HISTORIC EVANSVILLE A Self-guided Tour of Downtown Evansville, Indiana Welcome to Evansville!

It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to historic Evansville, Indiana. As a look at this guidebook or a tour of Downtown will prove, Evansville is blessed with rich reminders of our past. Perhaps more exciting is the role that the preservation of that past is playing in the Evansville of today and of the future. Historic preservation has come to be recognized as an important part of Evansville's way of doing things, and we invite visitors to share in our achievements and to enjoy our historic sites.

We like company. Let us know if we can do anything to make your stay in Evansville a pleasant one.

Sincerely, Mayor Michael D. Vandeveer

Cover photo from Artwork of Evansville, Indiana 1901. A birdseye view from the Old Courthouse looking toward the Ohio River. Sterling Brewery 1301 Pennsylvania Avenue At the very corner of Pennsylvania and Fulton Avenue stands a brick, round-arched portion of the brewery com­ plex dating back to the turn of the century. The Fulton Avenue Brewery was established in 1880 at this location, and beer has been produced here (with a noticeable lapse during Prohibition) ever since. This is Evansville's last brew­ ery—once the city could boast twenty. KENTUCKY Introduction Center city and neighborhood revitalization is a key to the future of our older cities and towns. What is happening today in Evansville is not unique anymore: reinvestment in once-blighted neighborhoods and the recycling of historic commercial buildings is a world-wide phenomenon. This walking/driving tour guide is an introduction to some of the more interesting examples of historic preservation in down­ town Evansville. History Evansville was a river city. Its plan and architecture reflected the role played by the commerce and industry brought first by the Ohio River and later cemented by Midwestern rail­ roads. A small, languid village when incorporated in 1819, Evansville grew slowly, relying on the completion of rail connections in 1860 for its sustained growth. The original town, laid out on a grid angled to meet the widely bending river, contained the seat of county government, a state bank, residences, and several large merchant houses by mid-century. An independent town — Lamasco — was an­ nexed in 1857. By the turn of the century, Evansville was the state's principal commercial city and second in popula­ Louisville & Nashville Railroad Passenger Depot tion. 300 Fulton Avenue (NR) Plans by the City to purchase and adapt this 1902 passenger Architecture — like history itself—was not just a record of terminal have been dropped, leaving this important land­ wealth and power, but rather the cumulative expression of mark in jeopardy. The robust stone exterior is in a Roman­ all lifestyles, great and not-so-great. Historic buildings and esque style popular with station designers at the end of the districts left today comprise the best evidence of our past. 19th Century. Originally planned by L&N staff engineer Our principal industries, the predominant building materials, Richard Montfort, the depot has been vacant since 1975. the influence of other places in taste and fashion, the geo­ graphic pattern of settlement—all can be traced by the Municipal Market careful examination of the physical past. 813 Pennsylvania Avenue This Prairie School building was one of the legacies of Notes Evansville's Progressive mayor, Benjamin Bosse (1913-22). An important tool in historic preservation is the National Designed by the firm of Clifford Shopbell & Company and Register of Historic Places. Listing a building on the Register completed in 1918, the all-weather market was partly con­ provides eligibility for matching grants, tax incentives, and a verted to a fire station in 1954. The City intends to adapt the measure of protection against any adverse federal project. Old Market for use as headquarters of the municipal transit The downtown buildings currently on the Register are system. marked NR; those with nominations pending, NR-P. The privacy of non-public buildings should be observed. Many of the buildings on this tour, however, can be opened to the public. Arrangements for possible tours of individual buildings may be made by contacting the Evansville Con­ vention and Visitors Bureau at 812/425-5402. For further information on the historic architecture of Evans­ ville, see Reflections Upon a Century of Architecture, Junior League of Evansville, Inc., 1977, available at most local bookstores or newsstands. Willard Library 21 First Avenue (NR) This 1876-84 library was de­ signed by the noted Reid Brothers, architects of the Zion Evangelical United Hotel del Coronado in San Church of Christ Diego. The Willard is one of 415 NW Fifth Street the country's finest High A wave of German immi­ Victorian Gothic statements. gration at mid-century gave A gift of Willard Carpenter Evansville a handful of new (1803-83), this privately- congregations. The Zion chartered, free public library Kirche was established in remains a strong neighbor­ 1849 with thirty-five mem­ hood anchor and has been bers. Only six years later, the object of several preser­ this handsome Gothic Re­ vation grants. vival sanctuary was erected.

