Cook mansions on Fulton Ave

Joe Engler
Fulton Ave looking south from Delaware St around 1900
Fulton Ave looking south from Delaware St around 1900

When doing my research I came across this postcard and thought surely it was incorrectly labelled.  I knew of big houses on 1st St and even some on First Ave, but where were these grandiose houses along Fulton Ave?  Upon further searching, I identified these homes as those of three members of the Cook family, proprietors of the F W Cook Brewing Co.

  • 602 N Fulton Ave – The first and largest of the three mansions built back in 1877 by F W Cook (father).  He was president and general manager of the F W Cook Brewing Co.  It was torn down in the winter of 1984-5 and is now the site of Inweld Corp
  • 620 N Fulton Ave – Charles Cook, president of the Home Realty Co, built this brick Queen Anne in 1898.  It was torn down in 1998 after standing for a century and is now a side lot for the Henry Cook house
  • 610 N Fulton Ave – Henry Cook (son) was the vice president of F W Cook Brewing Co and secretary and treasurer of the F W Cook Investment Co. This colonial revival house was built by Harris & Shopbell in 1899.  It is now the only home left standing, however the building is in serious disrepair.  It is on the Preservation Alliance of Evansville’s Top 10 Endangered List, and a recent, though incomplete, paint job hints of some hope for the home.


The Cooks were a wealthy family, and these residences illustrate some of the grandeur that used to line Fulton Avenue.  Check out the slideshow along with the article that shows several photos of the homes through the years.  As a side note, in the postcard above you can see the tower of the Fulton Ave School in the distant left

Going Old School: Carpenter School

Joe Engler

Originally written 1/11/2010 – Examiner.com

Carpenter School
Carpenter School

Carpenter School was the second school built in Evansville erected in 1859.  It was necessitated by overcrowding at the Canal Street School (later renamed Wheeler School), and it was built using the same design plan.  Land was purchased from the Willard Carpenter estate and the school was built next to his home (the current WNIN building).  Carpenter School was situated on the north side of Carpenter St between Clark St and Ingle St.  You can see the school’s layout here in this old 1884 Sanborn map.  Carpenter School was also called Lower School since it was downstream and Canal St was called Upper School based on its relation to the Ohio River.

A major renovation in 1878 resulted in an addition to the school and a new facelift, making
the updated school hardly recognizable from its previous look. A new 6-room building was added to the front of the existing one.  The updated school building had an ornate tower and large arched entrance shown here.  Another renovation in the early 1900s saw the removal of the tower and squaring of the roofline as seen in the photo at left.

After operating continuously for nearly 100 years, Carpenter School was closed in 1957.  The population shift left the neighborhood school with declining attendance.  After a failed attempt to redevelop the historic school building, it was demolished in 1961.  WTVW Channel 7 is now located on this site.

Carpenter School on HistoricEvansville.com
http://historicevansville.com/tag.php?id=carpenter

Going Old School: Fulton Ave School

Joe Engler
Fulton Ave School in 1894
Fulton Ave School in 1894

Fulton Avenue School, casually called Fulton School, was one of the oldest public schools in Evansville.  It was built in 1870-1 to provide education for the students of Lamasco.  It was located on the west side of Fulton Ave between Michigan and Virginia Sts where Lewis Bakery now stands.  Originally Fulton School was a single building with a tower, but a south wing was added c1880 and north one was added later to handle increasing enrollment. The school can be seen in pretty good detail in the 1888 panoramic map below and also here in this picture from the 1910 Sanborn maps.  The tower, which can be seen in many photos looking up or down Fulton Avenue, was removed sometime around 1920.  The Ragland Memorial Gym was added in 1927 to the rear of the school.

Fulton Ave School 1888

In the early 1970s, after a lawsuit forced the EVSC to desgregate its schools, a few neighborhood schools were closed, district lines were redrawn, and some students were bused to different schools.  Fulton School, as well as two other old schools Baker School and White School, was closed in June 1973 and torn down later that year.  Now the bakery encompasses the school’s old block with hardly a trace of the old school that stood for over a century.

