City of Fort Mitchell, Kentucky

Fort Mitchell is a suburban community in the hills of north Kenton County. The city is the site of of the earthen fortifications that protected Cincinnati, Newport & Covington during the Civil War.

Located on a hill overlooking Lexington Pike (US 25), Fort Mitchell was named for Gen. Ormsby M. Mitchell, who was a West Point graduate and a professor at Cincinnati College. The fort was occupied by Union army soldiers and local Home Guard in response to the Confederate invasion of Kentucky in the late summer of 1862. In September of that year advance troops of Confederates skirmished with Union forces near the fort before withdrawing to Lexington.

By 1870 three cemeteries, St Johns, Highland & St. Mary's acquired 199 acres in Fort Mitchell. The park like setting and the commanding view made the area attractive for development. A town plat was laid out in 1906, and Fort Mitchell was incorporated as a city June 21, 1909. Ft Mitchell's location at the end of a streetcar line and the creation of the Ft Mitchell Country Club in 1909 helped the city to develop quickly.

During planning of I-75 in the 1950's, fears that the interstate would cut through the area raising homes proved to be unfounded, but a sharp S curve and a steep grade resulted, creating a hazard that later was to become known as Death Hill for large number of traffic fatalities there. The interstate's completion brought hotels and other ventures into the city along with the growth in the number of middle class residents.