Main Street incline, Cincinnati, Ohio.
The Mt. Auburn Incline, also known as the Main Street Incline, connected what is today Jackson Hill Park in Mt. Auburn to the intersection of Main & Mulberry Streets in Over-the-Rhine. The 960-foot-long inclined plane originally had a hump in its grade, but was later straightened. At the top of the incline, the Lookout House reigned supreme for years as the place to be for music, dancing, fireworks, and beer. It sat in the same spot occupied by Jackson Hill Park today. The Mt. Auburn Incline held the distinction of being Cincinnati’s first inclined plane. Of course, being first doesn’t always mean best. In 1889, the mechanism that holds the platform malfunctioned and sent seven people careening down the track. Only one person survived. The Mt. Auburn Incline was closed in 1898 and never reopened. Today, the Main Street Steps follow the path of where the Mt. Auburn Incline existed.
/ Image courtesy of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County //
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