Prospect Hill Historic District is located on a hillside outside of downtown

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It is part of the Mount Auburn neighborhood of Cincinnati. Prospect Hill is bounded by the following streets, Liberty, Sycamore, Boal and Highland. Prospect Hill is sometimes called locally "Liberty Hill". The District is bordered to the north by the

Mount Auburn Historic District Mount Auburn Historic District is located in the Mount Auburn neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. It extends along both sides of Auburn Avenue roughly between Ringold Street and William H. Taft Road. The population of Mount Auburn was 5,094 at the ...

and the Pendleton neighborhood of

Over-the-Rhine Over-the-Rhine (often abbreviated as OTR) is a neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Historically, Over-the-Rhine has been a working-class neighborhood. It is among the largest, most intact urban historic districts in the United State ...

to the south.

Architecture

The majority of buildings are brick, and the predominant architectural style is

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

. Dating from the 1860-80 period, this style is characterized by bracketed

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

s and round or segmental arched window details. Good examples of earlier

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

style architecture constructed between 1835 and 1860 are also found, predominantly located on the lower streets which developed the earliest. This style utilizes classical details and geometric, symmetrical forms. Examples of the Queen Anne style, which displays a variety of contrasting materials and decorative surface treatments, and the

French Second Empire style Second Empire style, also known as the Napoleon III style, is a highly eclectic style of architecture and decorative arts, which uses elements of many different historical styles, and also made innovative use of modern materials, such as i ...

, which is characterized by a

Mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called a French roof or curb roof) is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. The ...

whose slope actually forms part of the front facade, may also be found scattered throughout the district. These styles date from the turn of the century. Contributing to the distinct character of Prospect Hill are the street steps, which evolved in response to a hillside environment which did not lend itself to a linear grid plan. Where the terrain was too steep to build roads, stairways and "paper" streets developed. The streets that were built often cut sharply into the hillside, requiring retaining walls along lot fronts. Many of these retaining walls, which are primarily stone, support original iron fences and contribute to the character of the district. Open space between lots reflect the fact that the land was too irregular for construction purposes.

History

The majority of early settlers were veterans of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. One of the earliest residents of the hill was Dr.

Daniel Drake Daniel Drake (October 20, 1785 – November 5, 1852) was a pioneering American physician and prolific writer. Early life Drake was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, to Isaac Drake and Elizabeth Shotwell. He was the elder brother of Benjamin ...

. He lived in a log cabin while his new home was being built on Third Street. Senator

George H. Pendleton George Hunt Pendleton (July 19, 1825November 24, 1889) was an American politician and lawyer. He represented Ohio in both houses of Congress and was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for Vice President of the United States in 1864. After study ...

also had a

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

prominently located at 559 Liberty Hill.

Notes

External links

City of Cincinnati Historic DistrictsProspect Hill Historic Homes Tour

View from Prospect hillProspect Hill Neighborhood Association
{{authority control Historic districts in Cincinnati National Register of Historic Places in Cincinnati Mount Auburn, Cincinnati