User:Gilliam/Inclines

The Inclines of Cincinnati refers to the collection of five inclines which once served the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States.

http://books.google.com/books?id=qinwVjChJQIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inclines+of+cincinnati&hl=en&sa=X&ei=rUhdUY-KAva64AOQg4DQDQ&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA

 * TONS of old photos
 * Mt. Adams Ride took two and a half minutes. Built in 1876. Last to close in 1948.
 * Commuters needed to escape the polluted and cholera infested basin and head for the hills.
 * Local soapmaker Joseph Stacey Hill traveled to Pittsburgh (List of inclines in Pittsburgh) and brought the idea back. The first incline, Main St., or Mt. Auburn Incline, was opened May 12, 1872.
 * Changed hills from a burden to an asset.
 * Enabled suburbanisation and streetcar suburbs.
 * number one tourist attraction until the end in 1947.
 * Eventually couldn't compete with automobiles. The Cincinnati Street Railway was a privately owned company and not profitible enough.
 * Mount Auburn Incline was only incline to have a change in grade. The lower part was much steeper.
 * Mount Adams station at the bottom had a sign "Eden Park Railway"

http://books.google.com/books?id=nh0DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA96&dq=inclines+of+cincinnati&hl=en&sa=X&ei=rUhdUY-KAva64AOQg4DQDQ&ved=0CEMQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=inclines%20of%20cincinnati&f=false

 * Very good rundown of each incline.
 * The inclines did themselves in; by allowing access to the hilltops and facilitating suburbanization, they let people spread out and they became car dependent.
 * Main Street or Mount Auburn Incline 1872-1898 960 ft long
 * price hill incline 1874-1943 800 ft
 * bellevue or elm street or clifton or ohio avenue incline 1876-1926 1020 ft
 * mt adams incline 1876-1948 976 ft
 * fairview or crosstown incline 1892-1923 700 ft

http://books.google.com/books?id=9O0CAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA33&dq=inclines+of+cincinnati&hl=en&sa=X&ei=rUhdUY-KAva64AOQg4DQDQ&ved=0CEcQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=inclines%20of%20cincinnati&f=false

 * Cincinnati became known as the "Paris of America" because of all the partying at the hilltop houses.
 * Major accidents only happened twice:
 * In 1889, the Mount Auburn Main Street Incline crashed killing all but one.
 * Price Hill 1906, a farmer hauling manure from the dump was cushioned by it.
 * The inclines were an amusement ride all on their own.
 * Paris of America
 * Four of five inclines had incline party houses
 * Price Hill incline had the only house that didn't serve alcohol, locals called it Buttermilk Mountain.
 * Remnants of Price Hill incline are visible along Warsaw Ave.
 * Remnants of Mount Adams are visible too on Baum Street.
 * Cincinnati was the only city in the world that had streetcars run up its inclines.
 * Cincinnati Times-Star editorialized of Mount Adams "Every blow upon the timbes of the historic structure will also cut a wound deep into the heart of cincinnati. It is a disgrace to the community that this should be. that they fell by the wayside was largely the fault of public apathy."