Blue Ash

Sister cities

• Ilmenau

History

The area that is now Blue Ash was settled around 1791. In 1797, the first settlers built Carpenter's Run Baptist Church out of blue ash logs, giving the area its eventual name. In the late 19th century, the Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway provided narrow-gauge commuter rail service to Blue Ash. Blue Ash was the site of Cincinnati–Blue Ash Airport from 1921 to 2012. Originally a private airfield called Grisard Field, it was sold to the City of Cincinnati in 1946, becoming Ohio's first municipal airport. Cincinnati desired to expand the airport for major commercial service through the 1950s, but Blue Ash fought the city by incorporating first as a village in 1955 and then as a city in 1961. In 1998, the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority proposed a MetroMoves light rail system with a Green Line that would initially run from Blue Ash to Covington, Kentucky. A future phase would have extended the line further north to Kings Island and south to the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. However, MetroMoves was rejected by Hamilton County voters. On April 9, 1999, Blue Ash experienced an F4 tornado that caused four deaths.

Geography

According to the 2010 census, the city has a total area of , of which (or 99.87%) is land and (or 0.13%) is water. Blue Ash can be reached by Interstate 71 to the east, Interstate 275 to the north, and Ronald Reagan Cross County Highway to the south.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  35,659
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  31,551
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  28,603
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  24,079
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  23,471
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  22,523
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  21,953
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  21,821

Most recent

• M 2.5 — 2026-02-22
  2 km NE of Hillsboro, Ohio
• M 2.51 — 2024-01-28
  3 km SW of Old Washington, Kentucky
• M 3.04 — 2021-12-12
  2 km E of Manchester, Ohio
• M 2.78 — 2017-12-17
  6 km ENE of Germantown, Kentucky
• M 2.62 — 2015-05-11
  5 km ESE of Maysville, Kentucky
• M 2.6 — 2013-07-23
  6 km NNE of Germantown, Kentucky