<Tr> <Th> Added to NRHP </Th> <Td> May 17, 1983 </Td> </Tr> <P> Over-the - Rhine is a neighborhood in Cincinnati . Historically, Over-the - Rhine has been a working - class neighborhood . It is also believed to be one of the largest, most intact urban historic districts in the United States . </P> <P> The neighborhood's distinctive name comes from its builders and early residents, German immigrants of the mid-19th century . Many walked to work across bridges over the Miami and Erie Canal, which separated the area from downtown Cincinnati . The canal was nicknamed "the Rhine" in reference to the river Rhine in Germany, and the newly settled area north of the canal as "Over the Rhine". In German, the district was called über den Rhein . </P> <P> An early reference to the canal as "the Rhine" appears in the 1853 book White, Red, Black, in which traveler Ferenc Pulszky wrote, "The Germans live all together across the Miami Canal, which is, therefore, here jocosely called the' Rhine ."' In 1875 writer Daniel J. Kenny referred to the area exclusively as "Over the Rhine ." He noted, "Germans and Americans alike love to call the district' Over the Rhine ."' The canal was drained and capped by Central Parkway, the resulting tunnel was to be used for the now defunct Cincinnati Subway project . </P>

Where did the name over the rhine come from