Burnet House was a grand hotel that stood at the corner of Third and Vine in
Cincinnati, Ohio in the United States from 1850 to 1926. In its day the Burnet hosted a multitude of dignitaries, including
Abraham Lincoln (twice),
Edward VII of the United Kingdom (when he was still Prince of Wales), and
Jenny Lind
Johanna Maria "Jenny" Lind (6 October 18202 November 1887) was a Swedish opera singer, often called the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she performed in soprano roles in opera in Sweden and a ...
.
History
The hotel was named for
Jacob Burnet
Jacob Burnet (sometimes spelled Burnett) (February 22, 1770May 10, 1853) was an American jurist and statesman from Ohio. He served as a U.S. Senator.
Early life
Burnet was born in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Dr. William Burnet. He graduated ...
, a judge of the
Ohio Supreme Court, who was an investor in the project and on whose land the hotel was constructed.
After it was Burnet's charming farm, the site later became an "amusement park" called Shires' Garden.
The developer was
Abraham Coleman, a Cincinnati civic booster, who raised $2.5 million from 170 investors.
, nationally acclaimed as a designer of elite hotels, was hired for $150,000.
The interior design was done by
Francis Pedretti.
Cincinnati was the sixth-largest city in the country when Burnet House opened in 1850;
the hotel became nationally acclaimed and was the state's premiere hotel well into the 1870s.
Burnet House was one of a handful of American hotels with a gilded dome.
Circa 1879 it had 240 guest rooms, as well as parlors, reading rooms, smoking rooms, billiard rooms, bath rooms, a bar and a restaurant. According to one 20th-century history of American hotels the Burnet "out-gadgeted the hotels of New York and was as sumptuously furnished and had as great a layout of public rooms as any hotel of its day. It was, besides, the most distinguished hotel architecturally."
When Abraham Lincoln campaigned in Cincinnati in 1860, he spoke at the Burnet, "speaking from a balcony to a large crowd gathered below him on Third Street. He was telling his listeners what he thought about slavery. He talked in a loud voice, and said he wanted it to be loud enough to carry across the river. 'I want Kentuckians to hear me,' he declared." The Burnet House was considered the city's leading Union hotel during the American Civil War, whereas the
Spencer House (opened 1853) "was known as a '
Copperhead hotel'."
Some accounts have it that
Sherman
Sherman most commonly refers to:
*Sherman (name), a surname and given name (and list of persons with the name)
** William Tecumseh Sherman (1820–1891), American Civil War General
*M4 Sherman, a tank
Sherman may also refer to:
Places United St ...
and
Grant planned the former's
March to the Sea in Parlor A of the Burnet House,
but similar claims have made about
Galt House in
Louisville (debunked), and locations in
Chattanooga
Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...
,
Nashville
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...
, and Washington, D.C.
In later years a library at the hotel was home to "the library and portrait collection of the
Loyal Legion, whose membership consisted of officers who served in the
Union Army during the Civil War."
See also
*
History of Cincinnati
*
Cincinnati in the American Civil War
During the American Civil War, the Ohio River port city of Cincinnati, Ohio, played a key role as a major source of supplies and troops for the Union Army. It also served as the headquarters for much of the war for the Department of the Ohio, ...
References
{{reflist
Hotel buildings completed in 1850
Buildings and structures demolished in 1926
Hotels in Cincinnati