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Queen City Discovery Home > Gallery Home > Urban Exploration > Cincinnati

		Americana/LeSourdsville Lake Amusement Park: Originally opened in 1922, Lesourdsville Lake amusement park stood for 80 years as a staple of an example of the classic American amusment park despite the onset of time. After 80 years the park closed for the final team and currently sits awaiting a future. Still filled with classic carnival rides, water rides, and roller coasters; the park is slowly decaying as its future as an amusement park seems to slowly slip away. Click the above link or picture to see photographs or read the full article here.

	h	St. Bernard Railroad Building: An unknown rail building bordering CSX rail road tracks running to the Queensgate yards. Located just off of I-75 in St. Bernard, Ohio (The city of St. Bernard is landlocked by the city of Cincinnati).

		Consolidated Grain Silos: This abandoned grain silo facility which once belonged to the Consolidated Grain and Barge Company now sits above Mill Creek overlooking Cummingsville and downtown Cincinnati. Note: As of 10/22/08 this structure has been demolished. Read about it on the blog here.

		The Crosley Building: This building played home to the Crosley radio manufacturing plant, 700 WLW, and the government run WSAI radio station from 1928 untill the start of WW2. Since then it played host to various other production facilities, a printing company and other radio stations up untill the late 80's when it became storage space for anyone who leased space including an office furniture dealer in the mid 90's before becoming completely abandoned around the late 90's. Click the above link or picture to see photographs or read the full article here.

		Crystal Dr. Demoliton: Originally theses houses should not have been built on the flood plane, but they were. Families moved in and for over 30 years called these various tri-level houses home. I grew up in this neighborhood. After a large flood in 2003 from the nearby creek and disputes with the government, F.E.M.A., and insurance companies; it was agreed that the local government would purchase the land and demolish the houses and eventually redevelop the land into a nice park. The houses sat empty, the houses were torn down, and the park is yet to come, if at all. Click the above link or picture to see photographs or read the full article here.

		English Woods Housing Projects: Built in 1942 to house the families of military personell who were off to fight in world war 2, these public housing projects were declared too expensive to repair in 2005. The residents were relocated to other public housing and demoliton slowly began with no plans for furhter development on the property. Click the above link or picture to see photographs or read the full article here.

		Fisher Body Rail Depot: Constructed in 1947 by General Motors on Dixie Hwy. (Rt. 4) in Fairfield Ohio, this plant made the bodys for Cheverolet automobiles. In 1988 as part of corporate down sizing, GM announced it would be closing the plant and what was left of the work force clocked out for thier final shift on December 22, 1989. During the 90's it would be home to a host of tenants including the production facilities of a Chinesse government sanctioned autombile. In late 2006 the facillity was purchased by a Boston realty group and is currently undergoing renovation, however the rail depot has been abandoned since 1989.

		Galbraith Field: Located in Kings Mills, Ohio this former football/soccer stadium served as the venue for many large high school football playoff matches and as the home field for Kings High School and Cincinnati's Moeller High School's football team. It also served as the home field for Cincinnati's now defunct minor league soccer team; the Cincinnati Riverhawks.

		The Glencoe 'Hole': This abandoned block of late 19th century Italian row houses, complete with an abandoned stone exterior hotel are hidden, built into the hillside of Mt. Auburn. The neighborhood was revitalized in the 1970's but went downhill fast in the late 80's and the neighborhood became a hot spot for drugs in the 90's. Since then the apartments have been purchased with hopes of eventually renovating them.

		Hamilton Sports Complex: Built in the mid 1950's by the city of Hamilton; the complex featured an outdoor ice rink, basketball courts, tennis courts, horseshoes and a picnice area. The comlex was purchased by Miami University and served as parking for their Hamilton campus. The basketball courts and tennis courts fell into disrepair in the mid 90's. The ice rink played host to the Cincinnati Swords CAHA hockey team as well as the home ice for Stephen T. Badin High School's hockey team. The complex can be seen featured in the 1993 motion picture: "Airborne." Note: Demolished in August 2007.

		Island Mini Golf: Located just off of I-71 in Kings, Ohio this mini golf and family entertainment center was located right inbetween the Beach water park, Kings Island Amusement Park, and the Great Wolf Lodge. In it's fall offseason it played host to an annual haunted house.

		The Oakley Drive-In Theatre: Once billed as Cincinnati's "last outdoor picture show", this drive in movie theatre was able to accomidate 900 cars and at one time featured 2 screens. In 1996 it was voted one of Cincinnati's best entertainment venues by City Beat Magazine. The Oakley screened its last films in Sept. 2005. Today constructions is taking place to turn the property into something new. Only the ticket booths and main screen remain.

		Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church: Overlooking the Ohio River in the dense hillside surrounding Cincinnati, this former Catholic Church has been stripped bare of its former sacred contents in accordance with Catholic traditons regarding decomissioned churches. The congregation merged with a nearby parish in 1989 and since then the church has been sold to different owners none of whom have done much with this beautiful building. Click the above link or picture to see photographs or read the full article here.

