1 / 18

Evansville 1888

Evansville 1888. A glimpse into the city’s past 125 years ago Joe Engler HistoricEvansville.com. Evansville 1888. Prosperity of the Gilded Age after Civil War/Reconstruction Tremendous growth in population and size City limits were roughly St. Joseph Ave., Garvin St., and Morgan Ave.

yagil
Download Presentation

Evansville 1888

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Evansville 1888 A glimpse into the city’s past 125 years ago Joe Engler HistoricEvansville.com

  2. Evansville 1888 • Prosperity of the Gilded Age after Civil War/Reconstruction • Tremendous growth in population and size • City limits were roughly St. Joseph Ave., Garvin St., and Morgan Ave. • Street cars provided easy access around town and the suburbs were expanding rapidly. • Dirt roads, first paved 1889 • Electricity and telephone were becoming more prevalent

  3. Evansville 1888 (cont’d) • Civic buildings • Court house (Main St. and 3rd St.); new one under construction • City Hall (3rd St. and Walnut St.) • Post Office (2nd St between Vine and Sycamore) • Railroads • Evansville & Terre Haute (E&TH), later Central & Eastern Illinois (C&EI) • Peoria Decatur & Evansville (PD&E), later Illinois Central (IC) • Louisville & Nashville (L&N) - built Henderson Bridge 1885 • Evansville Belt RR • Five daily papers • Corner saloons and grocery stores anchored city blocks • 40+ churches of many denominations • Schools were separated by color

  4. Big players in town • Banks • Old National Bank • Citizens National Bank (5/3) • National City Bank (Integra) • News/print • Evansville Courier • Evansville Journal • Keller-Crescent advertising • Smith & Butterfield • Other • Lensing Wholesale • Bernardin Bottle Cap Co. • John Ingle coal dealers • Igleheart Bros. flour mill • Strouse & Bros. fine clothing • Boetticher Kellogg & Co. hardware • Metal works/foundries • Heilman Plow Co. (later Vulcan Plow) • George L. Mesker and Co. • Orr Iron Co. • J. H. Roelker foundry • George Koch Sons metalworking • Breweries • F. W. Cook Brewing Co. • Fulton Ave. Brewery (Sterling) • Saw/planing mills • Jacob Meyers & Bro. planing mill • Rechtin Planing Mill • Helfrich Saw and Planing Mill • Furniture • Armstrong Bros. furniture • Karges Furniture • Evansville Furniture Co. • Schelosky & Co tables

  5. Lamasco • Separate town northwest of Evansville • Founded 1836 • First Ave. eastward to St. Joseph Ave., from river to Maryland St. • Named after founders Law, McCall, and Scott • Streets on cardinal directions, as opposed to downtown parallel to the river • Merged with Evansville in 1857

  6. Lamasco and the “North Side” • Growing North Side of town • Street cars went up Third and Second Avenues and turned west at Columbia Street • Fire station No. 8 built 1878 • St. Mary’s Hospital bought property across First Ave in 1885; didn’t build until 1894 • Elite homes along First and Fulton Avenues • Willard Library recently completed

  7. First Ave Taken from 1888 panoramic map • Willard Library • Crescent Furniture • Emanuel Lutheran, Trinity Lutheran, and First Ave. Presbyterian • Columbia School • Hose House No. 8 • Heilman Home / St. Vincent Day Care • Reis Home / Future St Anthony Site

  8. Willard Library • Begun 1877; opened 1885 • Donated by Willard Carpenter • Oldest library building in Indiana

  9. Reis Residence • Built 1872 for Anthony Reis • Tannery (leather) business located at Fifth and Michigan • Designed by Henry Mursinna same architect as Reitz Home • Occupied the entire block • Died 1884 and land donated by widow 1885 for a church • Became St. Anthony rectory c1910 after Mrs. Reis died

  10. Heilman Residence • Built 1869 for former Evansville mayor William Heilman • Heilman Plow and Heilman Machine Works (later Vulcan Plow) • 1931 becomes St. Vincent day care

  11. Boetticher Residence • Built c1877 for Edward Boetticher • Co-founder of Boetticher Kellogg • Converted to Owl’s Home in the 1920s • Razed last month

  12. Straub and Blomer Residences • Fred P. Straub c1872 • Hardware dealer on Main St • HR Connects office space • Frank Blomer c1874 • Blomer, Schulte, & Reitman furniture • Reich & Assoc insurance

  13. Other First Ave Mansions Other grand homes along First Ave built around the same time

  14. Crescent Furniture Co • Old furniture factory dates back to 1870s • NE corner of Franklin St. • Used as WPA headquarters c1940 • Razed 1968, strip mall now on old site

  15. Melzer Soap Works • Soap factory dates back to 1860s • Third Ave & Maryland St • Closed by 1940 • Later miscellaneous companies (laundry, filter plant, and body shop)

  16. Nearby churches • Trinity Lutheran 1841/1870 • Emanuel Lutheran 1856 • First Avenue Presbyterian 1875/1876

  17. Catholic Churches • Assumption (1836 – 1965) • Holy Trinity* (1851) • St. Mary* (1866) • St. Boniface* (1880) • Sacred Heart (1885) • St. Anthony* (1888) * - German speaking parish

  18. St. Anthony Catholic • Established 1888 • German-speaking • Split from Holy Trinity • Present church built 1894

More Related