Download Vincennes Walking Tour Script

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The Knox County Public Library invites you to experience the history and architecture of
Vincennes, Indiana’s first continuously inhabited European settlement. When you tour the streets
of Vincennes look for sites related to the town’s eighteenth century roots, its role as Indiana’s
territorial capital in the early nineteenth century, and its expansion at the turn of the twentieth
century built on rail commerce.
Early Vincennes:
In 1732, France controlled this part of North America and a young French lieutenant, FrancoisMarie Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes built a fort on the Wabash River. Piankashaw Indians lived
along the Wabash in this area. Sieur de Vincennes convinced them to live near the fort. Around
the fort grew a mixed society of French and Indians engaged in the fur trade. In 1736, Sieur de
Vincennes was captured and burned by the Chickasaw Indians but the town he founded keeps his
name and honors his memory.
The community of Vincennes grew out of this French and Indian society. Trade and agriculture
sustained residents throughout the 1700s. When the French and Indian War began in 1754,
Vincennes was far from the conflict, but when France lost the war in 1763, Vincennes became
part of British-controlled Illinois Country. The British were slow to take control. Vincennes
prospered in spite of, or perhaps because of, this neglect.
Stop No. 1: George Rogers Clark National Historical Park
When the American Revolutionary War began in 1775, the Americans and British began to pay
attention to the allegiance of western residents. In 1778, George Rogers Clark, a colonel in the
Kentucky County, Virginia Militia, captured British posts on the Mississippi River and sent
Father Pierre Gibault to the residents of Vincennes to persuade them to transfer their allegiance.
On July 20, 1778 the residents of Vincennes swore an oath of allegiance to the United States.
When British Lieutenant Governor Henry Hamilton at Detroit learned of this he led an army
down the Wabash and recaptured Vincennes in December 1778. Clark, stationed on the
Mississippi in Illinois, quickly journeyed with a small militia over flooded lands to Vincennes.
He attacked the British and won the fort on February 25, 1779. This strategic win allowed the
fledgling American government to claim the territory northwest of the Ohio River.
On the bank of the Wabash River is the George Rogers Clark National Historical Park. The
visitor’s center is located on 2nd Street. If your time allows, tour the George Rogers Clark
Memorial and view the interpretive video.
In the 1920s, local supporters led efforts to create a memorial to commemorate the 150th
anniversary of the American Revolution. Designed by New York architect, Frederick C. Hirons,
the Memorial, constructed of Vermont granite, was completed in 1933. Centered inside the
Memorial is a bronze statue of Clark, created by Hermon A. MacNeil. Ezra Winter painted the
murals inside to represent significant events to the opening of the Northwest Territory. You will
also see several inspirational quotes from Clark inscribed inside, including:
“Great things have been effected by a few men well conducted.”
Stop No. 2: Lincoln Memorial Bridge
Located in front of the George Rogers Clark Memorial is the Lincoln Memorial Bridge. The
bridge was built to commemorate the sesquicentennial of the end of the American Revolutionary
War. Designed by William E. Parsons in 1933, the bridge features decorative pylons sculpted by
Raoul Jossett. The bridge spans the Wabash River, roughly following the route of the historical
Buffalo Trace, the route early settlers and traders followed from the Falls of Ohio in southeastern
Indiana through Illinois to the Mississippi River. Born in Kentucky, raised in Indiana, Abraham
Lincoln crossed here in 1830 with his family to reside in Illinois.
Stop No. 3: St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church
St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church is the oldest religious congregation in Indiana, and dates to
1734 when Jesuit missionaries began visiting Vincennes. The first church, a log building of
upright logs, was built about 1748 when the first resident pastor, Fr. Sebastien Louis Meurin, a
Jesuit, arrived. The parish suffered after 1763 when French officials expelled all but one elderly
Jesuit from the ‘Illinois Country.” Thus the church was without a resident priest for several
years. Vincennes residents, distraught about not having an official to perform marriage and
baptismal ceremonies and death rites, petitioned the Bishop of Quebec to send a missionary.
Father Pierre Gibault was eventually sent and he began making frequent visits beginning in
1769. Gibault became the resident priest in 1784. You can find a 1936 statue of Father Gibault
on the church grounds.
A successor of Father Gibault, Father John Francis Rivet, is credited with founding the
forerunner of Vincennes University. Rivet arrived in Vincennes in 1795. William Henry
Harrison, appointed governor of the Indiana Territory, settled in Vincennes in 1801. He asked
Rivet to tutor his young son. Harrison proposed beginning a school with Rivet as headmaster.
