Porkopolis
PORKOPOLIS
Porkopolis is an old nickname for the city of Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1788 the area was marked out along the shores of the Ohio River as the village of Losantville. Over the next two decades numerous settlers made their way west in flatboats along the Ohio River. In 1811 steamboat service began on the Ohio River. By 1819 river trade had transformed the territory into a bustling center and the city was officially chartered as Cincinnati.
Cincinnati was perfectly situated on one of the region's major waterways, where it could readily receive raw materials and ship out finished goods. The construction of canals across the region connected natural waterways and made the city accessible from great distances. At its eastern end, the Ohio River extended to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its western end ran into the Mississippi River, which extended to the busy port of New Orleans and, by ship, to the Atlantic coastal states.
Many farmers transported their livestock (particularly hogs) to Cincinnati for processing. As early as 1818 meat processors in Cincinnati had begun packing pork in brine-filled barrels. By the 1840s the city was home to numerous slaughterhouses and pork-packing plants. By 1850 Cincinnati had become the country's leading center for pork processing. The city's factories also made steamboat boilers, machine tools, railroad cars, and soap, but it became known as Porkopolis because of its most popular product of the time.
See also: Ohio