720 Plum St., 513-793-2556, wisetemple.org
Connecting the Walks
To connect with Walk 1: Ohio Riverfront, walk south on Walnut Street from Fountain Square to the top of the Walnut Street Steps, which lead to the riverfront.
To connect with Walk 3: Over-the-Rhine, from Scotti’s, walk north 1 mile on Vine Street, then turn left on Findlay Street. Turn right on Elm Street to reach Rhinegeist.
3 Over-the-Rhine
From Immigrant Neighborhood to Arts District
The Cincinnati Music Hall is one of the city’s most recognizable historic buildings.
BOUNDARIES: Eton Pl., Race St., 12th St., Young St.
DISTANCE: 1.9 miles
DIFFICULTY: Easy
PARKING: Start at Findlay Market (118 W. Elder St.), 3 blocks north of Liberty St. between Elm St. and Race St. There are parking lots north and south of the market and on Elder St. west of Elm St. Better yet, ride your bike and park at one of the racks on either end of the market house.
PUBLIC TRANSIT: Take Metro (go-metro.com) routes 46, 64, or 78 to Elder St. and Race St., or routes 6 and 17 to Elder St. and Vine St. or Elder St. and Central Pkwy. Cincinnati Bell Connector streetcar (cincinnatibellconnector.com) connects The Banks, downtown, and Over-the-Rhine with 18 stations. Cincinnati Red Bike (cincyredbike.org) has bicycle rental stations at 1723 Pleasant St. (Findlay Market), 1384 Elm St. (Washington Park), 1425 Main St., and elsewhere.
Over-the-Rhine is Cincinnati’s chief claim to a walking city. The neighborhood is unlike anything else in Cincinnati or the Midwest. The whole area (about 365 acres) is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is the city’s largest local historic district. Believed to have the single largest grouping of Italianate architecture in the nation and the largest collection of tenement buildings outside New York City, its significance is comparable to other well-known national historic districts around the country.
The neighborhood’s distinctive name comes from its early residents and builders: German immigrants of the mid-19th century. The Miami and Erie Canal separated the area from downtown and was nicknamed The Rhine in reference to the Rhine River in Germany, and the neighborhood north of the canal was dubbed Over-the-Rhine. The 20th-century transition to Appalachian and African American migrants, as well as immigrants arriving after each World War from eastern Europe, influenced the area’s social and political mix even more. The residential styles are
