Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Mount Adams Incline - Cincinnati, Ohio

When the architect who steals my covers goes to Cincinnati later this year, he won't see the Mt. Adams Incline, because it's not there anymore. This spectacular funicular was built in 1872, one of five funiculars in Cincinnati and the longest running of any of them.  It was built to connect the downtown with the residential areas on the hill. The Mt. Adams Incline was closed in 1948, even though at the time it was the city's biggest tourist attraction.

Today, there are still some great attractions on the hill, including Eden Park, the Cincinnati Art Museum, a few theaters, and numerous restaurants and bars. It's unfortunate that as in many other cities, car-driven transportation planning worked to effectively fragment the city by building big freeways through the middle of it.  Here's a USGS photo from a website called Cincinnati-transit net, with a yellow line showing the site of the former funicular. The website has lots of great pictures of the Mt. Adams Incline and the other Cincinnati inclines, although it doesn't look as if there have been any  posts recently.

Here's the back of the postcard:
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9 comments:

  1. Alan BurnettAugust 31, 2010 at 1:53 AM

    I was only thinking of you yesterday when I was thumbing through a big box of mixed postcards at an antiques fair. You could skim through them really quickly and still identify all the vintage American ones with a quick glance. What is it about the colours, the printing process, the finish that is so unique in American cards? Yours is another wonderful example.

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  2. LindaAugust 31, 2010 at 4:40 AM

    Wonderful. I was lucky to ride the incline in Pittsburgh back in 1987, when I was there on a business trip. So fun! Don't know if that one is still around.

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  3. HaddockAugust 31, 2010 at 4:50 AM

    The incline is so well depicted.

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  4. Tattered and LostAugust 31, 2010 at 11:02 AM

    Love this card. It looks like a model rail town with perfect little trees, and perfect little houses. Doesn't quite look real.

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  5. AnonymousAugust 31, 2010 at 1:12 PM

    Lived there in the 1970s as a UC student. Wonderful town, wonderful people. Jack/Youngstown

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  6. Aimee DarsAugust 31, 2010 at 2:35 PM

    Great card! I want to ride a funicular! I wonder why the sender was so confused! ; )

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  7. AnonymousAugust 31, 2010 at 8:25 PM

    I think that is a perfect (no pun intended...) interpretation by Tattered and Lost. I thought the dang incline was some sort of bus catapult at first glance though! Sorry I'm going to miss it, but I will be sure to stand and admire the freeway off-ramps where the base of the incline used to be...

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  8. PostcardySeptember 1, 2010 at 5:21 PM

    I thought it looked like a model too. I like it better than a realistic picture.

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  9. TrishiaSeptember 25, 2010 at 6:18 PM

    I had to re-read that first sentence about three times. When I finally "got it," I burst out laughing:) The journalist in me was thinking plagiarism! OK, not good to try to explain how my neurotransmitters work (or don't work, I should say:)

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