Charities & Welfares

The first two groups of cards I thought were perfectly suited to each other. Orphans and the elderly, the alpha and omega in the cycle of life both needing the care of others to survive. All of these organizations were started by people in the various religions of the area, hence their inclusion in this section.

ORPHANAGES

CHILDREN'S HOME

The home moved to this site on West Ninth Street in 1878, where it remained for 40 years. It was founded in the West End in 1860 by Quakers who named it the Penn Mission

THE BOYS' HOME OF CINCINNATI

Not a postcard

526 Sycamore St. Center card shows ad for their magazine.

HOUSE OF REFUGE

Located next door to the City Workhouse in Camp Washington. This was really one of the early reformatories that opened in 1850, but also included unwanted children.

or
German Orphan Home General (German) Protestant Home

Occupying the block bounded by Highland, Melish, and Burnet Avenues and Donahue Street., the German Orphans Home was founded in 1849 as the German General Protestant Orphan Home after a cholera epidemic swept thru Cincinnati leaving countless children as orphans. The name was changed to Beech Acres in 1950.

St Aloysius Orphan Home 4721 Reading Rd. in Bond Hill

The St. Aloysius Orphanage was established in 1837 thus becoming the first such institution in the Cincinnati area. The large central structure seen in the cards above and below surmounted by a dome and cross replaced the original buildings in 1861. The two story building was added in 1910 and the Chapel was built in 1922. The card below is mis-named, I believe, since I can find no information about the orphanage changing its name. The home was run for 130 years by the Sisters of Notre Dame.
The future for this complex is now in doubt. It is now being run as a non-profit organization with counselors, therapists, and caseworkers who help kids with severe mental and behavioral problems and their families. They also train foster parents, run a school for troubled kids, and operates a temporary respite home for children with acute psychiatric problems. The problem is the building is so old it needs major renovations in order to comply with current school standards.

St. Mary's Orphan Asylum
(see above)

St. Vincent Home for Boys          Presbyterian Orphans
                                                    Home. Mt. Auburn

ST. JOSEPH INFANT ASYLUM

*
Dinner and Lunch

OLD AGE HOMES

THE ALTENHEIM

The Altenheim or German Old Men's Home is located in Avondale at Burnet and Elland Avenues. (See City Hospital cards)

Dynamite explosion Annual Spring Festival held at The Altenheim 6/6/26

On March 18, 1907 250 lbs. of dynamite that was stored next door to the Altenheim on the site of the new General Hospital that was being built at Burnet and Goodman Avenues. It had been ignited, supposedly, by a disgruntled employee. The blast heard as far away as Fort Thomas, Kentucky left a hole 15 feet across and 10 feet deep with splinters from the wooden shed found embedded in trees a block away. The Altenheim sustained $10,000 in damages and had to asked for public donations. An estimated 50,000 people came to view the damage. At the time there was no laws governing the storage of dynamite.

Same image

Organized in 1891 as a home for elderly German men by many influential Germans living in Cincinnati. As a result of the first World War the Altenheim's name was changed to the Cincinnati Old Men's Home, and then later it became the Home for Aged Men. After the building was acquired by the Children's Hospital in 1966, it was demolished.

METHODIST HOME FOR THE AGED

Laying the cornerstone