On September 24, 1848, Charles Fontayne and William S. Porter set up their camera on a rooftop in Newport, Kentucky and panned across the Ohio River capturing on eight separate daguerreotype plates a panorama of the nation’s sixth largest city, Cincinnati. The Daguerreotype View of Cincinnati, which came to be known as the Cincinnati Panorama of 1848, won top awards for its technique and artistry. At a time when most photographs were confined to portraits, this innovative work attracted worldwide attention and survives as the oldest comprehensive photograph of an American city.