View of Cincinnati

Henry Rhorer's ambitious four-part panorama of Cincinnati was executed from the pinnacle of the southern tower of John A. Roebling's suspension bridge, seen here across the Ohio River. Begun before the Civil War, in 1856, the bridge had a clear span of 1,057 feet, the greatest ever attempted. Under construction until 1867, it was a successful test of Roebling's skill and a working model for his designs for the even more ambitious Brooklyn Bridge.
The view itself is typical of American panoramic photography in the 1860s. From St. Louis to San Francisco, photographers generally selected a city's highest vantage point to compose their surveying pictures. Using large 14 x 17-inch wet plates Rhorer photographed the expanse of the city, its generous port, and the gentle embrace of the river with what must be called civic pride. The whole picture, nearly five feet in length, shows more than the eye can see in one glance, and with sufficient detail to allow an easy reading of all the businesses at the burgeoning waterfront. A kind of visual city directory, it documents America at the close of the Civil War as it changed from a mostly rural, agrarian society to an urban society dependent on new technologies of transportation and communication.