When Jerry Gels put on the first Newport Gangster Tour two years ago, he struck a chord with people in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky who wanted to explore a glamorous period in their city's past.
That tour began as a two-day fundraiser, but soon boomed into
Newport Walking Tours LLC, which brought 4,000 people to Newport, KY last summer.
This year the company is expanding to Over-the-Rhine, a place where hundreds of historic buildings still stand even if their stories are rarely told.
Beginning on Memorial Day weekend, a tour called
Queen City Underground; Bosses, Brewery's and Burials will take guests through Over the Rhine to learn about the characters and events that shaped Cincinnati from the 1810's to the 1950's. Gels said it is not a crime tour, but tells the story of Over-the-Rhine and the people who shaped Cincinnati.
"The story of Over-the-Rhine really is a story of immigrants, you know, it is the story of America," Gels said. "And so many key things that shaped our city's future happened there. Over-the-Rhine's history really is Cincinnati's history and you don't realize it until you start reading the stories."
The tour will tell the exploits of infamous George "Boss" Cox and will cover the beer-brewing history in the area, but Gels said the much of the information on the tour is stuff that has lived on in relative obscurity. For instance, the idea for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra was born in a beer hall on Vine Street; Harriet Beecher Stowe and Levi Kaufman both ran schools in Over-the-Rhine, and world heavyweight champion Ezzard Charles trained there.
Gels said nearly all of the buildings in which the stories transpired still exist, a testament to Over- the-Rhine's designation as the largest historic district in the country.
"I've been on walking tours all around the world, and at most of them you're lucky if a few buildings are still standing." Gels said. "In Over-the-Rhine we found 30 or 40 buildings that we could incorporate on the tour: places where Wild Bill Hickok used to perform and places where Charlie Chaplain used to perform - and these structures are still there, they're being preserved."
Gateway quarter merchants and 3CDC were instrumental in helping to get the tour launched this summer, Gels said. The first tours will run Thursday May 27 through Memorial day as a fundraiser. This summer the tours will run every Saturday. The
tickets, which will cost $15, will be sold at
Mica, 1201 Vine St.
Writer: Henry Sweets
Photography by Scott Beseler
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