
City - Cincinnati, OH - Putting the fun in funicular 1906

by Mike Savad
Title
City - Cincinnati, OH - Putting the fun in funicular 1906
Artist
Mike Savad
Medium
Photograph - Colorized Photo
Description
Colorized photo from 1906
Original Title: Up the hill by trolley
Photographer: Detroit Publishing
Location: 176 W Clifton Ave, Cincinnati, Ohio (Starting point)
This is the Bellevue Incline, though its official name was the Cincinnati & Clifton Inclined Plane Railroad. It was built at the head of Elm St at McMicken Ave in 1876. While you can't see it, at the top of this image there was a huge House, this was the Bellevue House, basically it was a club where people could drink, dance and have fun. They demolished it in 1926 along with this incline.
The incline itself was had a 20 ton capacity, was about 1020ft long and was 395ft tall. Many people used these not just to get to the top for drinks, they got out of the smog that was done below. They used coal and that coal smoke was everywhere. It must have been choking to breathe down there. The air was fresher above.
But what made this particular incline fun was that medical school next door. That building was the old McMicken Hall, one of the University of Cincinnati's first buildings. When the incline (or sometimes called a funicular), ran, it was really quite loud. A combination of metal scraping, parts moving etc. It was loud enough that the professors had to stop every 10 min, to let the thing pass so everyone could hear him. The incline was 150ft away, yet it was still loud enough to annoy people.
Because of this, the medical students that practiced on cadavers, would often throw fingers and toes from their cadaver at passing cars. Others would wave dismembered arms or legs from the windows, at the ladies as they passed by. Often, when one thinks about the past, we think that men were gentlemen... but no, they were jerks like we are today.
Stranger yet was the beer company near by. Where the freezer was used both for the storage of beer and cadavers! Imagine being the one to haul those bodies up the hill to the class...
Oh and if you look carefully, you will see a stowaway at the bottom of the second car. These rides were not free and they weren't cheap either, so you might find someone hitching a ride, it was just a coincidence they were caught in this photo.
Today, there is nothing at all left. The hill is covered in thick trees, the buildings are gone, the only trace left is that wall you see on the left where the kids are. That dirt road is where West Clifton is now, and there is a small sign that explains this incline on that wall.
Uploaded
September 22nd, 2021
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