Known as the Jefferson Academy, the school offered instruction in French, English, the Classics,
and mathematics. This academy eventually became Vincennes University.
The St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church campus today consists of several historical buildings.
The current church building was constructed in 1826 and became the center of the Diocese of
Vincennes in 1834. The bell tower was added in 1841. Inside the church you will find several
murals of saints, including St. Francis Xavier, and the Madonna, completed by German painter
Wilhelm Lamprecht. The church also contains a crypt, the resting place for the first four Bishops
of Vincennes. In 1970 Pope Paul VI elevated the status of the church to Minor Basilica, in
recognition of its historical significance.
Next to the church is the old St. Francis Xavier Library built in 1841. Bishop Simon Brute (who
served in Vincennes from 1834 to 1839), had a personal library of over 5,000 books. These
books and records became the foundation for the church’s library. A new library building was
built in 1968 and is located behind the church. Next to the library is the church’s rectory,
constructed in 1841 in the Greek Revival style.
To the south of the church campus is the St. Francis Xavier School, built in 1884. D. A. Bohlen,
an Indianapolis architect, designed the school in the Italianate style with an ornate cupola. It is a
part of Rivet High School today.
To learn more about the St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church and its other buildings, please visit
their museum, which is open during the week and does provide access to their historic library.
At the corner of 2nd and Main continue your walk on the side of Main Street closest to the
George Rogers Clark Memorial so that you can have full view of the buildings across the street
as they are described.
Introduction to Vincennes’ Main Street:
Stepping onto Main Street you will now see commercial growth from the eighteenth century to
the early twentieth century. After the American Revolution, Vincennes became part of the
Northwest Territory. In 1800 it became the territorial capital of Indiana. William Henry
Harrison, future President of the United States, was the governor of the Territory and moved to
Vincennes. His home, Grouseland is not on this tour, but is a short distance northeast of here and
is open to the public.
In the early 1800s, new arrivals, largely from Kentucky and Virginia, mixed with Vincennes’
existing French and Indian residents. The town was sustained by a lush agricultural countryside.
Residents cultivated corn, tobacco, and wheat. The town’s residents were also well-entertained
with several taverns, a pool hall, and frequent dances. Residents, beginning in 1804, could also
pick up a copy of the first newspaper published in Indiana, the Indiana Gazette.
After more than a decade, Vincennes lost its role as territorial capital. With the separation of the
Illinois and Indiana territories in 1809, Vincennes was thought too far west to serve as the
Indiana capital any longer. In 1813 the territorial capital moved to Corydon, Indiana, a more
centrally located town. Corydon would also serve as the first state capital when Indiana was
granted statehood in 1816.
With the loss of its important political role, Vincennes’ growth stagnated. The oldest remaining
buildings from this period can be seen in the 100 block of Main Street. On the corner of Main
and 1st streets is the Burtch & Hannah Building, a Federal style building dating from 1829. It was
originally a general store.
Vincennes was bypassed by the Wabash and Erie Canal in the 1830s, but, in the 1850s two
railroads, the Evansville & Terre Haute Railroad and Ohio & Mississippi Railroad, crossed Knox
County, thus restarting the town’s economy. The railroad with lines running north and south, east
and west, opened up new commercial opportunities for Vincennes merchants and its surrounding
farmers. By the turn of the twentieth century, Vincennes had gained many new businesses and
manufacturing enterprises. From 1850 to 1860 the population doubled and a city government
was adopted.
Stop No 4: Second National Bank
By 1900 the population of Vincennes had reached 10,000. In 1912, local architects Thomas
Campbell and Louis Osterhage designed the commercial building at 2 North 2nd Street. The
building housed their offices on the third floor. This Neoclassical-style building is characterized
by its heavy use of classical or Greek inspired elements, such as its repeated use of square stone
pilasters topped with Ionic capitals. Most intriguing about the building though are the number of
different window designs and window hoods created by Campbell and Osterhage. As architects,
they wanted to put their talents on display for their clients. How many different patterns can you
find?
As you move on you will see the Gimbel Store at the corner of Second and Main streets. In 1842,
Adam Gimbel, a Bavarian Jewish merchant, came to Vincennes. By 1857 Gimbel built the brick
store, which eventually consisted of five buildings and extended up Main Street. The first three
buildings were originally Italianate in style, but Louis Osterhage designed new facades in 1916.
The fourth building is an architectural gem, designed by noted Chicago architect Willoughby J.
