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Loveland invites pedestrian and bicycle traffic by offering charming places to stop and relax, get a bite to eat, shop or simply explore. It's historic downtown, antique shops, ice cream, coffee and tea shops, restaurants, the Little Miami Scenic River, the Loveland Bike Trail, and special events combine to make Loveland one of the premiere communities in southwest Ohio.
Situated 597 feet above sea level, the city of Loveland covers 4.7 square miles and is the only city in Ohio that straddles three counties: Hamilton, Clermont and Warren. The city is bisected by the Little Miami Scenic River and the Loveland Bike Trail, both of which offer ample opportunities for outdoor family fun.
In the late 1990s, Loveland was designated a Tree City by the National Arbor Day Foundation, as it began a number of efforts to promote its Historic Downtown neighborhood, in part to celebrate the city's bicentennial. The programs included a renovation of Historic Downtown by replacing concrete sidewalks with brick ones, installing park benches throughout, and providing incentives to businesses willing to improve their façades.
 The Loveland Beautification Committee was established to sponsor various programs and events that aim to improve landscapes and other buildings around town. The Tour de Loveland, an annual cycling race, was started in order to promote the Loveland Bike Trail as the centerpiece of Historic Downtown Loveland. The city's efforts culminated with USA Cycling Elite National Championship criteriums in June 1998. On January 24, 2005, Loveland City Council voted to cancel the Tour, due to declining attendance and a lack of sponsors. New events replacing the Tour include the Loveland Amazing Race and the Loveland Small Stacks Festival.
Biking along the Loveland Bike Trail and canoeing along the Little Miami River are popular activities during the summer. Loveland has a series of 16 city parks, including neighborhood "tot lots", a Veteran's Memorial, Fireman's Memorial, and the Little Miami Bike Trail (of which the Loveland Bike Trail is a subsection). The parks are maintained by the City of Loveland Recreation Commission.
Harry Andrews built the Loveland Castle (or Château Laroche) on the banks of the Little Miami River; the folly exists today as a museum. Another landmark, the Edwin M. Shield's House, is located nearby. The Gothic-style building, also known as the William Johnston House or Shield's Crossing, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Loveland is also home to the Loveland Stage Company, a theatre group that started in 1979 and has performed at least two major productions each year since 1980. In October 2002, after several years of fundraising and renovations, the group moved into Crist Theater, an old movie theater donated by the Loveland-Symmes Fire Department.
JulyFest, SymmesFest, and local church festivals are held annually during the summer months. Fireworks displays by Rozzi's Famous Fireworks of nearby Symmes Township are a staple at such events. Loveland offers a small collection of bars and restaurants including The Works, Paxton's, Blue Chip Cookies, Cindy's Friendly Tavern, The Sleepy Hollow Inn, and Zappz.
Although the city's unusual name came from the last name of the village storeowner and postmaster, rather than the concept, Loveland has incorporated a "love" theme throughout the city. Loveland water towers and park signs sport the city's logo: a red heart with inscribed with a sun, clouds, and the Little Miami River, and surrounded with the city's nickname, "Sweetheart of Ohio." The Loveland Post Office, which began operations on October 24, 1831 as the Obionsville Post Office, was also the site of the United States Postal Service's unveiling of a special "Love Stamp" in 1994. Since 1972, the Loveland Area Chamber of Commerce has run a special Valentine's Day program, which includes a poetry contest, the selection of a "Valentine Lady", and the hand-stamping of envelopes with a Valentine-themed cachet and cancellation that reads "There is nothing in this world so sweet as Love."
History of Loveland (Source: Clermont County Website)
 The person credited with first settling in the area was Colonel Thomas Paxton (1739-1813) who came from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and had 11 children. Colonel Paxton arrived in 1796 and built the Paxton Settlement on the site of 864 Wards Corner Road, now part of The Estates Subdivision. Regarded as the first permanent settler in Clermont County, he was a Pennsylvanian who later built a double log cabin on the site of a house known as White Pillars on State Route 48. He died in March 1813 and is buried in the Ramsey/Paxton historic family cemetery on the White Pillars property.
The city was named "Loveland," after James Loveland, who operated a store and post office near the south corner of Broadway, fronting the railroad tracks. on the east side of today's Little Miami Scenic Bike Trail, on the lot of the Nisbet Lumber and Hardware Co. at 131 Broadway. Loveland's building fronted the bike trail, once an old train roadbed. The moniker evolved from the expression, "Leave the mailbag off at Loveland's (store)." Loveland became the town's name this way, although it wasn't officially named until 1863. The Village of Loveland was incorporated on May 16, 1876 with 800 acres in the three counties: Hamilton, Clermont and Warren. Loveland became a city with an adopted charter in 1961.
William Ramsey laid out the town of Paxton in November of 1848, alongside Loveland. Ramsey's home, a stone mansion built in 1840, stood at 225 E. Loveland Ave.
The eastern Clermont County section of the present city was settled first; the western Hamilton County section remained clover fields and part of two farms until the 1860s.
Some of the historic homes in town include:
The Samuel Paxton home at 865 Cedar Drive, built in 1828. Son of the founder, he sent his own farm products to New Orleans.
The John Ramsey home at 527 E. Loveland Ave., built in 1870. Ramsey was the son-in-law of the founder.
The Dr. Andrew Barton Emery home at 894 S. R. 48, now the St. Columban Rectory. Emery organized the 1st Ohio Calvary during the Civil War; it was mainly an all Clermont County unit.
The Patrick McGarvey home is at 214 E. Loveland Ave. McGarvey deserted the British Army during the War of 1812, choosing to remain in the United States.
The James Loveland home later became the home of Leonard K. Baehr who is credited with the name of the University of Cincinnati athletic teams, the Bearcats.
The first school was a one-room log cabin that stood on the southeast corner of S. R. 48's intersection with Loveland-Miamiville Road. It had split log benches and a "rather ineffective" fireplace. John Clinton was the first teacher. The first Loveland High School class graduated one person in 1881 - Evelyn Hawley.
In about 1820, Peter Sears built the first industry, a corn mill, just south of the Nisbet lumberyard. It operated until it was destroyed in the March, 1913 flood, the most terrible natural disaster to strike Loveland.
Loveland was Ohio's greatest peach-shipping point in 1863.
The first brick building in Loveland, the three-story Lawren DeGolyer Building at 128 Broadway St., was built in 1853
The first train tracks laid were for the Little Miami Railroad in 1844; the first bridge over the Little Miami was built in 1868; the first fire unit was the "Hook and Ladder Brigade", established in1877; and the first newspaper was The Loveland Weekly Herald, first issued July 14, 1877.
Community churches date back as far as 1854, when the Presbyterians arrived. Other dates include Catholic (1859), Methodist (1865), Baptist (1886), Church of Christ (1925), Nazarene (1940s), Lutheran (1962) and Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (1980).
Grailville, established 1944, is an internationally known private, non-private organization. Its focus is the integration of living faith, full potential of women, and working to build a universal society of justice, peace, and love.
For more information about the history of Loveland, visit the Greater Loveland Historical Society Museum located at 201 Riverside Drive, Loveland; one block from the Veteran's Memorial, on the corner of Park and Riverside, overlooking the scenic Little Miami River.
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