Cincinnati City Hall, seat of the municipal government of Cincinnati, Ohio, rises ahead of you with its nine-story clock tower. Completed in 1893, this Richardsonian Romanesque structure was later listed in the National Register of Historic Places on December 11, 1972. The building was designed by Samuel Hannaford and built at a cost of $1.61 million, with Hannaford paid $54,000 as architect and construction superintendent.
The main block rises four and a half stories and is punctuated by a nine-story clock tower. It was constructed by the David Hummel company of Cincinnati using stone quarried in Wisconsin, Ohio, Missouri, and Indiana. Step closer and you’ll notice marble stairways and wainscoting that originated in Italy and Tennessee, and granite columns brought from Vermont.
Look up at the stained glass: the windows depict Cincinnatus and illustrate Cincinnati’s early history. You’re standing on ground that hosted the first city hall, built here in 1852 and demolished in 1888 to make way for the current structure. Cincinnati’s City Hall represents the prevailing architectural tastes at the time of its construction and the influence of H. H. Richardson on Hannaford’s design.
Stained-glass windows above depict Cincinnatus himself, watching over the clock tower and stonework that replaced an 1852 city hall for you.