Willard Carpenter House Liederkranz Maennerchor 405 Carpenter Street 302 Market Street In 1848, Vermont-born Car­ Male singing societies were penter began the construc­ an important social and rec­ tion of his house on the edge reational outlet for Evans­ of town. Visitors flocked to ville's German community. the Greek Revival house Several halls were built when it was finished a year around the turn of the cen­ later. Carpenter's career of tury, including this one in commerce, rail and canal 1911. The architect for this promotion, and land specu­ liederkranz building was lo­ lation had its ups and downs cal designer Frank J. Schlot- beginning with his arrival in ter. (Schlotter also designed the city in 1837,but he soon the Germania Maennerchor became one of Indiana's most respected citizens and sue - at 916 N. Fulton Avenue in 1913, a hall still in use by cessful businessmen. The house was adapted by Medco, singing society.) Inc., in 1977 for corporate offices.

Brucken Company 401 NW Fourth Street Now the home of a restaurant supply company, the build­ Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Coliseum ings in this complex were constructed as one of the city's 350 Court Street (NR) breweries. The Evansville Brewing Association began con­ This memorial to war dead and wounded was built in struction in 1891 of several buildings at the corner of Fourth 1916-17 after a drive promoted by Mayor Benjamin Bosse. and Ingle. The neo-classical coliseum was designed by Shopbell & Company and provided the region with its first modern facility for conventions and other public gatherings. The ceremonial aspect of the building was heightened by placing the structure directly on axis with Fourth Street.

^J 9 Fellwock Auto Garage 214 NW Fourth Street This Prairie School building, designed by Shopbell & L. Puster & Company Old Hose House #4 Company in 1922, boasts white enameled bricks. The 324 NW Sixth Street 523 Ingle Street rich terra cotta ornament recalls the work of Louis Evansville developed a rep­ The Crescent Fire Company Sullivan and was manufactured in Chicago. utation in the 19th Century House was built in 1859-60 as a furniture-manufacturing at a time when Evansville's center of large proportions. fire protection system was Louis Puster and three asso­ still in its infancy. Fires were Old Vanderburgh County ciates built this block (origi­ fought with volunteers or­ Jail and Sheriff's Residence nally one-half of a pair) in ganized by the Police De­ 208 NW Fourth (NR) 1887 to house their furniture partment. Hose House #4 The appearance of prisons concern. Puster & Com­ (renamed in 1874) served was meant to evoke fear, pany—along with the major­ Evansville when hand- and Louisville architect Hen­ ity of the Evansville furniture pumped engines were still in ry Wolters was successful by industry—vanished in the use. Old Number 4 was re­ all accounts. This 1890 land­ 1930s. placed when the new Hose mark was modeled after a House #4 was constructed castle which may have been in about 1895 at Baker and familiar to Evansville's Ger­ Illinois a few blocks away. man-born citizens. It sits va­ cant, awaiting an lmagina- tive reuse. Old Vanderburgh County Courthouse 201 NW Fourth Street (NR) The county's third courthouse has dominated Evansville's cityscape since its completion in 1890. Louisville's Henry Wolters (a German native) designed this Beaux Arts monu­ ment, and the Conrad Baker Foundation (named for the first Indiana governor from Evansville) has managed it since the county government's departure in 1969. Preservation of this landmark has depended upon adapting the building to commercial and office use—and upon the continued sup­ port of generous friends.

Rose and Albion Terraces NW Seventh and Court Streets A movement to reform crowded living conditions for the working class swept the country just after the turn of the century. One of the leading national figures in tenement reform efforts was Albion Fellows Bacon of Evansville. These terraced blocks of flats were designed by Shopbell & Company in 1911 and captured that reform-minded spirit. Henry Richardt House 213 NW Fifth Street This 1861 double house was built by a member of the city's large (50% in 1900) German population. Richardt was a blacksmith, and his plain brick house is one of the few residences left downtown today.

Old U.S. Post Office, Courthouse, and Customhouse 200 NW Second Street (NR) The subject of a $1.3 million City-managed preservation and adaptive reuse project, this 1874-79 federal govern­ ment building was designed by Ruskin disciple William Appleton Potter of New York. Once declared surplus prop­ erty, this rare extant example of Potter's government work will soon be a productive part of Evansville's economy.

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Lockyear's Business College *L 209 NW Fifth Street H. M. Lockyear established a business college in 1893 Skora Building which had grown to over 500 students in 1911. It was Second and Sycamore Streets (NR-P) in that year that Lockyear engaged architect F. Manson This (painted) limestone commercial building was erected Gilbert to design the present college administration build­ for one of the predecessors to Southern Indiana Gas & Elec­ ing. Built at a cost of about $20,000, the structure was tric Company. James Wills was the architect in 1911 of this open for the 1911 summer course. simplified version of the Renaissance Revival style.

