Just Askin': Cincinnati has hundreds of public stairways. Which one is the longest?

The Enquirer's Just Askin' series aims to answer the questions that no one seems to have an answer for, not even Google.

One of Cincinnati's many quirks is our presence of public stairways and alleys.

According to the Cincinnati Preservation Association, almost 400 sets of hillside stairways are scattered throughout the city. About 320 are still currently available for public use.

At the height of their use in the 19th century, over 30 miles of hillside steps at one time connected the neighborhoods of Cincinnati. To this day, the city is still tasked with maintaining all those steps, though they have some help from local advocates wanting to preserve local history.

What is the longest one?

What is the longest public stairway in Cincinnati?

The Main Street Steps in Mount Auburn is the longest public stairway in Cincinnati. It connects five streets and two neighborhoods.

The stairway starts at the dead end of Eleanor Place in Mount Auburn and continues southward in four segments, intersecting Dorsey, Goethe, Seitz and Mulberry Streets. It ends on the portion of Main Street that serves as a dividing line between the Mount Auburn and Over-the-Rhine neighborhoods.

Christian Huelsman, founder of Spring in Our Steps, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and beautifying the stairways of Cincinnati will tell you these steps have an especially significant history.

Built in 1908, the entire stairway is comprised of 354 steps. It was the first concrete stairway in the city and was the longest in the U.S. at the time.

The stairs are located at the site of the first rail incline in Cincinnati. The city began installing rail inclines to neighborhoods on hilltops, where typically only the wealthy could traverse by carriage. When the Main Street Incline opened in 1972, The Enquirer declared the hilltops were "no longer inaccessible" to common folk.

Also notable, according to Huelsman, is the reversal of a petition to close another Mount Auburn site, the Wendell Alley Steps. In the 1990s a resident petition shuttered the stairway to the public. But Spring in Our Steps reopened it with its own petition in 2021.

"That's resulted in renewed interest in taking care of them," he said.

Spring in Our Steps has conducted more than 200 projects since it was founded in 2012. Clean-up events have garnered volunteers and advocates, raising awareness of the city's public alleys and stairways.

University Of Cincinnati Bearcat Statue

The Bearcat statue near the main entrance of Fifth Third Arena on University of Cincinnati campus was erected in 2010. Origins of the UC Bearcat mascot trace back to a 1914 football game between UC and University of Kentucky.

(Credit: Sam Greene/The Enquirer)

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The Enquirer's Just Askin' series aims to answer the questions that no one seems to have an answer for, not even Google.

University of Cincinnati students and alumni proudly wear the badge of honor as Bearcats.

It's been over a century since the inception of the UC Bearcat. The mascot's image has changed over time, from a snarling bear to the actual animal bearcat, also known as binturong.

Turns out, it traces back to a rivalry with the University of Kentucky and its Wildcat mascot.

What are the origins of the University of Cincinnati Bearcats?

The Bearcat mascot was not initially inspired by the animal. It came from the name of a student-athlete.

During a 1914 football game between UC and UK, a chant was created to honor UC star player Leonard K. "Teddy" Baehr, according to UC Magazine. The chant went: “They may be Wildcats, but we have a Baehr-cat on our side."

With players' heightened spirits, the new battle cry worked, and UC won that day.

The chant was repeated in a cartoon by John "Paddy" Reece published in UC's independent, student-run newspaper, The News Record. The cartoon shows a Wildcat being chased by an animal dubbed "Cincinnati Bear Cats."

It wasn't until 1922 that the first logo of the Bearcat appeared in an institutional logo. It was clearly depicted as an actual snarling grizzly bear; no binturong in sight.

It started appearing less as a lifelike animal after World War II, depicting a cartoonish growling bear with long claws and whiskers. It started showing up on decals, posters and other promotional materials, and was colored UC red.

UC also has a live mascot who lives at the Cincinnati Zoo named Lucille. She took over for longtime bearcat ambassador Lucy in 2019 when Lucy retired from campus life due to her age and health. She died in 2021.

Do you have a question for Just Askin'? Send it to us at cinlocalnews@enquirer.com.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati stairways: Which one is the longest?