A nonprofit publication of the Kentucky Center for Public Service Journalism

Our Rich History: Singing song of praise, a New Yorker writes glowingly in 1855 about Cincinnati


By Don Heinrich Tolzmann
Special to the NKyTribune

In 1855, Lewis Gaylord Clark, editor of The Knickerbocker, a New York literary journal, visited Cincinnati. The journal might best be described as a 19th century version of today’s New Yorker magazine. Clark wrote about his visit in his monthly column “Editor’s Table” for the September issue of that year. Although only about two pages in length, his comments provide a glimpse of the area through the eyes of a New Yorker.

Lewis Gaylord Clark


Clark wrote: “What a wonderful place,” says the tourist of the Daily Times, “is Cincinnati! Distrust nothing that is told you of it; for its marvelous extent and astonishing New-Yorkiness can scarcely be exaggerated. In its streets of tall, wide, and architecturally distinguished buildings, believe me, it has not its equal out of New York, that I have ever seen. Its numerous public buildings, also, are in keeping with all of this.”

These comments are true, claims Clark who notes: “As you turn the bend in the river. . .the long lines of steamers, nosed on to the shore, (like a crowd of alligators at an anxious meeting for securing the same land-prey on the bank,) or lying beside the floating-docks that rise and sink with high or low water – some up for St. Paul’s, some for St. Louis, some for New Orleans, thousands of miles away: the extended rows of lofty ware-houses; the streets of New York architecture, stretching into dimness; the high towers and steeples of the churches; the great dome of the Burnett House; in short, the general vastness of the town, ‘by and large,’ takes the beholder by surprise.”

The Knickerbocker

He continues: “We expected to find Cincinnati a large and flourishing place – but such a city, with two hundred thousand inhabitants and upward, with such streets, churches, public buildings, sumptuous private residences, etc. this was much more than even our imagination ‘had bargained for.’ We had an opportunity to see the city from all points of view; from the richly wooded park heights, crowned with splendid and hospitable private mansions, which environ it on one side, and from the eminences of the beautifully situated city of Covington, which look upon it from the other; and in every aspect ‘still the wonder grew’ that such a city should have arisen like an exhalation within the life of many a young man in its ample borders.”

Clark praises the Burnett House where he stayed: “We have not in our own Great Metropolis a larger and more beautiful hotel. It was built of stone, from designs by the distinguished architect Rogers, under a legislative charter, by a stock company ‘without regard to expense,’ in the fullest meaning of that common expression. From top to bottom, in the structure, in the furniture, in the adornments, in the dignity of the space of its great and small parlors, halls, suites of rooms, and private rooms- in all its accessories, in short – there is no sham. But there it is: and as Mr. Webster said ‘Look at it.’ ”

Burnett House. Source: Charles Cist, Cincinnati in 1851

Comparing it to the Astor Hotel in New York, Clark writes: “Understand, that it is longer and wider than the Astor; that its drawing and dining-rooms are larger; its marble-tiled halls, reading-room, bar, etc., more spacious, and you will gain some idea of the extent and character of the establishment.”

After touring the Burnett House, Clark advises: “When all this is done, sit by a window, as we did, in the hush of the first morning gloaming, and watch the long wagons enter the arched gate-way…opening into the wide oblong courts within, filled with the fresh produce of the Burnett House Farm, some four miles distant, all gathered or picked within two hours; green corn, cucumbers, potatoes… with the whole family of fruits. Well, such is the Burnett House, of Cincinnati.”

Such laudatory remarks conclude Clark’s comments on his stay in Cincinnati. They no doubt may have caught the attention of some New Yorkers who eventually made their way to the Queen City of the West to compare it with the song of praise that Clark had sung.

Don Heinrich Tolzmann is a nationally and regionally noted historian of German Americana. He has written and edited dozens of books, and contributed to many others, including The Encyclopedia of Northern Kentucky.


Related Posts

One Comment

  1. ruth bamberger says:

    There is so much rich history of the Cincinnati region. Thanks, NKY Tribune, for keeping that history alive with your readers.

Leave a Comment