Spencer House (Cincinnati)

[1] Spencer House was located on the southwest corner of Broadway and Front in an area known as the Bottoms, adjacent to the Public Landing, which was the city's major Ohio River dock.

[3] In 1860 a guest from Louisville, Kentucky wrote: To those who are called to Cincinnati by business or pleasure, I would commend the Spencer House.

Its location on the banks of the beautiful river renders it airy and free from dust, while the varied panorama of the opposite scenery in Kentucky, the Licking river, Covington, Newport, the forests of chimney stacks from a fleet of steamboats, and all the life, bustle, and business animation of the Queen City of the West, furnish plenty of employment for the eye and cause the time to pass away pleasantly.

[5] The Spencer reportedly had a soundproof room originally intended for gamblers that was used during the American Civil War for strategy meetings.

[3] As steamboat traffic declined in economic significance during the second half of the 19th century the hotel struggled and it was eventually converted to a tenement house.