History.
Since 1791
Hamilton was founded in 1791 as Fort Hamilton, named after the Secretary of Treasury, Alexander Hamilton. The fort served as a supply station for the troops of Generals Arthur St. Clair and Anthony Wayne.
By 1800, the fort was no longer used for military purposes and Hamilton began transitioning into an active agricultural and regional trading area. The town was mapped, government was seated, and Hamilton was formally incorporated as a city by the Ohio General Assembly in 1810.
By the mid-1800s, Hamilton had become a significant manufacturing city, producing machines and equipment used to process the region’s farm produce. Completed in 1845, the Hamilton Hydraulic System spurred one of Hamilton’s greatest periods of industrial and population growth from 1840 to 1860. Hamilton Hydraulic was designed to be a system of canals interlocking with natural reservoirs to bring water from the Great Miami River into the city as a power source for future industry. Four miles to the north of Hamilton, a dam was built to funnel water into the Hamilton Hydraulic System along with two reservoirs to store extra water for the new system. The Hamilton Hydraulic System was a high risk/high reward project: while the City of Hamilton did not have many businesses that would need the power when construction began in 1842, if it could be successfully completed, the power generated by the system would bring in more industry. The gamble proved to be a successful one as the project attracted many businesses to the area, including the Beckett Paper Company in the late 1840s. At the time, the City of Hamilton primarily existed on the east bank of the Great Miami River with the community of Rossville on the west bank. Though Rossville constructed its own hydraulic system, it was completed after Hamilton Hydraulic and never was able to gain as much popularity. As a result, in 1854, Rossville decided to merge with the quickly growing City of Hamilton. To this day, the historic neighborhood on the western side of the High–Main Bridge bears the same name it did when it was a separate city.
Building an Industrial Powerhouse
In addition to shaping Hamilton’s industry in the mid1800s, the hydraulic system also provided a key role in the expansion of industry after World War I. Henry Ford had been searching for a new location to build a tractor factory and was intrigued by what he had heard about Hamilton. After witnessing the thriving industry in the area, he decided to locate his new factory in Hamilton. Hamilton is home to three historic districts with unique turn-of-the-century homes that reflect the diverse heritage of Hamilton residents through architecture, culture, and food. Like Cincinnati, Hamilton was home to many German and Italian immigrants and had a strong Jewish community at the turn of the 20th century. By the early-1900s, Hamilton had become a manufacturing center for vaults, safes, locomotives, railroad infrastructure, machine tools, and materials for World War I.
In March of 1913, Hamilton suffered a devastating flood after five days of heavy rain. An amount of water approximately equivalent to one month’s discharge over Niagara Falls flowed through the entire Miami River Valley region during the ensuing flood. The river rose with unexpected suddenness, and in Hamilton, flooding reached up to 18 feet in some areas. Approximately 200 residents lost their lives in the Flood of 1913, and damage in the Miami River Valley region was calculated at $100 million, or the equivalent of $2.58 billion in today’s dollars. In the 1920s, many Chicago gangsters had second homes in Hamilton, earning the city the nickname of “Little Chicago.” Manufacturing continued throughout this era as factories transitioned to produce military supplies such as tank turrets, Liberty ships, and submarine engines for World War II. In the 1920s, many Chicago gangsters had second homes in Hamilton, earning the city the nickname of “Little Chicago.” Manufacturing continued through the early 20th century as factories transitioned to produce military supplies, such as tank turrets, Liberty ships and submarine engines, during World War II.
A new interstate highway system was constructed in the 1950s. A decision to reduce traffic flow through the city by having Interstate Highway 75 (I-75) by-pass the City left Hamilton disconnected from the newest transportation network until Hamilton gained direct interstate access when the Butler County Veterans Highway (State Route 129) was built in 1999.
Since the mid-20th century, industry in Hamilton has transitioned to reflect the changing manufacturing trends in the region. Several anchor industries, such as paper production and machinery manufacturing that defined the community’s industrial landscape have closed their doors in recent years. However, Hamilton is revitalizing the community through an arts-centered downtown renaissance supported by many businesses employing revolutionary and innovative approaches to manufacturing as well as other industries.
The City of Hamilton was declared the City of Sculpture in 2000 by Governor Robert “Bob” Taft and is home to many public art installations, including Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park. Several recent City initiatives focus on enhancing the quality of life for residents through community experiences involving the arts, recreation, music, and a vibrant downtown core. RiversEdge, a waterfront amphitheater, was completed in 2014, and the nationally-recognized Marcum Park was completed in 2017. Residents also receive extremely competitive utility services from the City and residents enjoy the “World’s Best Water”(as named by the Berkeley Springs International Competition in 2010 and 2015) in their homes.