Piatt Park
Encyclopedia
Piatt Park is the oldest park in Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...

. It stretches two blocks between Elm Street and Vine Street
Vine Street, Cincinnati
Vine Street functions as Cincinnati's central thorough-fare. It bisects the downtown and Over-the-Rhine neighborhoods. The street also serves as the dividing line for the "east" and "west" sides of the city...

 on Garfield Place/8th Street. The park is owned and maintained by the Cincinnati Park Board
Cincinnati Park Board
The Cincinnati Park Board maintains and operates all city parks in Cincinnati, Ohio. Established in 1911 with the purchase of , today the board services more than of city park space. The board receives its funding from the city, state and federal grants, as well as private endowments. In 1932 the...

.

History

The land was given to the city in 1817 by Benjamin M. Piatt, a Federal Circuit Judge and father of Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 general Abram S. Piatt
Abram S. Piatt
Abram Sanders Piatt was a wealthy farmer, publisher, poet, politician, and soldier from southern Ohio who served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He organized the only zouave regiment from Ohio and later led a brigade in the Army of the Potomac...

, for "a market space." It was officially christened Eighth Street Park in 1868, and was given its present name in 1940; however it has been popularly referred to as Garfield Park. Two bronze statues of US Presidents from Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

 stand on either end of the park, with a sculpture of James A. Garfield by Charles Henry Niehaus
Charles Henry Niehaus
Charles Henry Niehaus , was an American sculptor, born in Cincinnati, Ohio.-Education:Niehaus began working as a marble and wood carver and then gained entrance to the McMicken School of Design in Cincinnati and later studied at the Royal Academy in Munich, Germany...

 facing Vine and one of William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison was the ninth President of the United States , an American military officer and politician, and the first president to die in office. He was 68 years, 23 days old when elected, the oldest president elected until Ronald Reagan in 1980, and last President to be born before the...

 facing the Covenant First Presbyterian Church
Covenant First Presbyterian Church
The Covenant First Presbyterian Church is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church located at 717 Elm Street at Eighth Street and Garfield Place in Cincinnati, Ohio...

 across Elm. The Harrison statue is notable for being the only equestrian monument in Cincinnati.

In October of 2011, Piatt Park became the site of Occupy Cincinnati, an offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street
Occupy Wall Street
Occupy Wall Street is an ongoing series of demonstrations initiated by the Canadian activist group Adbusters which began September 17, 2011 in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Wall Street financial district...

 movement. Those staying in the park after closing have received citations of $105. On October 20th, 21 members of the group were arrested overnight, after two weeks of having occupied the park.

See also

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