhood

• Pioneer River Life

• Settlers, including children, spent much of their lives clearing the vast stretches of forests and providing for their families.

• It was not uncommon for one household to consist of twelve or more people including relatives and hired help.

• Families were not completely self-sufficient, however. They did provide much of their own clothing, furniture, and food, but goods such as salt, sugar, and tools could be purchased from merchants in the urban centers. Households often relied on neighbors in a system of borrowing and exchange.

Settling the Ohio River Valley-Video Clip

Types of Transportation

How did these settlers move around?