Piatt Park (est. 1817) is the oldest park in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. The

urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a city park, municipal park (North America), public park, public open space, or municipal gardens (United Kingdom, UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and oth ...

stretches two blocks between Elm Street and

Vine Street Vine Street is a street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, that runs north–south between Franklin Avenue, Los Angeles, and Melrose Avenue. The intersection of Hollywood and Vine being symbolic of Hollywood itself. The intersection has be ...

on Garfield Place/8th Street. The park is owned and maintained by the

Cincinnati Park Board The Cincinnati Park Board (officially the Cincinnati Board of Park Commissioners) maintains and operates all city parks in Cincinnati, Ohio. Established in 1911 with the purchase of , today the board services more than of city park space. The boar ...

History

In 1817 John H. Piatt, a steamboat builder, and his brother, Benjamin M. Piatt, a

Federal Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (in case citations, Fed. Cir. or C.A.F.C.) is one of the 13 United States courts of appeals. It has special appellate jurisdiction over certain categories of cases in the U.S. federal ...

Judge and father of

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

general Abram S. Piatt, gave to the city on the condition it be used "for a market space".Older, archived website of the Cincinnati Parks Board
/ref> Its close proximity to the Sixth Street Market probably prevented the carrying out of the original wishes of the donors, and on June 19, 1868, the land along Eighth Street was formally dedicated to park uses.

Bronze statues Bronze is the most popular metal for cast metal sculptures; a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply "a bronze". It can be used for statues, singly or in groups, reliefs, and small statuettes and figurines, as well as bronze elements t ...

US Presidents The president of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States, indirectly elected to a four-year term via the Electoral College. Under the U.S. Constitution, the officeholder leads the executive bra ...

from

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

stand on either end of the park, with a sculpture of

James A. Garfield James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 1881 until his death in September that year after being shot two months earlier. A preacher, lawyer, and Civi ...

facing Vine and one of

William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was the ninth president of the United States, serving from March 4 to April 4, 1841, the shortest presidency in U.S. history. He was also the first U.S. president to die in office, causin ...

facing West toward the Covenant First Presbyterian Church across Elm. The Garfield statue, by

Charles Henry Niehaus Charles Henry Niehaus (January 24, 1855 – June 19, 1935) was an American sculptor. Early life and education Niehaus was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to German parents. He began working as a marble and wood carver, and then gained entrance to the ...

, was commissioned in 1883 and unveiled in 1887. Due to the presence of the statue of Garfield, the city park was known for a time as Garfield Park, officially receiving its designation as Piatt Park by the Board of Park Commissioners in 1940. The James A. Garfield statue was originally at the center of the street crossing of Garfield Place and Race Street. In 1915 it was moved into the park close to the same intersection. It was again moved during the renovation of Piatt Park in 1988 and now stands at the Vine Street entrance to the park. In 1994 the statue was vandalized with a painted

anarchy symbol Anarchists have employed certain symbols for their cause since the 19th century, including most prominently the circle-A and the black flag. Anarchist cultural symbols have become more prevalent in popular culture since around the turn of the ...

which seeped into the stone pedestal and is still somewhat visible. The bronze equestrian statue of a uniformed General Harrison on horseback by Louis T. Rebisso of the Cincinnati School of Design and his student

Clement Barnhorn Clement John Barnhorn (1857–1935) was an American sculptor and educator known for his memorials, architectural sculpture, and ecclesiastic and funerary works. Early years Born in Cincinnati, Ohio Barnhorn began his art studies at the Art Acad ...

was dedicated in 1896. The North side of the pedestal states, "Ohio's First President" and the South side has his name "William Henry Harrison". The statue is odd in that there is no saddle on the horse, so the stirrups seem airborne. It is notable for being the only equestrian monument in Cincinnati. The monument originally faced East toward Vine Street but was moved in 1988 to its present location. Flanking Race Street in Piatt Park are two circular

reflecting pool A reflecting pool, also called a reflection pool, is a water feature found in gardens, parks and memorial sites. It usually consists of a shallow pool of water with a reflective surface, undisturbed by fountain jets. Design Reflecting pools are o ...

s with granite slabs that mirror the surrounding urban landscape. Beneath a curtain of water that flows over the granite surfaces are carved symbols for water, air and land. Cincinnati artis
Stuart Fink’s fountain
was dedicated in 1989 in memory of local delicatessen owne
Isadore “Izzy” Kadetz
who died in 1983.

Gallery

File:Garfield Statue.jpg, The Garfield Monument in winter. File:Piatt-Park-5.jpg, The Garfield Monument in summer. File:Piatt-Park-4.jpg,

Equestrian statue of William Henry Harrison An equestrian statue of William Henry Harrison stands in Cincinnati's Piatt Park, in the United States. The monumental statue was designed by sculptor Louis Rebisso and was unveiled on Decoration Day, 1896. History Biography William Henr ...

File:Piatt-Park-3.jpg, Inside the shade trees. File:Piatt Park in Winter.jpg, Piatt Park in Winter facing Vine. File:Eighth street park, by C. H. Muhrman.jpg, Vintage stereoscopic view of the park

References

{{Cincinnati parks Parks in Cincinnati 1817 establishments in Ohio

History

Gallery

See also

References