Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the third-largest city in the state after Columbus and Cleveland. It is located on the west bank of the Ohio River in Hamilton County, midway between Dayton and Louisville, Kentucky. The Cincinnati metropolitan area is the 27th largest in the United States, with a population of 2,138,064 people. In 2013, Cincinnati was ranked the 65th safest city in America.
Cincinnati began life as a small fort built by General Arthur St. Clair during the American Revolutionary War on the north bank of the Ohio River. From that time on, the city’s growth was steady until the completion of the Miami and Erie Canal in 1827, which connected Cincinnati to the Great Lakes and made trade with the East much easier.