Over-the-Rhine is a place where a building owner can stumble upon huge caverns underneath a basement floor or find long-forgotten tunnels that travel far below city streets. Its present mysteries are attributable to a past that transcends the common story of how cities change over time: it is the story of how a clash between immigrants and "real Americans" helped rob Cincinnati of its image, its soul and its economy. In the 1870s, OTR was comparable to the cultural hearts of Paris and Vienna. By the turn of the last century, the neighborhood was home to roughly three hundred saloons and had over a dozen breweries within or adjacent to its borders. It was beloved by countless citizens and travelers for the exact reasons that others successfully sought to destroy it. This is the story of how the heart of the "Paris of America" became a time capsule.
Over-the-Rhine: When Beer Was King
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About the Author
Michael Morgan is a reformed lawyer who has dedicated the past several years to the physical and cultural restoration of Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine. In part, this includes working with the City of Cincinnati to improve its approach to historic preservation and to find creative solutions to urban redevelopment challenges. It also includes conducting events that help bring the neighborhood's history alive. Morgan is a graduate of the University of Toledo College of Law, where he learned to write, and Ohio University, where he learned to drink. As a trustee of the Brewery District CURC, Morgan helped create the organization's Prohibition Resistance Tours of historic brewery sites. He has also been the primary organizer of Bockfest since 2006 and is an unabashed proponent of local beer.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
An intriguing and unexpected history of brewing, Prohibition, and urban preservation
October 8, 2010
By Garrett Peck
Format:Paperback
Over-the-Rhine was once the heart of a thriving German-American neighborhood in Cincinnati and home to two dozen breweries. It's also a dilapidated district and 19th century architectural time capsule that civic-minded Cincinnatians are trying to preserve while making it into a livable urban neighborhood. The rise and fall of OTR is the subject of Michael Morgan's dynamite short history, "Over-the-Rhine: When Beer Was King."
Based mostly on primary sources, Morgan tells the story of how German immigrants settled in this enclave north of the Miami and Erie Canal (the "Rhine") in the 1840s and 1850s. They brought a gift which we cherish still to this day: lager beer. Many brewers grew wealthy and built brewhouses that were Romanesque Revival palaces. OTR flourished with thousands of beer gardens, saloons, and entertainment venues.
However, there were nativist forces at work to undermine German society and its beer-soaked culture. Morgan writes, "Before gay marriage, abortion rights, civil rights or the Vietnam War, beer became the focal point of a much broader social debate." That was temperance, the social reform movement that gave us Prohibition.
Prohibition devastated Cincinnati's rich brewing tradition. A handful of breweries reopened after 1933, but the industry - and OTR - never recovered. The last brewery closed in the 1950s; the local brewers found they couldn't compete with the emerging national brands. There are today only two active breweries in OTR: the Schoenling Brewery, where the Boston Beer Company makes Sam Adams, and the Christian Moerlein Brewing Company, which in 2010 took over the former Kauffman Brewery (a building that was, even more recently, the Husman Potato Chip Factory).
When I visited Cincinnati on a book tour in 2009, Mike, his wife Amy, and Steve Hampton of the Over-the-Rhine Brewery District took me on a fun tour of Cincinnati's dilapidated breweries. Especially fascinating were the tunnels under the streets to move beer to bottling plants, as the law once required brewers to keep their brewing and bottling plants separate. They lead the Prohibition Resistance Tour, and Morgan also organizes the annual Bockfest.
Morgan saves the best for last in the final chapter, "Rot and Redemption," about the struggle to preserve the crumbling buildings of the Brewery District. Half of the historic buildings have been lost - and most of the rest are in danger from neglect. "They are the stories of battles over the vision of what to do with the deteriorating remains of a vanquished culture," Morgan writes. The only thing missing from the book is a modern map of OTR to help explore the neighborhood.
Today OTR feels largely abandoned except for the homeless. But there are glimmers of hope: Main Street and Vine Street have attracted new residents and businesses, and Findlay Market is serving as an anchor to a local community while attracting thousands of shoppers. Advocates are pushing for a modern streetcar line that can easily bring people into the neighborhood.
Beer - and people - are slowly returning to Over-the-Rhine. Repurposing old structures for modern needs is possible; just look at Cincinnati's stunning Union Terminal. The question is, will there be enough urban redevelopment in time to save the decaying Over-the-Rhine district, or is it too little, too late?
