There Are 6 Other Places Called Cincinnati in America

July 25, 2019 129 Comments

We may be biased ‘round these parts, but Cincinnati is a really great name for a city. Apparently, over the years, other folks thought the same thing as there are six places in the United States named Cincinnati. Most, it seems, were named for the original starting in the middle of the nineteenth century.

Cincinnati, California

Not to be confused with the neighborhood of California in Cincinnati, this tiny community, which no longer exists, was a mining town in Northern California. It was located along what is now California Route 193 between Kelsey and Spanish Flat. 

The local neighborhood and the former mining settlement may be related though. According to the 1987 book California on the Ohio, by Steve Hill, California, Ohio was platted in 1849 by Joseph Gutherie, John W. Brown, and Thomas J. Murdock, even though the area had been settled about 50 years earlier.

According to Hill, the trio decided to plan the town after giving up on being prospectors in the Gold Rush. It’s reasonable to assume that they gave Cincinnati, California its name before heading back east to lay out the town of California, just east of Cincinnati.

Cincinnati, Iowa

Like the one in California, Cincinnati, Iowa also started as a mining community, though it was coal, not gold, they were pulling from the ground. The town was platted in 1855 and was named by J.H.B. Armstrong, a former resident of Cincinnati, Ohio. Roughly two miles from the border with Missouri, the town currently has about 350 residents.

Cincinnati, Missouri

Speaking of the Show-Me State, Missouri also has a Cincinnati. There’s no town there now, though there was at one time. From 1886 to 1904 it had a post office. It was also the site of an inn, as well as a Catholic church. It was named in 1833 by James and Sarah Wells who had moved to the area from Cincinnati, Ohio. Today, it is an unincorporated part of Ralls County along the Salt River about 25 miles southwest of Hanibal, Missouri.

Cincinnati, Indiana

Located 16 miles southwest of Bloomington, Indiana, and 144 miles west of Cincinnati, Ohio, this village is an unincorporated part of Center Township in Greene County, Indiana. A post office was established in 1874 and operated until 1931. The village was named by a Cincinnati, Ohio resident who said it reminded him of his hometown based on the surrounding hills and the abundance of whiskey. While it has only around 100 residents now, Cincinnati, Indiana is the home of Eastern Greene High School, as well as a branch of the County Library. 

Cincinnati, Indiana

No, that’s not a typo, there are indeed two places in Indiana called Cincinnati, though this second one exists in name only. It’s in an area of Washington Township in Parke County. According to a book called A History of Parke and Vermillion Counties published in 1913, there was a lot of business being conducted between this part of Indiana and Cincinnati, Ohio in the mid-1800s. Likely someone from the Queen City gave the area its name. There’s no indication that any permanent settlement was located in that specific area though.

Cincinnati, Arkansas

Located in Washington County, Arkansas, this is the largest of the other Cincinnati's. It boasts a population of 942 (sa-lute!). It’s located along Arkansas Route 59 near Cincinnati Creek. Formerly known as Silvia and Buzzard Roost, it became Cincinnati in 1857. It was quite a bustling little town in the late 1800s, with a wagon and farm implement maker, millers,  a few tanneries, a blacksmith, harness shop, an undertaker, and a hotel. It also claimed two churches, a doctor, a dentist, a druggist, a school, and a Masonic Lodge. A newspaper called the Argus Weekly started around 1900, and the town had its own phone company from around that time until 1940. In 2010, the tiny community was devastated by a tornado but has since been rebuilt.

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