Pike 's Opera House was designed by New York – based architects Horatio Nelson White and John M. Trimble and constructed from 1857 to 1859 at a cost of $ 500,000 . It opened on February 22 , 1859 . Junius Brutus Booth , Jr. was performing at Pike 's for Edward , Prince of Wales , when he was arrested after being informed that his brother , John Wilkes Booth , had assassinated Abraham Lincoln . On March 22 , 1866 , a gas leak caused the theater to explode , taking with it the original offices of '' The Cincinnati Enquirer '' , along with archives of the '' Enquirer '' s first 25 years . No one was killed
assassinated Abraham Lincoln
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Pike's Opera House (Cincinnati)