From their website www.cincynature.org

Cincinnati Nature Center was founded at Rowe Woods in 1965 through the efforts of Stanley Rowe Sr. and 12 other dedicated environmentalists. But, our legacy began decades earlier.

Carl Krippendorf was born in Cincinnati in 1875 to German immigrants. His father was the founder and president of the Krippendorf-Dittman shoe company. When young Carl became ill with Typhoid, his doctor counseled the Krippendorfs to send Carl away from the dirty air of the city. A country doctor living in Perintown agreed to house Carl for the summer. Thus began Carl's love affair with nature.

In 1898, Carl Krippendorf purchased 97 acres of the land where he spent the summer recuperating to preserve it from becoming a tobacco field. In the heart of his beloved woods, Carl built a home for his new bride, Mary, where they lived for 64 years. Carl and Mary invited everyone they knew to experience the land they loved and affectionately called, "Lob's Wood." It has often been said that no one left the Krippendorf property empty handed. Carl was known to give daffodil, Lycoris and other bulbs to his visitors.

Today, Krippendorf Lodge, thousands of daffodils, and the beautiful beech and maple woods continue to preserve the Krippendorf legacy at Rowe Woods in Milford.