Washington Park spreads out in front of you in Over-the-Rhine, bounded by West 12th, West 14th, Race, and Elm Streets. The 6-acre park is owned and operated by the Cincinnati Park Board and once served as Presbyterian and Episcopal cemeteries before it was acquired by the city from 1858 to 1863. You can see an old-fashioned bandstand sheltering concerts and many mature trees shading paths.
Scattered through the green are several American Civil War cannons and busts of Civil War heroes Frederick Hecker and Colonel Robert Latimer McCook, who commanded the German 9th Ohio Infantry (Die Neuner). Nearby is a bronze tablet dated 1931, given by the Sons and Daughters of the (Die Neuner) 9th O.V.I. In 1888 the Centennial Exposition of the Ohio Valley and Central States was held here, a celebration of Ohio’s progress and of settlement of the Northwest Territory. The park stands in the shadow of the Cincinnati Music Hall; the now-demolished Washington Park School once sat at the north end, and the School for Creative and Performing Arts stands across Twelfth Street at the south end.
The bandstand, the Civil War cannons, and the busts of Hecker and McCook fill this green, with Music Hall's towers rising above you.