When MadTree opened its new restaurant, Alcove, on Vine Street in Over-the-Rhine last month, it re-energized a building critical to Cincinnati history. It has ties to the founding of the World Series, Billboard Magazine, and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
Cincinnati Magazine
“Historical Collections of Ohio Volume 1” by Henry Howe; image digitized by Ohio History Connection
Blame the Caterpillars
In 1872, caterpillars infested Cincinnati trees to such an extent that Andrew Erkenbrecher, a wealthy local miller, formed the Society for the Acclimatization of Birds to import caterpillar-feasting species. Flushed with success after acquiring more than 1,000 birds, the group developed plans for the Zoological Society of Cincinnati to house the imported birds that couldn’t survive in the wild here. Erkenbrecher is largely responsible for Cincinnati’s starlings and English sparrows.
For-Profit in Theory
The Cincinnati Zoo was originally organized as a for-profit enterprise, but it never turned much of a profit. The lingering effects of the financial Panic of 1873, compounded by a smallpox epidemic and poor weather, resulted in deficits throughout the first decade. In 1885, Zoo directors considered a total shutdown, including selli