Sycamore-13th Street Grouping

Eighteen brick buildings around Sycamore, 12th and 13th Streets in Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine neighborhood make up this small district, dating from about 1853 to 1886. Most are tenements and mixed commercial/residential structures, rising three to five stories on narrow lots. Functional vernacular is the most common style, while Italianate buildings on Sycamore have incised lintels, bracketed sills and cornices. One Queen Anne building has a cast iron storefront, and another shows muted Greek Revival influence. Many were likely built from carpenter-book plans by the city's builders, stone cutters and metal cornice workers. Storefronts on Sycamore housed a blacksmith, a stonemason's display and a plumbing contractor, while dressmaking and tailoring were done in homes. Census data show a working-class German population. Some buildings have structural damage and missing details, but similar materials, scale and land use give the group a unified streetscape. A rehabilitation plan for office use was underway when it was listed.