Cincinnati Panorama of 1848

wow! who knew we had such cool photo right under our noses! amazing quality, very sharp. see the digitalized version on the touch screen, but the original is a must!

I love it when I find out that Cincinnati has something super cool and unique like this panorama. It’s the oldest panoramic shot of a city, so it just makes sense that the city famous for its «Skyline» (I know, sorry) would get the glory.
The photo was taken from Newport, and covers 2 miles of the view across the river in 1848. It’s really interesting to see what it looked like then and compare it to what we see today, especially for someone like me who lives in Kentucky and looks at the current panorama almost every day.
The photo is almost hidden in the downtown branch of the library, but ask anyone who works there and they can direct you to the viewing spot. They have lots of great information and it’s something you can look at for much longer than you may have planned.
I’m not even a history buff, but this is something that everyone from Cincinnati should be proud of.

You talk about things hidden in plain sight, the Cincinnati Panorama is one of them. It’s right there on the third floor of our great library and anyone can view it at any time … and still, most Cincinnatians have no idea that this artistic world renowned treasure is right under their noses.
In 1848, a photography style known as Daguerreotype was hot. Really hot. It was the first commercially successful photographic process and cities were judged by how many Daguerreotype photographers they had. The idea behind it was that images in the camera were made onto plates, so they remained fine and crisp.
The best known example of this medium to date: the Cincinnati Panorama of 1848.
Two photographers, Charles Fontayne and William Porter, captures a 2 mile stretch of Cincinnati with their technology, standing now where Newport on the Levee is. It’s amazing to see the city this way more than a hundred years ago.
Where it really becomes amazing is what was done with this mural. A few years ago, the library brought the deteriorating plates to the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York to be restored. Here, they learned that even under a 30x magnification, the image remained sharp due to the nature of Daguerreotype. You could see insane details (like that the picture was taken at 1:55pm due to the clock tower way off in the distance.) Amazing.
And so, they library set up a beautiful exhibit. You can view the original photographs and view them with a magnifying glass if you wish. You can also check out the digital exhibit right next to them that not only allows you to zoom in on any spot to see a spectacular amount of details, but also learn about what life was like in that time. Want to know more about arts or culture or drinking or food or African American history? You simply click on the tab and it will teach you all about it.
This mural truly is an amazing artifact of Cincinnati (and world) history. If you haven”t yet, I say check it out … but be warned, you may spend WAY more time here than you mean to. I know I did.

On September 24, 1848, Charles Fontayne and William S. Porter set up their camera on a rooftop in Newport, Kentucky and panned across the Ohio River. Their daguerreotype photograph captured two miles of the Cincinnati landscape, which was stored on eight separate, silver-​coated plates. 160 years later, this photograph has been restored in an exhibit in the Cincinnati Public Library, and is the oldest comprehensive photograph of any American city.
The Cincinnati Library created an exhibit in their Cincinnati Room about the preservation of the photograph, history of the photographers, as well as a look at the creation of daguerreotypes. The original panorama is on display and is also on a giant, 52″ touch screen television. The touch screen display allows users to scroll with their fingertips (like using an iPad) and click buttons to learn more about specific locations. You can also zoom in on the details of the photograph up to 32 times.
Some details you can see are the old steamboats, a ghost-​like man with a chip on his shoulder, the earliest recorded images of African Americans, and laundry hanging from a clothesline. Impressively, you can also see the green, rural hilltops of what is today Mount Adams, Brighton, and Clifton.
I spent an hour in the exhibit today and only saw about half of the daguerreotype’s details. I plan to go back and park a chair right in front of the 52″ screen and learn until my heart’s content. This is a must-​see for every Cincinnatian and visitor who wants to learn about the history of our great city.
Cost: Free
Viewing Time: 90 minutes — 2 hours