Description
Columbia Tusculum, Cincinnati’s oldest neighborhood, has been an essential source of progress and development for the Cincinnati area. For 2000 years prior to Anglo-American settlement, it was significant for native hunting and trading. Lush and convenient land in Columbia Tusculum provided farming and hunting as well as transportation essential for trade and expansion throughout the years. The convenient location at the convergence of the Little Miami and Ohio Rivers made Columbia essential for transporting people and goods. Progress and growth in Cincinnati was initiated and expedited by the Columbia community. It was the first Anglo-American settlement prior to Losantiville, now known as downtown Cincinnati, and the second settlement in the state of Ohio. Later, streetcars and railroads helped transport people and goods to and from developing eastern communities and downtown Cincinnati. In the 1930s, Columbia Avenue, later renamed Columbia Parkway, became essential for automotive transportation and facilitated greater migration and growth in Cincinnati. In the early 20th century, Columbia Tusculum-based Lunken Airport became one of the largest and finest municipal airports in the world further expanding travel outside of Cincinnati. Columbia Tusculum continues to connect and grow community through time.
The long and extensive history of the Columbia Tusculum community is highlighted in this book and was made possible through residents, businesses and organizations who collected, preserved and shared historical artifacts and documents for decades. This book endeavors to collect, chronicle, and share images, oral and written histories and other valuable resources previously held privately and inaccessible to others. The author is a long term Columbia Tusculum resident, educator, community nonprofit director, founder of the Columbia Tusculum Historical Society and community volunteer who has a passion and drive to preserve and share history of the historic Columbia Tusculum community.