LITERARY CLUB OF CINCINNATI - Cincinnati, Ohio
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 39° 06.083 W 084° 30.274
16S E 715789 N 4330991
Historic club building on the east side of the Cincinnati downtown area.
Waymark Code: WM3QEJ
Location: Ohio, United States
Date Posted: 05/04/2008
Views: 50
The
LITERARY CLUB OF CINCINNATI, 500 E. Fourth St., occupies a well-preserved,
2-story red-brick structure, with shutters, a small stone portico, and stone
steps worn deep from the tread of many feet. It was built in 1820
on the site of the home of Winthrop Sargent, Secretary of the Northwest
Territory. At the time of its founding in 1849, the club took an active
interest in literary pursuits, engaging Ralph Waldo Emerson and others as
lecturers. It is not so literary now, and membership is limited to 100
persons.
Many well-known Cincinnatians have belonged to the Literary Club, among
them Salmon P. Chase; Frank Duveneck; Murat Halstead, editor; Rutherford
B. Hayes; Henry Howe, historian; John Uri Lloyd, scientist and novelist;
Thomas Buchanan Read, poet and painter; Charles Phelps Taft, publisher and
philanthropist; William Howard Taft; Clark Firestone, writer; Edward
Schulte, architect; Louis T. More, teacher and writer; and Clarence Dykstra,
former city manager.
~ from Cincinnati: A Guide to the Queen City and Its Neighbors,
1943, Tour 3, pgs. 168
The Literary Club continues to be located in the building. The club
continues its exclusiveness with only 100 members at any time. Each year
there are 4-5 openings for the club and a new member must be nominated by a
current member and approved vote of the members.