		The Peter's Cartridge Company: A Munitions factory dating back to the Civil War and operating until the Second World War, now serves as an art studio and rental storage area. Active building. These photographs were taken from the neighboring bike paths.

		Rail Tower bordering I-75: Bordering Interstate 75 and CSX rail lines running towards the Queensgate rail yards is this abandoned rail road tower. Possibly once used to manually operate switch tracks, the tower now serves primarily as a home to squatters. Click the above link or picture to see photographs or read the full article here.

		Stearns and Foster Textile Company: With this large factory originally constructed in 1846, Stearns and Foster grew into one of the largest cotton consuming factories in the United States eventually expanding into a massive complex in Lockland, a suburb within Cincinnati. After a fire burned down a portion of the factory and corporate downsizing, the factory closed it's doors in 2003. Today the factory space is available for sale and sotrage rental, a care taker and former employee were kind enough to give us a tour in August of 2008.

		Cincinnati's Abandoned Subway: From 1920 to 1927 the city of Cincinnati was constructing a subway. This subway would combine with the downtown trolleys and interurban lines to create a vast network of rapid transit throughout the city. However, money soon ran out in 1927 and construction halted, never to resume. Today, two miles of abandoned subway tunnels and stations exist directly beneath Central Parkway along with 400 ft. of tunnel beneath Hopple St. Click the above link or picture to see photographs or read the full article here.

		Surf Cincinnati Waterpark: Surf Cincinnati was once one of the premeir amusement destinations in the Cincinnati area reaching its peak in the mid 90's. The park had the Cincinnati area's largest wave pool and featured a full scale water park as well as group picnic areas, go karts, bumper boats, and other small attractions. The park eventually caved in 1998 when the family owned business was unable to keep up in competition with The Beach Water park and the ever expanding Paramount's Kings Island (now Kings Island) theme park and water park just down the highway. In 1999 the park briefly re-opened along with the newly built "Caddies" night club, but both business went bankrupt in 2000 and have sat vacant and abandoned ever since. I personaly visited this park many, many times when it was open as I only lived 10 minutes away. Note: As of June 2008 Surf Cincinnati has been demolished.

		Waldvogel Viaduct Ramp - State Ave.: This former Waldvogel Viaduct entrance/exit ramp once connected State Ave. up to a central artery into downtown. Today it sits abandoned, a sign that eventually the entire viaduct must be replaced. Click the above link or picture to see photographs or read the full article here.

		Hillside Nursing Home: Hillside Nursing Home was a combination of the Parkside and Oakside nursing homes, neighbors to each other in the Cincinnati neighborhood of Avondale. Parkside, a two story tan brick building was the more modern of the two buildings while Oakside was a former residence converted into a nursing home. Combined, both buildings made up the Hillside complex consisting of 67 beds. While both buildings have been ravaged by copper thieves and vandals, the Oakside building's architecture and height provide it with more interesting features than it's 1960's era neighbor, including a wonderful view from the top of it's fourth floor, walk in attic.

		CL&N RR Tunnels and Remnants: The Cincinnati Lebanon and Northern Railroad originally ran freight and passenger service from 1881 until the late 80's. Today there are many remnants of the rail line in the city of Cincinnati and the surrounding areas of a rail line that once ran from Cincinnati to Lebanon and ended in Dayton. These remnants include a 1/3 mile long tunnel beneath the streets and a second tunnel bordering I-71 as well as a few abandoned overpasses. Today the line is owned by the Southern Ohio Regional Transit Authority who may one day use it as part of a Cincinnati rapid transit loop. Click the above link to see the photographs or read the full article here.

		Hudepohl Brewing Company: Hudepohl Brewing Company was one of many Cincinnati based breweries. The company thrived in the local market, survived prohibition and even sent beer to troops during World War Two. In 1946 this production facility opened in the city's Queensgate neighborhood. As time passed, the company faced strong competition from national brands like Budweiser and Pabst, eventually being purchased by Cincinnati rivals Schoenling Brewing Company in 1986. In 1987 all production was transferred to the Schoenling facility, abandoning the Hudepohl brewery seen here. Today the iconic smokestack and half demolished facility stand as a testament to when Hudepohl was king beer in Cincinnati. Click the above link to see the photographs or read the full article here.

		Robinson Flats: Construction completed on this East Price Hill apartment building in 1925. It opened up as a luxury apartment complex with a corner drug store on it's first floor at the corners of W. 8th St. and Elberon Ave. It's believed that in the building's later years it became severely run down and the at one point the corner drug store on the first floor became a church. According to documents found among the many other personal items left behind by former residents, the building was closed down sometime around 2003 or 2004. In 2007 plans were announced to try and renovate the building, but since then no news or substantial restoration plans have come to light. Click the above link to see the photographs or read the full article here.