Music Hall, Cincinnati, Ohio - Philatelic Photographs on Waymarking.com

Cincinnati’s Music Hall is actually three separate buildings that are interconnected via stairs and walkways. The central building, called Music Hall, was completed in 1878. The north and south wings, called Machinery Hall and Art Hall respectively, were opened the next year. Music Hall was used for various musical performances including the annual May Choral Festival. The north and south wings were used for various industrial, horticultural and art expositions which were quite popular in the late nineteenth century. The entire venue was used as a convention center up through the 1960s, most notable was the 1880 Democratic National Convention where Civil War general (and US stamp subject) Winfield Scott Hancock was nominated for president.

Music Hall has undergone many renovations over the years with the north wing being converted into a sports arena at one point. During one of these renovations, the central building was renamed Springer Auditorium after Reuben Runyan Springer, a wealthy businessman and philanthropist who was instrumental in establishing Music Hall and who donated over half the funding for its construction. Local legend has it that Springer got the idea for a new music venue after attending a performance of Wagner’s “Lohengrin” in 1875. Rain from a thunderstorm pelted the tin roof of the old Exposition Hall so noisily that the performance had to be temporarily halted.

The entire complex consists of over 3.8 million bricks and defies architectural classification. It has been described variously as “modified modernized Gothic,” “romantic eclecticism” and “high Victorian Gothic.” Whatever the style, one look at this place tells you it’s haunted. Encounters with ghosts occurred before the final brick was laid. (In fact, Exposition Hall, which occupied the same site before Music Hall, was rumored to be haunted as well.) This is supposedly due to the fact that it was built on an old potter’s field. Also previously occupying the site was a lunatic asylum and an orphanage, both of which no doubt conducted burials on the premises. During original construction (and almost every subsequent renovation) human remains were dug up, sometimes by the barrel full. With so many disturbed graves it’s no wonder ghosts are roaming freely throughout the complex. But they seem to mean no harm to anyone. Perhaps they just want to enjoy a performance or two, as one website suggests, if you can’t rest in peace, you might as well listen to the music!

Today Music Hall is the home of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Cincinnati Opera, the May Festival Chorus, and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. The postal card was issued in conjunction with the centennial of Music Hall and was part of an ongoing series promoting historic preservation.

Stamp Issuing Country: United States Date of Issue: 12-May-1978 Denomination: 10 cents Color: multicolored Stamp Type: Single Stamp Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]

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