Cincinnati Zoo Historic Structures

Cincinnati Zoo Historic Structures
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Reptile House
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Location	3400 Vine St., Cincinnati, Ohio
Coordinates	39°8′33″N 84°30′34″W / 39.14250°N 84.50944°W / 39.14250; -84.50944Coordinates: 39°8′33″N 84°30′34″W / 39.14250°N 84.50944°W / 39.14250; -84.50944
Area	Less than 1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built	1880 (1880)
Architect	James W. McLaughlin
Architectural style	East Indian Temple
NRHP Reference #	87000905
Added to NRHP	February 27, 1987

The Cincinnati Zoo Historic Structures are a collection of historically significant buildings at the Cincinnati Zoo in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. They were listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 27, 1987.

The second oldest zoo in the United States, it opened to the public in September 1875. Significant for the antiquity and richness of its collections and for its efforts in the propagation and nurture of rare and endangered species, it was well known as the home of Martha, the last passenger pigeon.

Four zoo buildings were listed on the National Register in 1975 as the "Cincinnati Zoo District", although they were removed in 1999. This district comprised the Kemper Log Cabin (built in 1804 and moved to the zoo in 1912), the Aviary, the Monkey House, and the Elephant House. These buildings were the oldest existing structures in the Cincinnati Zoo complex at the time. Two of the buildings were separately included in the "Cincinnati Zoo Historic Structures" designation in 1987 and named a National Historic Landmark: the Monkey House and the Elephant House. Built of concrete and stone, the Monkey House had been constructed by 1880, along with the Aviary, although the Elephant House was built in 1902. Space for all of these animals has been a component of the zoo since its earliest years: when it first opened in 1875, its collection comprised the menagerie of Andrew Erkenbrecker, a prominent bird collector who desired to form the country's first zoological gardens. Besides a group of birds that he had collected, Erkenbrecker owned a group of mammals of all types, including multiple monkeys as well as an elephant that he had bought from a circus.

Equipped with minarets and a windowed dome, the Elephant House was built to evoke the Taj Mahal and a sense of contemporary India. This concrete structure measures 150 by 75 feet (46 m × 23 m) in length and height respectively. In building such a structure, the zoo followed the pattern of many other zoos, which constructed animal houses in the styles of the countries whence the animals came, but the Elephant House was one of the last zoo buildings in the United States constructed with such a philosophy. Designed by architects Elzner and Anderson, it was placed atop the zoo's highest hill. Its original cost was $50,000, and in later years the zoo has expended further money on renovations.