How to go
What: Queen City Underground: Bosses, Breweries, and Burials Walking Tour
Where: Cincy Haus, 1218 Vine St., Cincinnati
Cost: $20 for adults, $10 for children; those 10 and younger are free
More info: (859) 951-8560; www.americanlegacytours.com
CINCINNATI — A historical tour revolving around the Cincinnati neighborhood of Over-the-Rhine aims to shed light on the neighborhood’s history while bringing more foot traffic to the area.
The Queen City Underground tour, hosted by American Legacy Tours, takes patrons on a trip back in time through Cincinnati’s Gateway District in Over-the-Rhine — the location of one of the largest assortments of historical landmarks in the nation — and details the history of an area that once housed more than 130 saloons and beer gardens. It also hosted Charlie Chaplin and Wild Bill Hickok at its theaters and was the stomping grounds of one of Cincinnati’s most notorious politicians.
The idea for the tour was spurred in 2008 by Jerry Gels, a school teacher in northern Kentucky and one of six owners of American Legacy Tours, as a fundraising idea for student trips to Central America.
“We were always looking for different ways to raise money,” Gels said. “So I had this idea to do a walking tour in Newport (Kentucky).”
The walking tour, known as the “Newport Gangster Tour: Gangsters, Gamblers and Girls,” was more successful than Gels imagined it would be.
“I thought we’d get about 200 people to show up for this tour,” Gels said. “We had 1,200 people show up over two weekends.”
With the tour receiving rave reviews, Gels and his contingent decided to expand the operation with the creation of American Legacy Tours in August 2009, and found their way into Cincinnati via a documentary Gels was working on regarding Newport.
Two Cincinnati political figures, Jim Tarbell and Jake Hammersmith, were assisting Gels in raising money for the documentary when they suggested he turn his eye toward the city for another tour similar to Newport’s.
“They said ‘We’re going to help you, but the thing we’d like to see out of this is for you to come to Cincinnati and do the same thing — put that foot traffic on the ground,’” Gels said.
After scouting various locations throughout the city for the tour, including Fountain Square, Gels and his group decided on the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood.
The Queen City Underground tour is one of six the company now offers, which runs the gamut from Cincinnati’s Civil War history to ghost tours. It focuses primarily on the German heritage of Over-the-Rhine during the time period of 1870-1920, the days when the neighborhood was one of the most populated, per capita, in the country.
The demand for the tours has been so large, Gels said, that he has had to extend their operating period through the end of November instead of October — the tour’s normal closing time.
Overall, the tour illustrates to patrons why the Gateway District along Vine Street in Over-the-Rhine plays such a key part in the city’s history and why it is still important today.
“This was a time when Cincinnati was referred to as ‘The Paris of the West,’ “ Gels said. “A large reason for that were this street and all the things happening here.”
Contact this writer at spragoo1977@yahoo.com.
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