Sites, Buildings and Places

by Maya Drozdz   Abraham Lincoln Fechheimer was born in Cincinnati in 1876 into a prominent local Jewish family. His father Leopold Samuel, a German immigrant, was a successful wholesale clothier who had married Mary Hollstein of Lafayette, IN in 1868. Abraham, who preferred to go by Lincoln, was the third of four children.  

by Maya Drozdz   Funded by local philanthropist Mary Emery and distinctive for its cohesive plan that incorporates town planning, architectural and landscape design, the Village of Mariemont, approximately 10 miles east of downtown Cincinnati, is an outstanding example of a garden city. The work of preeminent and pioneering American planner and landscape architect John

by Maya Drozdzphotos by Warren Lemay   The Cincinnati Observatory is known as “The Birthplace of American Astronomy.”  It houses one of the oldest working telescopes in the world, was the first public observatory in the western hemisphere, and is now the oldest functioning observatory in the US. The main telescopes are an 11-inch Merz

by Maya Drozdz   Between 1908 and 1940, Sears Roebuck plied the materials and kit home market with its home plans and several lines of ready-to-build home kits. The Modern Homes program was spearheaded by Frank W. Kushel, the Sears china department manager who had been tasked with dismantling the unprofitable building materials department. Instead,

by Margo Warminski, CPA Preservation Director originally published in Northern Kentucky Tribune   Newport is the oldest of Northern Kentucky’s river cities, with a rich history of buildings, their owners, their designers and their occupants. For too long, this legacy was neglected, if not scorned, by investors who wanted to make a quick profit from

text and photos by Maya Drozdz   Located on a small hill near Lunken Airport and maintained by the Cincinnati Parks Department, Pioneer Memorial Cemetery is the oldest graveyard in Hamilton County. It sits on a plot of land once occupied by Columbia Baptist Church, founded in 1790, just a few years after settlers landed

text and photos by Ripley Heritage, Inc. Originally published on RipleyOhio.net   Underground Railroad sites are indicated as UGRR A project of several years came to fruition in 1985 when Ripley’s historic district was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The 55-acre historic district is believed to be the largest in Ohio for