18 Greyhound Bus Terminal 102 NW Third Street (NR) Another of downtown Evansville's fine Art Deco buildings, 1 IS I W the terminal was designed by architect William Arrasmith of •...••...•. TBJJLF Louisville in 1938. Its sleek forms and cool detail place it m i1 a alongside other monuments of the Jazz Age.

YMCA 203 NW Fifth Street Evansville's second YMCA building was designed by the city's premier architectural firm of the early 20th Cen­ tury. Shopbell & Company designed this Beaux Arts box in 1913 with a complex program of residential, meeting, and recreational uses in mind. Court Building Washington House 123 NW Fourth Street 228-230 Main Street When completed in 1909 as the Furniture Building, this Main Street was once more than shops and offices. In structure afforded up-to-date office and display space for the about 1855, the New Washington Hotel was built to quar­ city's furniture concerns. The designers, Harris & Shopbell, ter visitors to a growing river center. The building was selected the yellow buff brick to provide a light appear­ modernized in 1877 according to the designs of Levi ance less expensively than Clarke. Despite recent at­ using strictly limestone. The tempts to destroy the evi­ association responsible for dence, the remains of both the furniture exchange's of these efforts are visible. construction included future mayor and furniture manu­ facturer Benjamin Bosse.

Hulman Building 24 NW Fourth Street Evansville's first tall building of the modern movement, the Hulman Building (1929) was the design of an India­ napolis firm, McGuire and Shook. It is noteworthy for its fine Art Deco ornament and elegant, soaring quality.

". • .•.••*.•.:. McCurdy-Sears Building 101 NW Fourth Street (NR) Built in 1920 to house a hardware concern, this building became the site of the first full line retail outlet ever for Sears Roebuck & Co. in 1925. The reinforced concrete, fire-proof structure was designed by W. E. Russ of Indianapolis with Gilbert Karges of Evansville as associate.

Bitterman Buildings 200 and 202 Main Street (NR) For nearly eighty years, these William Hughes Building two buildings housed one of 508 Main Street Evansville's most prominent jewelry businesses. In 1885, The Hughes Department Store was one of Main Street's the Bitterman Brothers established their store in the red brick finest retail stores when it was completed in 1911. The and tile Italianate building on the corner. They moved next architect, Manson Gilbert, provided for a maximum amount door in 1906 to their new building, redesigned afterward by of natural light by using large windows (since covered) on Shopbell & Company and featuring large Chicago School the facade. An annex of two stories was constructed at the windows. same time just around the corner on Fifth.

John H. Roelker House Victory Theatre/Sonntag Hotel 555 Sycamore Street 600-614 Main Street When Roelker built this house in about 1858, he was virtual­ The last of Evansville's great movie palaces to remain today ly on the outskirts of town. The foundry in which he was was constructed in the Roaring Twenties. It was not unusual part owner was at the rear of the house. The Wabash and to see hotel-theatre combinations all under one roof. The Erie Canal bordered the foundry as it made its way to architect, J. E. O. Pridmore of Chicago, had the best exam­ a basin on the site of the ple (The Auditorium) at his future courthouse. doorstep when plans for the Evansville complex were -r'.^^Mk drawn in 1921.

Long Building Liberty Baptist Church 18 NW Sixth Street 701 Oak Street (NR) The former Long Building This Gothic Revival building is representative of several contains the oldest continu­ late-Victorian commercial ous black congregation in buildings left downtown. It the city. Liberty Baptist was was constructed in about established in 1865 on this 1906 and housed the Long site, and a substantial sanc­ firm, "Dealers in Vehicles tuary was erected in 1882. and Saddlery," according to A cyclone destroyed that the city directory. The Longs building in May 1886. Only lived upstairs as was the cus­ seven months later, the tom for many shopkeepers. present church building had The stables are still visible risen. Baptisttown was the on the alley in the rear. name given to the surrounding neighborhood (now substan­ tially leveled) where Evansville's largest black community settled. Pasco Building 915-21 Main Street At the turn of the century, rail connections through Evans­ ville were increased. The attractiveness of the city as a regional market is seen in the construction of this block for wholesale grocers Parsons & Scoville. According to reports, 10,000 visitors came to the grand opening on New Year's Day 1908, "and coffee, sandwiches and cigars were served in abundance.'' lis