Edbrooke, in 1878. On its pediment is inscribed “A. Gimbel & Sons, Clothing Hall, 1842-1879.”
The fifth building was built in 1879.
Stop No. 5: J. T. Oliphant Building
J. T. Oliphant built this Neoclassical-style commercial building at 214 Main Street in 1916.
Oliphant was a wealthy entrepreneur, who was president of the Oliphant Johnson Coal Company
and founder of the Vincennes Bridge Works. Numerous coal companies sprang up in and around
Knox County at the turn of the twentieth century, and the coal industry is still prevalent today.
The Vincennes Bridge Works was established in 1899 and built metal and iron bridges.
Examples of these bridges remain throughout the region and bridge parts continue to be made in
Knox County.
The Oliphant Building was the tallest building in Vincennes at the time it was built with six
stories. Metal framing became popular in the late nineteenth century and it allowed buildings to
grow vertically, as the structure could bear more weight than previous wood frame or masonry
systems. The Oliphant Building is part of this technological change in building construction.
Stop No. 6: American National Bank
John W. Gaddis designed the American National Bank at 302 Main Street in the Neoclassical
style. Built in 1917, the American National Bank was constructed from stone and brick. The first
story storefront is adorned with formal pilasters, some ornate and some more simple, which are
repeated in the upper stories.
Stop No. 7: Heberd Building
The 1873 Heberd Building at 320 Main Street is a superb example of Italianate architecture. The
defining characteristics of this building is its paired bracketed cornice along the roofline and
rounded arch window openings with stone hoods above. The Italianate style was commonly used
in late nineteenth-century commercial architecture. The style was incredibly popular at the time
when most Midwestern towns and cities were booming with the expansion of the railroads.
Therefore most Midwestern Main Streets have many examples of Italianate commercial
architecture.
Continue down to the corner of 5th and Main streets and you will find a fantastic historic theatre.
Stop No. 8: Pantheon Theatre
John B. Bayard designed the Pantheon Theatre in 1921. This building features the Italian
Renaissance Revival style, a style influenced by Italian architecture and made popular when
American soldiers returned home from Europe after WWI. The building features an extensive
decorative use of terra cotta around its rounded arch windows and in its name block adorned with
dramatic faces—obviously fitting for a theatre. The Pantheon had a stage and dressing rooms for
local and traveling plays, musical reviews, and vaudeville shows. It had a big theatre organ and
orchestra pit for musical accompaniment of silent movies. In 1929 the first “talkie” movie in
Vincennes was shown here.
Turn the corner to your left and walk down Fifth Street to Busseron Street.
Stop No. 9: Vincennes Post Office
Completed in 1907, the Vincennes Post Office is an ornate Neoclassical-style building. James
Knox Taylor designed the original building, which was later expanded by John B. Bayard in
1936. A 1907 newspaper column detailed the new post office’s two entrances and also its
“mysterious passages” available only to government inspectors who could watch the sorting and
processing of mail incognito.
The building currently houses the Vincennes Police Department.
Stop No. 10: First Presbyterian Church
Vincennes retains several excellent late-nineteenth century churches. This is the First
Presbyterian Church, located at 101 North 5th Street. The first congregation of Presbyterians
formed in Vincennes as early as 1806. An example of the Romanesque Revival style, the 1884
portion of the building was designed by John H. Stem. The 1899 portion of the church includes
the impressive three story corner tower and façade facing 5th Street. John Gaddis designed this
later addition. The church retains exceptional stained glass.
As you approach the corner of Fifth and Broadway streets, note Indiana’s first Masonic Lodge
and the historical marker commemorating its history.
Stop No. 11: First Baptist Church
Efforts to form a congregation of Baptists in Vincennes began in 1860. The congregation’s first
church, built in 1864, was replaced in 1915 by the structure you see here. The First Baptist
Church at 632 Broadway was designed by Louis Osterhage in the Neoclassical style. The church
features a prominent pediment-front held up by four stone Doric columns and a central dome.
The original flight of steps on the front entry were removed for easier access to the building.
In 1996 the Old Town Players bought the church and converted it into a theatre.
Turn right on Buntin Street and proceed to Sixth Street. Travel north on Sixth Street.
Stop No. 12 George Rogers Clark Junior High School
John W. Gaddis designed the impressive George Rogers Clark Junior High School in 1916. In
the early twentieth century most towns and cities were constructing larger schools in response to
a wave of school consolidation. Vincennes was growing rapidly during the early 1900s and
needed larger schools to house its students. The school originally housed grade school classes
and a new concept—the junior high. The building had an auditorium, theatre and a pool plus a
variety of trade school “shop” classes. Note the intricate diaper brickwork with diamond patterns
using different colored bricks and the classical terra cotta entryway with a heavy scroll brackets,
dentils, and a center crest with the date of the school’s construction on it.
