“Early settlers traveled down the Ohio River to the area that is now Hamilton County by flatboat and in 1788 founded Losantiville, which was soon renamed Cincinnati. Hamilton County, named for Alexander Hamilton, was established in 1790. It was the second county to be carved out of the Northwest Territory and predated Ohio statehood by over 12 years. It had 2,000 inhabitants and its boundaries included roughly one-eighth of what is now Ohio. Development of the new county took place mainly in Cincinnati, which soon became a booming river town (“The Queen City of the West”) as Ohio River barges and steamboats brought settlers of varied national origins and industrial skills. Settlers soon fanned out from the crowded riverfront area to the valleys and hilltops, forming new towns of individual character, many of which later became part of Cincinnati.