American Trust and Savings Company Building Sixth and Main Streets This savings bank was constructed in 1904 and enlarged to its present size in 1913. The designer was Shopbell & Company, and not a single classical precedent went unnoticed in this Beaux Arts interpretation. National City Bank 227 Main Street This institution started doing business as the Canal Bank in 1850. A name change occurred in 1863 as it became the First National Bank, the first bank in Evansville to apply for a national charter, only to be changed again in 1902 and 34 1922. In January 1914, the Renaissance Revival palazzo that the bank has preserved was completed after the de­ sign of Jennie and Mundie of Chicago.

j ^ 35 Artes Building Southern Securities Building German National Bank 327 Main Street 329-331 Main Street i 301 Main Street This small building was This skyscraper was built for The corner tower is gone, erected for a prominent jew­ Citizens National Bank (es­ [ and the exterior brick was elry merchant. Shopbell & tablished in 1873) in 1916 \ \ the victim of sandblasting; Company, the architects, after the designs of William but this structure remains used white enamel brick and Lee Stoddart of New York V- i •" y » • one of downtown's most in­ terra cotta for their 1915 as Evansville's first tall steel design. The large, Chicago _*._Ju™-Ji- i'Kibbi teresting 19th century build­ frame structure. The style / / 1 ings. Erected on part of the School windows are another should be compared to the "Public Square" (an 1857 Shopbell trademark. How Hulman Building of about i t county courthouse once many facades like this one ten years later in which the £^sf|si a stood across Main Street), exist today behind some older building's architectural the Crescent City Bank be­ banal false front is anyone's formula of "base + column gan operations on this site in about 1858. The building was guess. + capital" was abandoned. modernized in the early 1880s for the German National Bank. Similarities between this building and the Willard Library suggest that perhaps the Reid Brothers were the architects. Central Library 22 SE Sixth Street

Ridgway Building 313-315 Main Street (NR) This 1931 Art Deco building was designed by the Cleveland Main Street was once lined with human-scaled buildings like firm of Walker and Weeks. (The World War Memorial Hall this. The richly decorated facade was the result of an 1895 in Indianapolis was also their work.) The library replaced an modernization, according to building permit records. The 1879 temperance hall and library on the same site. Part of a round-arched windows recall the L&N Depot built a few city-county system, the Central Library is remarkably well- years later. preserved. Montgomery Ward Building Plaza Apartments 517 Main Street 118 SE First Street It was not unusual for national corporations to use stock These elegant flats went up at the same time as the McCurdy plans for their buildings when Montgomery Ward came across the street. Known originally in 1916-17 as the Cadick to downtown Evansville in 1933. The firm extensively re­ Apartments, the building is the work of architect W. E. Russ. modeled another building on this site, and distinct simi­ larities can be noted between 43 the Evansville store and a branch in Vincennes. Now vacant, Evansville's Old Montgomery Ward Building can be an exciting home for offices or stores when an imaginative adaptive reuse developer comes along. * 7 | '

611-613 Main Street Nursing Association Probably downtown Evans­ Building ville's oldest commercial 120 SE First Street building, this brick double For almost a century, this building was built in about site has been associated with 1865. For many years the health care pursuits. (The building housed a drug store Evansville Press Club did and a tobacco store. occupy this building for a brief period from 1911-16.) In fact, all four corners of First and Walnut have been prominently connected with medical care in the past. The Nursing Association Build­ ing was completed in about 1901 for the Busses, a hus­ band and wife medical prac­ tice.

n ...zri^^_-;;::::::^_^ McCurdv Hotel Old Greek-Shears Mortuary 101-111 SE First Street 120 Walnut Street (NR) The completion of the Mc- In 1930, the Robert Smith -. Curdy in 1917 was an event linked to the dedication of Mortuary moved into a new building at 120 Walnut. The the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Coliseum in the designer, Fritz Anderson, created one of Evansville's same year. Called "convention headquarters in Evansville," few examples of the Spanish Colonial Revival, a style the Colonial Revival-style hotel was designed by St. Louis more popular in California or Florida at. the time. The architect H. Ziegler Dietz. Medco, Inc., has recently convert­ old mortuary has recently been imaginatively converted ed the old hotel to a residential center. to apartments. Auto Hotel Building 111 SE Third Street Now the home of Citizens Realty and Insurance Company, this building was constructed originally as a parking garage. Harry Boyle was the architect in 1929. Citizens wins the prize for vision in adapting older downtown buildings to new