The old style curbs in front of the Lewis Bakery outlet store can be seen in this street view from Google Maps

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Welcome to Kasson

Joe Engler

Orginally posted 4/16/2010

Sign greeting travelers to the old town of Kasson along New Harmony Rd
Sign greeting travelers to the old town of Kasson along New Harmony Rd

Kasson was a town located at the intersection of Big Cynthiana Rd and New Harmony Rd in German Township.  Older maps first show the town around 1850s and indicate it was also called Germantown. By the late 1800s, it had an ice house, a wagon and blacksmith shop, a saloon and a post office. The Five-Mile House, now razed, was located across from the Old Mill and provided lodging for those heading to and from Evansville on the first/last 5-mile leg of the trip (the exact distance to the Courthouse).

More Photos

                

In 1879 Dr Edwin Walker, founder of what was eventually Welborn Hospital, helped procure a physician for the tiny community. Dr Carl Moutoux came from Louisville, Ky and built an elegant home in town. He also erected a mill to supplement his income. The Nunn Better Milling Co produced livestock feed and bird seed in addition to flour and corn meal.

Kasson School was built c1920 as German Township School No 8. After the township schoolhouses consolidated, the school served the surrounding area until Cynthia Heights was built. It was later apartments and a bridal shop.

When IN-66 was expanded, the four-lane highway bypassed New Harmony Rd, paralleling to the north.  The new route bisected Big Cynthiana Rd splitting the old road through Kasson (it also bisected Allens Ln). A new route, Resurrection Dr, connected the roads next to Resurrection Catholic Church, built there in the 1950s. The old segment is now called Old Cynthiana Rd with both sections dead ending.

Scottish Rite – the former First Cumberland Presbyterian Church

Joe Engler

Originally posted 2/1/2010

First Cumberland Presbyterian Church, now the Scottish Rite, at the corner of Chestnut and 2nd circa 1910
First Cumberland Presbyterian Church, now the Scottish Rite, at the corner of Chestnut and 2nd circa 1910

I always thought the Scottish Rite was an eccentric building.  We had school dances there including my senior prom.  When I was doing research I discovered the old First Cumberland Presbyterian Church, sometimes called Chestnut St Church, at that same location.  I started looking into it and found out that that church and the Scottish Rite are one in the same and you can still see details of the old building if you look closely.

First Cumberland Presbyterian, built in 1876 to replace the old church across the street, was a beautiful church (shown at left around the turn of the century) that dominated the skyline with its massive towers.  It prospered for many years at this corner until the Cumberland Presbyterian church merged back with the Presbyterian church.  The congregation joined with Grace Presbyterian in 1909 and moved into their church at 2nd and Mulberry in an equally splendid building.  The vacated church was then sold to the Masons and used as a Shriners Temple / Masonic Lodge


We are still looking for the specific deatils but sometime in the 1960s or 70s the corner tower was removed and the front addition was built completely changing the street presence of the building.  A current view of the Scottish Rite from the side (along 2nd St) and from the rear really give you a feel of the magnitude and scale of the original church.

Scottish Rite today from a similar angle
Scottish Rite today from a similar angle

First Cumberland Presbyterian on HistoricEvansville.com
http://historicevansville.com/site.php?id=cumberlandpresby

Then and Now: Owl’s Home

Joe Engler

Originally posted 1/8/2010
Update: the Owls relocated and the old home was razed May 2012

As an homage to the First Avenue area, we’re highlighting 407 N First Ave. The house was built in the late 19th century as a residence for Ed Boetticher of Boetticher Kellogg & Co.

In 1924, the Owls moved from next to the jail and the house at the northeast corner of First and Michigan became their lodge. Several additions and the removal of the tower really take away from the grandeur of the home but the lintels around the window hint of what once was.

As a side note, his partner Charles Kellogg lived in another mansion that lost its tower at 1113 Parrett St, now being reused as part of Kirby’s catering.

(407 N First Ave) on HistoricEvansville.com

http://historicevansville.com/site.php?id=firstave407n

Boetticher Residence c1895
Boetticher Residence c1895
New Owls' Home circa 1923
New Owls’ Home circa 1923

Owl's Home - now razed
Owl’s Home as it looks now