Stop No. 13: St. James Episcopal Church
The St. James Episcopal Church is constructed of rough Oolitic limestone blocks in the Gothic
Revival style. It features excellent Tiffany-inspired stained glass windows and a corner square
tower with a crenellated parapet—which means it looks like a tower from a medieval castle.
Local architect, Thomas Campbell designed the church. It was built in 1907. The church
congregation was established in 1839 and its first years of service were held at the Town Hall.
The current church replaced an 1843 building.
Stop No. 14: Fortnightly Club
Lester W. Routt designed this elegant Italian Renaissance Revival style building at 421 N. 6th
Street. The Fortnightly Club was a women’s club formed in 1891. Its original focus was the
study of literature and its members met in each other’s homes. Women’s clubs were popular
forms of education and socialization for middle and upper class women in the late nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries. They often involved themselves with social crusades, and the
Fortnightly Club quickly worked to establish a public library in Vincennes. The club built their
own meeting place in 1928 after several years of fundraising. The ladies now had a clubhouse of
their own to hold lectures, plays, banquets and events. The club is still in existence today and the
Knox County Public Library is now the steward of this building.
Stop No. 15: Knox County Public Library
As we just learned the Knox County Public Library owes its landmark building to the women of
the Fortnightly Club. Built in 1919 with Carnegie Foundation funds solicited by the Fortnightly
Club, John B. Bayard designed the building in the Collegiate Gothic style, a popular historic
architectural style associated with places of learning. This is the only Collegiate Gothic public
library in Indiana.
The library was added onto in the 1970s and in 2010. If your time permits, visit the library’s
McGrady-Brockman House at the corner of Seventh and Hart streets. Built in 1859 in the Gothic
Revival style, this building now houses the library’s regional history and genealogy research
center.
Continue your tour by taking 7th Street back toward the school complex at Buntin Street.
Stop No. 16: Vincennes Coliseum
The Vincennes Coliseum was built in 1926 to house the high school’s basketball team. The
school basketball team had won the state championship in 1923 and basketball was one of the
most popular sports in the state—a tradition that endures today. As a result of the team’s
popularity and the huge crowds they drew to home and away games, a new auditorium was built
to house them. Local architect Lester W. Routt designed the coliseum, which cost over $120,000.
The editor of the local newspaper sent out a call around the country for donations of historical
bricks to use in a display in the coliseum’s foyer. Bricks arrived from as far away as Monticello
and Williamsburg, along with Indiana submissions from the first state capitol building in
Corydon and the local Fort Knox. Much of the building was funded through a public subscription
campaign backed by local businesses, a great show of public support for the team and school.
The building is now known as the Adams Coliseum, renamed after John L. Adams, who coached
the Vincennes basketball team to their 1923 state championship win. The architectural style is
Collegiate Gothic.
Stop No. 17: Knox County Courthouse and War Memorial
The Knox County Courthouse took three years to build and was completed in 1876. Edwin May,
noted Indianapolis architect, who began design of the Indiana State House, designed the
courthouse. The courthouse was constructed of Indiana limestone and was one of the first
courthouses in Indiana to include an indoor ladies restroom. Note that each of the towers is
different. The building includes the statues of Justice, George Rogers Clark, and a Civil War
soldier.
The War Memorial was originally dedicated to soldiers from Knox County who served in the
American Civil War. The stone memorial is graced with five bronze sculptures of uniformed
soldiers representing the infantry, artillery, cavalry, sailors and officers.
Follow 7th Street to Main Street and turn right. You will see the current home of the Vincennes
Sun Commercial descended from the oldest newspaper in the state to your left. Note the red iron
bench dedicated to Red Skelton, a Vincennes native, and his beloved character Freddie the
Freeloader.
Proceed up Main Street on the right side to best view the buildings described.
Across the street is one of the few remaining downtown theaters, a 1940s Art Deco building.
Stop No. 18: New Moon Theatre
The second historic theatre on our walk today is the New Moon Theatre at 529 Main Street. Built
in 1939, the New Moon is a superb example of the Art Deco style, a style popular in between the
world wars. The Art Deco style is characterized by an emphasis on vertical design elements.