John Augustus Reitz Home 224 SE First Street (NR) This is one of Evansville's grandest Victorian houses (and only house museum). Visitors may tour the home on Fri­ day, Saturday, and Sunday afternoons from 1 to 4 p.m. The Reitz Home was built in 1871 for one of the city's most prominent families after the design of architect Henry Mursinna. However, much of what the visitor sees today is the result of successive redecorations around the turn of the century. For many years, this Second Empire gem was the residence for the Bishop of Evansville. The Home is now operated by the non-profit Reitz Home Preservation Soci­ Siegel's ety, Inc. 101 SE Fourth Street This building recalls the era when Fourth Street contained The Reitz Home is typical of many outstanding examples of some of Evansville's most popular stores. The structure in 19th and early 20th Century architecture to be found in the question was built in about 1900 and has for most of the neighborhood. The Riverside Historic District (NR) is the 20th Century contained clothiers and haberdashers. The city's finest preservation district. Of particular interest is lively round-arched facade visually anchors the block of brick-paved Southeast First Street. The 32-block district, Victorian commercial buildings to the southeast. roughly bounded by Riverside, Fourth, Parrett, and Walnut, can be reached on foot easily from the downtown. I(saac) Berman Building 125 SE Fourth Street Long the home of F's Restaurant, this building was built in 1912 and designed by architect Frank J. Schlotter. (Look for the owner's name and date of construction in the para­ pet.) From that date to the present, restaurants have been the principal occupants of the building. Prior to 1912, the building was the site of several enterprises operated by black entrepreneurs. Trinity United Methodist Church 216 SE Third Street This sanctuary (Mursinna, 1866) and educational build­ ing (1926) present one of the best preserved historical institutions downtown. The congregation and its leader­ ship rightly regard their care of the buildings as a trust. 54 51

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Wabash Valley Motor Company Buckingham Apartments 206 SE Eighth Street Third and Cherry Streets Presently the home of an auto repair company, this struc­ An apartment building boom occurred in 1910-20 near ture was built to serve an automobile dealership in 1919-20. downtown. This complex (1911 for Messrs Hartmetz and A. L. Maxwell established a company in this building then Mann) and two other large blocks were erected in the River­ for the sale and service of Hudson and Essex Motor Cars. side area. Shopbell & Company, naturally, were the archi­ tects. The Riverside Historic District (NR) borders the Buck­ ingham across Third Street. Walnut Street School Walnut and Ninth Streets Damron Building This building (still in service 325-27 SE Eighth Street for the School Corporation This 1884 building is espe­ as offices) was erected in cially noteworthy. Evansville 1913. It replaced another was once a center for the school building near this site manufacture of architectural which was built in about metalwork. The facades of 1869. The architect of the whole buildings were made $17,000 new school build­ and shipped all over the ing was Shopbell & Company, apparently Mayor Bosse's world from the city in the preference when it came to architects. (The mayor's own late 19th Century. Visitors 1916 Prairie School home on SE First was designed by the should take notice of the firm of Shopbell & Company.) very fine cast iron balcony and galvanized metal sec­ ond floor of this building. Thin columns and plate glass on the storefronts often were used to allow for a maxi­ mum amount of natural light to enter the interior.

St. Mary's Catholic Church 609 Cherry Street Ludwick Reidinger of Law- renceburg, Indiana, was the architect of this German Catholic institution. Con­ structed in 1867, St. Mary's has been the center of downtown parish life for over a century. The facade was covered with concrete Masonic Temple simulated-stone ("sham­ 301 Chestnut Street rock") in about 1910, and It may seem that Shopbell & Company had the architectural the highly decorated interior market cornered. This product of the firm dates from 1912 was rebuilt after a 1936 fire. and bears a resemblance to the firm's YMCA of one year later. The mat-faced brick was meant to look like stone from a distance, and the cost of the building was $100,000. By the way, Shopbell & Company designed as many as a half- dozen Masonic buildings in the region during this period. This guide has been pub­ Selection and Text: lished by the Preservation Douglas L. Stern Alliance of Evansville, Inc., City of Evansville and produced in coopera­ Department of Metropolitan tion with the Tourism Devel­ Development opment Division, Indiana Department of Commerce Research: and the Evansville Conven­ Joan Marchand tion and Visitors Bureau. and Patricia Sides City of Evansville Department of Metropolitan Development Booklet Design: Ralph W. Rhodes Printed by Krieger-Ragsdale & Co., Inc. Copyright 1980 Department of Metropolitan Development Revised Edition, Copyright 1981 Department of Metropolitan Development

'• Evansville Convention and Visitors Bureau 715 Locust Street Evansville, Indiana 47708