Cincinnati residents may not all want to admit it, but the town will always be Pigcity – a reference to the time during the early to mid-19th century when Cincinnati was known as “Porkopolis.” In those days, Cincinnati was a leader in the meat-packing industry. It was the primary source for salt pork, sausage, leather, and fat for making soap. And best of all, it was common to see pigs running through the city streets…
It was Cincinnati that originated and perfected the system that packs fifteen bushels of corn into a pig, and packs that pig into a barrel, and then sends him over the mountains and the seas to feed mankind.
the Porcine Oracle
Additional information:
- Let your corn walk to market Because Cincinnati owed its economic livelihood to the mud-loving glutton, the hog took on an exalted status among townsfolk.
- The Corn-Hog Ratio We can all remember when the price of 11-1/2 bushels of No. 2 corn once was roughly equaled the price of 100 pounds of heavy hogs…
From the Porkopolis Archive:
- Cincinnati at Porkopolis.org – a legacy of dancing pigs and flying swine lingered on in Cincinnati and the Queen City has remained, as well, “Porkopolis.”