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The Early Urban Fabric and Origins

Laid out in the late 18th century as part of Cincinnati’s original town plat, Walnut Street evolved from a simple dirt track into one of the city’s most distinguished thoroughfares. Named for the abundant black walnut trees that once lined its route, Walnut Street connected the burgeoning riverfront settlement near the Ohio River to the higher ground of the northside plateaus. Early 19th‑century maps show the street extending from Third Street, adjacent to the Miami and Erie Canal docks, northwestward to Vine Street, intersecting with cross‑streets that bore the names of other native hardwoods like Elm, Plum, and Oak. The change in elevation along Walnut Street—rising nearly 100 feet over a half‑mile—dictated the construction of stone‑walled terraces and stepped sidewalks by the mid‑1800s, giving the street its distinctive, undulating character.