SAMUEL HANNAFORD

I grew up on Hannaford Avenue and lived there for twenty years. There is great significance in the name of that street.

Samuel Hannaford was born in England in 1835 and emigrated to the U.S. at the age of nine with his large family. They settled in Cincinnati. After being home-schooled, he apprenticed as an architect with several firms in the city and eventually started his own firm. Hannaford became the pre-eminent architect of his time in Cincinnati. He died in 1911.

The homes he designed were built in New England, the Midwest and Southeastern United States. His own home which he built in Winton Place (now part of Cincinnati) is on the National Register of Historic Buildings.

His most lasting designs are Cincinnati and national landmarks. He designed and oversaw the building of Music Hall, City Hall and St. George's Catholic Church (all are included in the National Register of Historic Buildings). He also designed the Elsinor Arch (entrance to Mount Adams), the Eden Park water tower and the Eden Park pumping station, the Cincinnatian Hotel, the Cincinnati Observatory and even the Cincinnati Workhouse (jail).

He left his mark on the city and he will be remembered for a long, long time. At his own request, he was buried in an unmarked grave in Spring Grove Cemetery.