Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1788, was originally named Losantiville, or town opposite the mouth of the Licking River. A mere two years later, however, the Governor of the Northwest Territory, General Arthur St. Clair, renamed the city Cincinnati, in honor of an organization of Revolutionary War officers, the Society of Cincinnati.

Once the official name was settled, Cincinnatis rapid growth in the early 1800s precipitated several nicknames; one of its most revered being the Queen City. As steamboats helped Cincinnati become the chief port on the Ohio River, the city shipped goods to both the Eastern U.S. and to foreign countries. The city, the fastest growing in the nation between 1835 and the 1850s, became the largest city in Ohio and the largest city in the Midwest prior to the Civil War.

Some sources report that it was the citys proud citizens themselves who first proclaimed their magnificent home The Queen City or the Queen of the West. Long before marketing slogans and org ...more

Cincinnati was given the sobriquet ' city of west' by HENRY WADSAORTH.

hmmmm......................... good answers by everyone