Fountain Square lodging is also diverse and includes one hotel housing a contemporary art museum with thousands of square feet of exhibition space. The aesthetic spirit will also guide the art lover to "The Backstage District," a point on the compass north of the Square, to the Aronoff Center for the Arts, and The Contemporary Arts Center, both packing a powerhouse punch of panache and excitement to enliven and enhance the cultural appetite.
How did this vibrant piece of Cincy geography become the heartbeat of the Queen City? Climb aboard our literary time machine to an era of quiet footpaths in the forest of the 18th Century when European settlers first arrived. Fountain Square was basically forested woodland. As the settlement grew, commerce expanded and merchants began filling the area. Prosperity had arrived.
Two merchants enjoying this new prosperity, Henry Probasco and Tyler Davidson, wanted to repay Cincinnati for making them wealthy by placing a fountain downtown as a civic gift. Planning began as early as 1860. It would be a work of art, utility and beauty. However, Tyler Davidson died in 1865, so Probasco undertook the project alone by traveling to Europe to the Royal Foundary in Bavaria. There he met Ferdinand Von Miller who showed him drawings of a simple, unique statue and fountain called "The Genius of Water" designed by August Von Kreling. Designed as a tribute to water and its uses in our daily lives, Probasco liked the concept and suggested adding drinking fountains. The design was ultmately approved and plans were made to complete the project for placement in Cincinnati. It was cast in sections over three years, delivered to Cincy for final assembly and formally dedicated on October. 6, 1871. Newspaper accounts of the day estimated 20,000 persons in attendance at Probasco Place..later known as Fountain Square.
The 43 foot bronze fountain with green granite base may look familiar even if a visitor has never seen it before in person as it was featured in the opening credits of televisions "WKRP in Cincinnati." The prominently place jewel in the fountain crown is called "The Lady" magnificently rising nine feet in the air as the personification of Mother Nature who is not only beautiful, but, weighing in at a few tons is heavenly heavy metal as well! As a symbol for the origin of rain as water source, she has 400 plus holes drilled into each hand, where water flows forth benevolently for use by humankind in our daily lives. It is also a tribute to the Ohio River waterway and the part it played in the growth and prosperity of Cincinnati as a river town.
The square pedestal depicts four utilitarian uses of water: water-power, exemplified by people carrying corn to a watermill; navigation, honored by a symbolic steamboat on the river; fishing, with a relief of fishermen; and steam power illustrated with workers using a trip-hammer powered by a steam engine. Four outer figures include boys with animals: a dolphin, ducks, a snake and a turtle.These figures were designed to pay homage to the pleasures of water, and each is also a functioning water fountains, where on a hot summer day they are certainly a pleasure to imbibe from in an urban oasis.
Water as lifesaver is also a part of the fountain design, emphasized with the inclusion of a shaft covered atop with foliage surrounded by four groups. On the north side is a workman standing on a burning roof; the south has a farmer in a drought stricken field; the west has a young girl offering water to a man on crutches; on the east is a mother trying to get her child into a bath.
The fountain flows continuously all year until winter and then turned on again just in time for the first home game of the Cincinnati Reds in April..Play Ball!!! There is an outstanding miniature model of the fountain located in the Cincinnati Art Museum that is a must see. All four seasons in Cincy have one thing in common - an urban vibrancy of culture, art and activity. If you're looking for the center of Cincinnati's gravitational force field, head for Cincy's central core, and immerse yourself in the heartbeat and downtown culture of the fountain and the square. While you're at it, let Mother Nature and the Genius of Water be your guide through this exciting town of people who know how to enjoy life to the fullest..and that my friends, is the Genius of Cincinnati!