Podcast – Reitz Home Museum

Reitz Home Museum
Today we visit the Reitz Home Museum in on the waterfront of the Ohio River in Evansville, Indiana.
From the Book
Southwest Indiana Day Trips

Transcript:

Reitz Home Museum

Greetings, today we visit the Reitz Home Museum in on the waterfront of the Ohio River in Evansville, Indiana.

Victorian charm awaits visitors to the Reitz Home Museum. This restored mansion contains period furniture and French gilt chandeliers. Located in the heart of Evansville’s Historic Preservation District, the home is a magnificent French Second Empire architecture.

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John Augustus Reitz constructed the home in 1871.
John Augustus Reitz (May 13, 1815 – December 17, 1891)
The son of Franz Josef and Maria Franziska Gertrud Fredebolling Reitz, John was native to Dorlar, Prussia. He attended Esloh, which was one of the leading schools in Germany. In 1836 he emigrated to the United States, landing in Baltimore in December. From Baltimore he migrated to Louisville, Kentucky where he lived for about a year.
Moving to Evansville
The town of Evansville was growing and with the proposed connection of the town with the newly proposed Wabash and Erie Canal, it would grow more. Reitz wanted to move there and start a pottery business. When he moved to Evansville in 1838 he had but one gold piece coin to his name.
Lumber Business
His pottery business did not generate the income he needed so he took a job at a sawmill owned by Silas Stephens. This mill was the first successful steam powered sawmill in in the area, established in 1837. Stephens’ mill was located at the mouth of Pigeon Creek in downtown Evansville. At this mill Reitz learned the lumber business.

He would marry Gertrude Frisse in 1839. The couple would have 10 children.

He started his own sawmill in 1845. His mill was quite successful, operating 22 hours out of 24 for six days a week. Evansville became the nation’s largest lumber market from 1845 until 1885. His success in the business led to his nickname, “The Lumber Baron.”

He would later enter the banking business when he established the Crescent City Bank in 1856. This bank evolved into one of the leading bank in the region. He was also involved in the establishment of the Evansville, Carmi & Paducah railroad.

He would gain election to the Evansville City Council, after which he served in the Indiana House of Representatives in 1862 as a Democrat. A philanthropist, he donated the money to build Reitz Memorial High School and the Church of the Sacred Heart. He also had the home of the Little Sisters of the Poor.

He had the mansion constructed in 1871, the only Victorian mansion in Indiana.

After his death he was interred at the Saint Joseph Catholic Cemetery
Evansville, Vanderburgh County, Indiana.
The Reitz family owned the home until 1931, after which it changed hands several times. The Evansville Junior League led the effort to preserve the home leading to the establishment of the Reitz Home Museum 1974. It received listing in the National Register of Historic Places on October 14, 1973.

Reitz Home Museum
224 S.E. First Street
Evansville, Indiana 47713
(812) 426-1871
information@reitzhome.com
http://www.reitzhome.com/

The episode is based upon my book, South Central Indiana Road Trips, available on the web site, http://www.mossyfeetbooks.com. The book is the first book in the 9 volume Road Trip Indiana Series. The books include all the historical markers, as of 2022, in Indiana with the text and back story. The books also include a nearly complete listing of virtually every tourism destination in the state. The destinations include parks, museums, drive in theaters, bowling alleys, wineries and much, much more. I encourage you to visit the web site and subscribe to it.
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