Butler University Digital Commons @ Butler University Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection 2020 Reitz or Wrong: An Industrial, Environmental, and Political Analysis of Evansville’s “Lumber Baron” Jarrod Koester Butler University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/ugtheses Part of the Anthropology Commons, and the History Commons Recommended Citation Koester, Jarrod, "Reitz or Wrong: An Industrial, Environmental, and Political Analysis of Evansville’s “Lumber Baron”" (2020). Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection. 530. https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/ugtheses/530 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection at Digital Commons @ Butler University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Butler University. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Reitz or Wrong: An Industrial, Environmental, and Political Analysis of Evansville’s “Lumber Baron” A Thesis Presented to the Department of History & Anthropology College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and The Honors Program of Butler University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Graduation Honors Jarrod Koester 8 May 2020 Koester 1 Introduction For nearly two centuries, the history of Evansville, Indiana has remained incomplete as historians and the general public have not recognized some of the key factors responsible for the city’s famed past. The generally accepted history of Evansville, the state’s third largest city, conveys valiant tales of industrialization, transportation, and successful entrepreneurs who overcame insurmountable odds and left everlasting impressions on the people of the region. While the once prosperous city was a significant national port and participated heavily in transatlantic and transcontinental trade, Evansville’s historical significance has diminished over the course of the twentieth century.