Notice how the many pilasters along the front of the building are accentuated vertically with
terra cotta ribbing and caps. The building also has tall, narrow glass block windows. The theatre,
now a church, also retains its marquee.
Unique to the five hundred block are several private residences from the 1800s which have been
retained for new purposes.
Stop No. 19: Cyrus Allen House
The 1865 Cyrus Allen House is constructed in the Greek Revival style. The house is constructed
of brick with two dormers and a hipped roof. Greek Revival-style features found on this house
include its dentiled cornice (the little shapes that look like teeth under the roof’s eaves), stone
belt course found between the first and second stories, and classical pilasters and entablature
found around the front door. The house was originally one story; later, a second story was added
and covered with pressed tin to look like brick.
Stop No 20: Gould House/Knights of Columbus Building
The first owner of the house at 513 Main Street would scarcely recognize it if he saw it today.
Major W. P. Gould first owned this house when it was built in 1883 in the Italianate style. Gould
was a wealthy Vincennes resident and philanthropist. He donated large sums of money in the
1880s to the St. James Episcopal Church’s parochial and Sunday schools and to the local
YMCA.
By 1920 the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic Fraternal organization, had grown to about 550
members after three large classes of new members had been added in only two years. The
Knights of Columbus purchased the Gould House to be their center for activities and events.
They hired John B. Bayard to reconfigure the façade, who transformed the house into a Mission
Revival-style structure. The house was covered in stucco, the arcaded porch added to the front,
and shaped parapets added to the roofline, all important features of the Mission Revival style.
This style mimics the form of early Spanish missions found in the American southwest. Bayard’s
design retained the house’s original mansard roof.
Stop No. 21: Bonner-Allen House
At 505 Main Street is the Bonner-Allen House built in 1842 in the Federal style. David S.
Bonner was the house’s original occupant. He arrived in Vincennes from Virginia in 1818.
Bonner built a cotton mill in town and it proved a successful business and as a result he funded
the construction of this large residence. The house sold to Cyrus M. Allen in 1850. Allen was
born in Kentucky in 1817, and earned his law degree in 1837. He settled in Vincennes in 1844.
Allen quickly became a prominent member of Vincennes society and he set up a successful law
practice, backed the construction of railroads through the county, and served in the Indiana
General Assembly. Bonner also funded the construction of an early railroad depot and many
workers’ residences in Vincennes.
The Gardner-Brockman Funeral Home currently operates out of the building. This funerary
business is one of the oldest in the state and dates to 1816 when Andrew Gardner began a
cabinet-making enterprise. He soon started making coffins too.
As you stroll back up Main Street notice the many examples of historic cast iron storefronts.
Look for existing cast iron storefronts with iron frames, panels, and decorative pilasters. These
storefronts were made locally at the Clarke & Buck Foundry. This factory building is located on
First Street and has been reclaimed as a medical office building.
Stop No. 22: Bayard Building
Look up! Who is staring back? The Bayard Building at 227-229 Main Street contains a fanciful
façade of faces and grotesques. Built in 1878, J. H. Stem of Indianapolis designed the Bayard
Building and incorporated typical Italianate features, such as brackets and arched openings, with
classical elements, such as pilasters topped with Corinthian capitals. The building also contains
more imaginative elements: women’s faces that serve as column capitals and grotesque faces that
grace some of the uppermost brackets. Other dramatic Gothic inspired faces stand in place of
keystones above many of the upper story windows.
Stop No. 23: Moore and Harris Drug Store
The Moore and Harris Drug Store located at 221 Main Street was built in 1875. Dr. Rueben
Moore had an office upstairs for many years, and little is known about his first partner, Mr.
Harris. His second partner John Miller, however, became a beloved figure in Vincennes, known
for his warmth and bold humor. Miller became the store’s druggist in the late nineteenth century
and remained well into the twentieth century, working into his 70s.
This building is an excellent example of Italianate style architecture. The drug store features a
metal bracketed cornice along its roofline and a stone façade. The upper floors of the building
are graced with elaborate pedimented window hoods. The storefront level contains an arcade
with decorative columns.
Feel free to step inside for a refreshment or souvenir.
Stop No. 24: First National Bank
Located at 217 Main Street, the First National Bank building is also an excellent example of
Neoclassical-style architecture designed to look like a Greek temple. It has a prominent
pedimented portico supported by elaborate Corinthian columns (identified by the leaves and
scrolls adorning the top, capital part of the column). John B. Bayard designed this building in
1913. The original bank vault is still inside.
This concludes your walking tour of Vincennes.