History
The mission of the Northside Fourth of July Parade is to celebrate independence and to serve as a tool for community building. Parade organizers work to invite and involve people from all corners of the community as both participants and viewers. The parade offers a way to get to know one’s neighbors through a shared light-hearted activity. Neighbors who know one another and have laughed together are more inclined to be involved and to make their neighborhood a nicer place to live. We invite everyone to join us and help celebrate the Fourth of July!
The Northside Fourth of July Parade is sponsored by the Northside Community Council (NCC) and coordinated by the NCC’s Fourth of July Parade Committee. The mile-long parade route is one of the longest in Hamilton County. The parade starts at the northern boundary of Northside and travels south on Hamilton Avenue to Hoffner Park.
In his recent book, Cincinnati’s Northside Neighborhood, Dann Woellert talks about the origins of the parade. In 1852, Archbishop John Baptist Purcell purchased the 11 acre tract of land that now includes the firehouse on Blue Rock, the New Chase School, and the McKie Center in what was then Cumminsville. This property was purchased by the church from Jacob Hoffner with the intention of relocating the Sisters of Charity’s orphanage from the downtown site near St. Peter in Chains. The new facility, St. Joseph Orphanage, was completed in 1854 to house 100 boys and, in 1855, began to also house girls.
The actual move was made on July 4, 1854. The women and children rode the canal boats on what is now Central Parkway and the men marched alongside under the direction of Captain Robert Moore. The procession was made up of members of the Turners, the Oddfellows organization, the Butchers association, the Bricklayers Society, and the Catholic Orphans Society.
The parade became an annual event which, combined with a festival, served as the major fundraiser to ensure the continued operation of the orphanage. This tradition continued until 1960, when St. Joseph’s Orphanage again relocated to their new location, St. Joseph Villa in Green Township.
After a six year hiatus, the parade was restarted in 1970 by a community group which called itself GAIN, for “Getting Active in Northside”. It has been an annual event every July 4th since then.
2019
2016
Grand Marshals
It is the ultimate Northside honor: being the Parade Grand Marshal. Each year we recognize someone(s) for their contributions to our beloved neighborhood. The Parade Committee solicits nominations from the public, and then chooses the person or persons who they think have made the biggest impact on our community. Below is a list of previous Grand Marshals for the last four decades.
If you know someone else who has had this honor, and is missing from the list, you can email it to us.
2023: Mati Senerchia, Northside Community Council (NCC) Board Member, NCC Pedestrian Safety Committee Chair, community fundraiser
2022: Northside School Resource Coordinators Gillian Pratt (Chase) and Jeremy Culpepper (Parker Woods), recognized for their work throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
2021: Parade cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic. House parade with house floats and block partiesheld throughout neighborhood as alternative to parade.
2020: Parade cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2019: Hilda and Tom Faulkner, long-time Northside residents recognized for their kindness and compassion towards others, service at CAIN (Hilda) and McKie Recreation Center (Tom), and Hilda’s recent status as a US citizen
2018: Crew of Millcreek Barrier Dam, Stormwater Management Utility, recognized for keeping Northside dry during a flood event
2017: Danny, Tina, and Souli Petropoulos, Blue Jay Restaurant, recognized for celebrating Blue Jay’s 50th Anniversary
2016: Bettina Myers (Pinnokios Hair Studio) and Cindy Sherding (Northside Community Council (NCC) Board Member, NCC Safety and Livability Committee Chair, CNCURC/NEST (community urban redevelopment corporation) Board Member, Citizens on Patrol, Trash Social founder/organizer)
2015: Quincy Kroner and City of Cincinnati Sanitation Workers Mark Davis and Eddie Washington, recognized for bringing national attention to Northside in viral social media post of photo of two-year-old Quincy Kroner with Sanitation workers
2014: Tommy Rueff, Happen, Inc. recognized for his unwavering contributions to Northside’s families
2013: MiMi Chamberlain, CAIN recognized for her dedication to providing relief to those less fortunate in our community
2012: Steve Bloomfield and Ken Schon, Bloomfield/Schon, developers of American Can Building
2011: Tim Jeckering, Northside Community Council and Northside Business Association
2010: Darren and Jim Blase, Shake-It Records
2009: Vicki Fleischer (Bits & Pieces neighborhood announcements email newsletter) and Bob Sala (Northside Business Association)
2008: Mary Kroner and Mary Ann Meehan, prior co-chairs of Northside 4th of July Parade
2007: Shirley Copeland (long-time employee of Northside White Castle) and Worley Rodehaver (Media Associates/Metro Neighbors newspaper publisher)
2006: Rick Schaeper, Schaeper’s Pharmacy
2005: Dorothy Kemp (Queen City Concert Band) and Earl Sickles (Mayor of Ella Street)
2004: Pearl Burr, community volunteer
2003: Mary Jackson and Alma Voelckel, active Northside Community Council members
2002: Rick Strahm, Cumminsville Post Office
2001: Don Biemesche, North Side Bank and Trust, Northside Business Association
2000: Bill Dickhaus, Ace Hardware
1999: Charlene Dalton, Northside Community School
1998: Maureen Wood, community developer
1997: Chuck Harmon, major league baseball player and coach, first African-American player on Cincinnati Reds
1996: Gwen Finegan, community volunteer (Northside business district plan, community fundraiser)
199?: Bobbie Sterne, former Mayor of Cincinnati and former Cincinnati City Council Member