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Founded in 1881, the Cincinnati Art Museum is one of the oldest art museums in the United States. Public art museums were still rare, especially as far west as Cincinnati. But the city had emerged as a thriving cultural center and calls for an art museum grew, led by the passionate and determined members of the Women's Art Museum Association. Thanks largely to their efforts, a public subscription attracted the contributions required for construction to begin. Eden Park, which overlooked downtown Cincinnati and the Ohio River valley, was chosen as the site for the museum. When it finally opened in May 1886, the museum was described as "a gift of the people for the people," acknowledging the crucial role Cincinnatians had played in its establishment. The original building now has eight additional wings; the collection boasts 66,000 works of art, which span 6,000 years of human history; and the museum has inspired and educated generations.

Over more than two centuries, Cincinnati evolved from a riverside settlement in the wilderness to a major center of business, commerce, and manufacturing. Boasting titles such as "Queen City of the West" and "Porkopolis" (for its many pork-packing plants), Cincinnati never suffered from a lack of self-esteem. Indeed, the city earned its place in the honor roll of American cities as it spread outward from the Ohio River into the surrounding hills. Blessed with good transportation by river, canal, and railroad, Cincinnati grew rapidly, attracting great numbers of native-born Americans and foreign immigrants alike. Drawn by abundant jobs and economic opportunity, Cincinnati's citizens lived in densely developed neighborhoods, walked crowded streets, and worked hard in mills and factories. Early in the city's history, farseeing individuals saw the benefit of creating public parks where the population could enjoy a few hours of recreation among trees, green grass, and gorgeous vistas of the Ohio River Valley. Starting from modest beginnings, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries Cincinnati developed a system of more than 5,000 acres of parks and connecting parkways that would be the envy of cities many times its size.

Missionary-geographer John Heckewelder was prophetic in the 1790s when he mapped the place where the Cuyahoga River flows into Lake Erie. He wrote, "Cujahaga will hereafter be a place of great importance." In 1796, surveyors arrived to plot a new town and named it after their superintendent, Moses Cleaveland. Soon Cleveland (the a was omitted on early maps) was a magnet for inventors and entrepreneurs. By 1829-1830, a lighthouse was necessary to support lake traffic spurred by shipbuilding, shipping, and population growth. A succession of taller, brighter structures has guided mariners into the Cleveland harbor, creating a splendid history. Remarkable people have tended these sometimes-silent sentinels through decades of calm nights and dramatic storms, subtly contributing to the region's growth and prosperity.

Ohio Lighthouses reveals a multitude of stories about the structures along Lake Erie. It chronicles make overs, such as the transformation of the 1821 Marblehead Lighthouse from ugly duckling to beautiful swan. It also documents heartbreaking tales, like the story of the fire at the Green Island Lighthouse that started during a New Year's dinner while the lighthouse keeper's son watched from a mile away on South Bass Island; he, along with friends, unable to come to the rescue in a snowstorm. It touches on the strength of Mother Nature, such as late one fall when a blizzard struck as two lighthouse keepers were preparing to leave the Ashtabula Lighthouse for the winter. For three days, waves washed over the lighthouse in sub-zero temperatures, and water froze as it fell. The sun came out on the fourth day, but the men found themselves unable to open the door. Other interesting histories include those of the lost lighthouse, a disappearing lighthouse sinking into Lake Erie, a Romanesque lighthouse 8 miles from shore, the wood lighthouse on a slightly sinful island, the lighthouse built to last forever but slated for the wrecking ball, and more.