Preview of Walk #3: Genius Loci

Our third walk (as always, from Walking the Steps of Cincinnati) kept us in Mt. Adams - in and around Eden Park much like the previous walk.  It just goes to show, though, that there is much to learn about that locale.  Despite being in the same region, the walk took us to many different places.

Here are some fun facts we learned along the way:

• The Baldwin Piano and Organ Company - located on Gilbert Ave. since 1920 - burned in a terrible fire in 1964 but was fully restored afterward (the book actually says "perfectly" restored - score for Baldwin!).
• According to the book, the building formerly known as the Museum of Natural History (now located in Union Terminal) is "currently being used for collections storage, research, and laser shows.  I don't know about you, but when I go to Gilbert and Elsinore Place, I see the the "9 News on Your Side"  TV studio.
• Continuing in the "things that are history" category, the fancy arch that was a landmark (at least for me growing up having gone to that museum) is still there even though the laser shows aren't.  Had I realized there was a Wikipedia "article" on it beforehand, I may not have been so surprised to learn its history.  The arch was built in 1883 as a valve house that regulated the flow of water between the reservoir and the Ohio River.  At the same time and place, Eden Park needed a gateway.  The clever Charles Hannaford (progeny of famous Cincinnati architect Samual Hannaford) was inspired by another famous Cincinnatian's (James Murdoch) performance as Hamlet.  He designed the valve house to resemble the theatrical set and the tower and street were named Elsinore after the tower and gate of Castle Kronberg in Hamlet.
• If you stop at the end of Fort View Place, you can do two things:

1. Look at where the original Fort Washington was - basically right where the rotating Western-Southern time & temperature sign is now.  Fort Washington was established in 1789 and basically marked where our city was going to grow up.
2. Be a part of Civil War non-history:  the book says "several cannons were poised here over the declivity, ready for action but never fired.

•  The staff in Playhouse in the Park were very nice to me.  I had to pee and they let me in without question.
• If you look carefully (because, really, you might look right at it and miss it), you can see the ruins of the Mt. Adams Incline from the southern end of the Rookwood Pottery parking lot. 

 While at the end of this walk we weren't done with Mt. Adams, we were done with Eden Park (at least for this project).