Based mostly on primary sources, Morgan tells the story of how German immigrants settled in this enclave north of the Miami and Erie Canal (the "Rhine") in the 1840s and 1850s. They brought a gift which we cherish still to this day: lager beer. Many brewers grew wealthy and built brewhouses that were Romanesque Revival palaces. OTR flourished with thousands of beer gardens, saloons, and entertainment venues.
However, there were nativist forces at work to undermine German society and its beer-soaked culture. Morgan writes, "Before gay marriage, abortion rights, civil rights or the Vietnam War, beer became the focal point of a much broader social debate." That was temperance, the social reform movement that gave us Prohibition.
Prohibition devastated Cincinnati's rich brewing tradition. A handful of breweries reopened after 1933, but the industry - and OTR - never recovered. The last brewery closed in the 1950s; the local brewers found they couldn't compete with the emerging national brands. There are today only two active breweries in OTR: the Schoenling Brewery, where the Boston Beer Company makes Sam Adams, and the Christian Moerlein Brewing Company, which in 2010 took over the former Kauffman Brewery (a building that was, even more recently, the Husman Potato Chip Factory).
When I visited Cincinnati on a book tour in 2009, Mike, his wife Amy, and Steve Hampton of the Over-the-Rhine Brewery District took me on a fun tour of Cincinnati's dilapidated breweries. Especially fascinating were the tunnels under the streets to move beer to bottling plants, as the law once required brewers to keep their brewing and bottling plants separate. They lead the Prohibition Resistance Tour, and Morgan also organizes the annual Bockfest.
Morgan saves the best for last in the final chapter, "Rot and Redemption," about the struggle to preserve the crumbling buildings of the Brewery District. Half of the historic buildings have been lost - and most of the rest are in danger from neglect. "They are the stories of battles over the vision of what to do with the deteriorating remains of a vanquished culture," Morgan writes. The only thing missing from the book is a modern map of OTR to help explore the neighborhood.
Today OTR feels largely abandoned except for the homeless. But there are glimmers of hope: Main Street and Vine Street have attracted new residents and businesses, and Findlay Market is serving as an anchor to a local community while attracting thousands of shoppers. Advocates are pushing for a modern streetcar line that can easily bring people into the neighborhood.
Beer - and people - are slowly returning to Over-the-Rhine. Repurposing old structures for modern needs is possible; just look at Cincinnati's stunning Union Terminal. The question is, will there be enough urban redevelopment in time to save the decaying Over-the-Rhine district, or is it too little, too late?
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Myron
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I purchased six of these books as Christmas gifts for a few of my good beer drinking friends. What a surprise. I couldn't put it down. The insights Morgan offers on the cultural history of Cincinnati were eye opening. He mixes accurate history (one of my gifted friends is a history professor and has confirmed this) wit, and information with an easily readable style. It's much more than a "beer" book. As a life long resident of Cincinnati, I am a bit ashamed that I didn't know more about this era. Now a do. I heartily recommend this book to anyone interested in expanding their knowledge about this important period in our history.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
When I first saw this book and read the synopsis I thought it was a book about Cincinnati breweries in the OTR District. In reality it wasn't but what I read was a great book about the German culture that helped shape Cincinnati into the city it is. Focusing on the beginnings of the OTR district to post prohibition this book covers a great wealth of information that would other wise be forgotten. Buy this book if you want to learn about history. Don't buy if you want a book only about breweries.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
One of the better written local history books I've read
This was easily one of the better written local history books I've read. So many of them are badly written - simple sentences seem beyond them. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Howard McEwen
3.0 out of 5 stars
Worth Reading.
I appreciate the level of detail the author provided in the text. My only complaint is his efforts to push his own political agenda comparing the anti-German sentiment to Sarah... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Historybuff
3.0 out of 5 stars
History of OTR
I thought something else when I purchased this book. I did not know how much political involvement was involved in making beer. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Katrina Fetherolf
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great piece of Cincinnati's history!
For anyone who wonders why or how Cincinnati grew into the what it is today I would highly recommend this book. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Karl Kramer
5.0 out of 5 stars
Who knew?....
I feel like a dolt for having lived in Cincinnati for nearly 20 years and being clueless as to 90% of the events detailed in this book. Read more
Published on April 15, 2011 by Unimaj
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not What I Expected
Let me start by saying that this book was exceptionally well-written in my opinion. It was nothing like I expected it to be when I purchased it though. Read more
Published on December 17, 2010 by T. Clark
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