Alms and Doepke Dry Goods Company
Alms and Doepke Dry Goods Company | |
Front and side of the building in 2008 | |
| Location | 222 E. Central Parkway, Cincinnati, Ohio |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 39°6′29″N 84°30′37″W / 39.10806°N 84.51028°W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1878 |
| Architect | Samuel Hannaford; Daniel Burnham & Co. |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian |
| Part of | Over-the-Rhine Historic District (ID83001985) |
| MPS | Samuel Hannaford and Sons TR in Hamilton County |
| NRHP reference No. | 80003035[1] |
| Added to NRHP | March 3, 1980 |
The Alms and Doepke Dry Goods Company is a historic commercial building in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Located along Central Parkway on the edge of downtown, it is a late Victorian structure designed by Samuel Hannaford,[1] a renowned Cincinnati architect.[2]: 11
Seven stories tall,[2]: 8 it is a brick building with a stone foundation and a slate roof.[3] Major architectural elements include an ornate cornice with heavy bracketing and its Mansard roof that is pierced by many dormers.[4]
History
William F. Doepke, with his first cousins, William H. Alms, and Frederick H. Alms, established a dry goods store in Cincinnati in 1865 and moved to the northeastern corner of the intersection of Main Street and the Miami and Erie Canal two years later. Starting in 1878, they erected the core of the present structure at that location; it would later be expanded in 1886, 1890, and 1906.[4]
By the late nineteenth century, Alms and Doepke had built a reputation as the region's leading dry goods firm; eight hundred individuals were on its payroll in 1891.[4] When the company chose to expand their facilities in 1886, they hired Samuel Hannaford,[2]: 8 who by that time had become Cincinnati's most prestigious architect. During the 1870s and 1880s, Hannaford independently designed a wide range of buildings throughout Cincinnati and its suburbs,[2]: 8 becoming known as the architect of choice for prosperous individuals and companies of the Gilded Age.[2]: 10
After ninety years of operation, Alms and Doepke closed permanently in 1955.[4] Their headquarters endured after their demise; its architecture was sufficiently well preserved to qualify the building for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, along with dozens of other Hannaford buildings.[1] Three years later, it was one of more than two thousand buildings in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood added to the Register together as a historic district, the Over-the-Rhine Historic District.[5]
By 2013, the Alms and Doepke Dry Goods Company building was owned by the Hamilton County government, which used it as offices for its Job and Family Services[6] and human resources departments,[7] as it is located across Central Parkway from the Hamilton County Courthouse.[8]
On December 11, 2025, Hamilton County Commissioners voted to sell the building to a partnership of two developers for $11.2 million. Stough Development Corp., which owned property near the building and had "been eyeing the property for 60 years", was the majority partner, with Chavez Properties having a minority stake. The sale was part of Hamilton County's plan to consolidate its offices at the former Bon Secours Mercy Health headquarters in Bond Hill. The developers announced a plan to convert the building into a residential structure with 150 apartments, two storefronts, and amenities. HGC Construction was slated to carry out the conversion, with New Republic Architecture performing design work. The developers sought to open the redesigned building by early 2028.[9]
References
- ^ a b c "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e Gordon, Stephen C., and Elisabeth H. Tuttle. National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Samuel Hannaford & Sons Thematic Resources. National Park Service, 1978-12-11. Accessed 2010-10-04.
- ^ Alms and Doepke Dry Goods Company, Ohio Historical Society, 2007. Accessed 2010-10-04.
- ^ a b c d Owen, Lorrie K., ed. Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places. Vol. 1. St. Clair Shores: Somerset, 1999, 560.
- ^ National Register District Address Finder Archived 2013-09-28 at the Wayback Machine, Ohio Historical Society, 2010. Accessed 2010-11-10.
- ^ Hamilton County Job and Family Services About Us Archived 2013-07-09 at the Wayback Machine, Hamilton County, 2003. Accessed 2013-06-11.
- ^ Welcome to Hamilton County Human Resources Department Archived May 27, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, Hamilton County, 2010. Accessed 2010-10-04.
- ^ Map of Downtown County Offices and Parking Lots Archived 2011-08-22 at the Wayback Machine, Hamilton County, n.d. Accessed 2012-11-12.
- ^ Wetterich, Chris (December 11, 2025). "Hamilton County sells historic Over-the-Rhine building for residential conversion". Cincinnati Business Courier. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
External links
Media related to Alms and Doepke Dry Goods Company at Wikimedia Commons