Hamilton was laid out as Fairfield in 1794, but took the name of Fort Hamilton, the army post established there by General Arthur St. Clair and named for United States Secretary of the TreasuryTreasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton. From there, St. Clair and General Richard Butler (general)Richard Butler, namesake of the county, marched north in 1791 to fight Indians. Butler was killed in the expedition. The 'father of Hamilton' and a leading statesman was James McBride. Hamilton was first incorporated by act of the Ohio General Assembly in 1810, but lost its status in 1815 for failure to hold elections. It was reincorporated in 1827 with Rossville, the community across the Great Miami River in St. Clair Township, Butler County, OhioSt. Clair Township but the two places severed their connection in 1831 only to be rejoined in 1854. It became a city in 1857. On March 14, 1867, Hamilton withdrew from the townships of Fairfield Township, Butler County, OhioFairfield and St. Clair Township, Butler County, OhioSt. Clair to form a paper township. The paper industry, iron works, and manufacturing works thrived in Hamilton in the early to mid twentieth century due to the migration of skilled German immigrants and presence of a good water supply needed by industry; in the forms of the Great Miami River, Miami Aquifer and the old Miami Erie Canal system. Many military supplies needed for WWII were manufactured in Hamilton; including tank turrets, liberty ship and submarine engines, machined and stamped metal parts. Hamilton was one of the Ohio cities severely impacted by the Great Dayton Flood of 1913. In the 1920s, many Chicago gangsters had second homes in Hamilton. This gave Hamilton the nickname "Little Chicago." John Dillinger is documented to have been a visitor to Hamilton. During World War II, due to the large number of gambling and prostitution establishments such as Madame Freeze's and the long row of prostitution establishments along Wood Street (now called Pershing Ave), the entire city was declared off-limits to military personnel. In May of 1986, in order to draw attention to the city, Hamilton changed its name to Hamilton! (with an exclamation point), though the change was dismissed by the United States Board on Geographic Names. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton%2C_Ohio