Classroom

In 1891, the church was originally erected on West Broadway Ave. Rev. J.K. Hugo was the first pastor to serve at the church in the time it was built. It served the community of Howell Methodists. Only a few years after the church's erection did Rev. Hugo, Frank C. Baugh, and J.W. Burns begin to look for a new location for the church and raise money for the new building.In 1894, they found a lot on Cumberland fit to build the new church; however, in 1920, the lot became inadequate and trustees began to look for a new lot.In 1924, after moving the church many times, a new church was built where it still stands today. It became dedicated on May 30, 1925 to serve the people of Howell. In 1926, the Howell Methodist Church had already had 16 pastors in its history of service.Besides its beautiful stain glass windows, the church has a large sanctuary where morning and evening services are still held. For children, they have Sunday school services.Today, the church is at 1408 Stinson Ave. It is still in use today holding services and events for its members and community.

Howell Methodist Church as it still looks today

Howell during the 1937 flood. The church can be seen from this image. 

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In 1924, the church was built to serve the Howell community. The building today is located on 1408 Stinson Ave on the corner of Stinson and Broadway. The building today is in the Greek Classic style by Harry E. Boyle. An addition to the church was built in 1956, and a parking lot of the east side of the church was added later on.

Howell Methodist Church

This tour covers various locations important to Howell's individual history and its service to the Evansville area.

On this stop of the Howell district tour, a stop at one of the popular stores is needed. The Barwe Butcher School was owned by Frank X. Barwe was built in 1904 on 211 Broadway Ave on the alley between Delamar Ave and Ewing Ave, now 3118 Broadway Ave due to the street name change in 1873. The building was a large brick building with stables in the back, though the stables burnt down April 17, 1913, where there looked to be about $500 in damages. Barwe selled his “home-killed beef” up until his retirement in 1937. In his time of working at his butcher shop he had built his home next door in 1930 at 3122 Broadway Ave. Frank seemed to be a family man as he married Mary Barwe. According to the Evansville Pres, Frank had accused three people of assaulting. him in October of 1989. Brawe had claimed that John and George Kissel and Fred Reuteer had beaten him in Babytown. The guys had beat him until he passed out and once, he had awoken again had continued to beat. The trouble behind the fight had started due to John owing Barwe money. The men had pleaded guilty and were fined $5 though in return Reutter had gilded an affidavit against Barwe. Causing some town drama to circle around. After Frank had retired his store's building was still in use. Frank DeShield’s ran a grocery store in the late 1930’s and into the 1950’s. After the mid-1950’s the store had seen several different businesses such as Embry’s Furniture Store, Mary’s Coffee Show, West Side Cycle

Frank Barwe started construction on his butcher shop in 1904 and looks as if he opened up shop in the early 1900's as there was a fire in the stables in 1913. Barwe had claimed to sell "home killed beef" until passing away in 1937. After he had passed away several other shops had been located here and as of 2023 United Schenk Accounting is now in its location in the same building.

Barwe Butcher Shop and Home

What was known as Howell Mortgage bank opened in 1907; however, it has also been named the Howell State Bank and the Farmers &amp; Citizens bank. This bank was open until 1932 when the depression forced it to close. According to the Evansville courier and press, this building held several different financial institutions through the 1990s including the actual Howell Mortgage bank, but then later became a nail salon, and a duplex apartment before it was eventually sold.The building was purchased in 2010 by a Florida LLC, “The listed owner is 3000 Broadway LLC, with a tax billing address in Cape Coral, Florida, and a management address in Lake Bluff, Illinois. The 3000 Broadway LLC was listed inactive in the state of Florida five years ago."[1] The company didn't look at the building before purchasing and didn't realize the condition it was in; therefore, they left the building to decompose and stopped paying taxes on it.[2] It was put up for sale on the county's tax auction and was not bought by anyone nor sold. Therefore, the buildings fate was up to the Evansville Vanderburgh Building Commission who ultimately decided to demolish the building in 2017.As seen in a video that I have provided in the links of this entry, the inside of the building was crumbling as well as the outside. Barely any part of the ceiling was intact and much of the supports holding the building up were rotted. Eventually in May 2018, the building was completely demolished, and it cost $27,697 in taxes to raze. The property now sits empty surrounded by the old post office and a few abandoned homes.

Howell Mortgage Bank originally opened in 1907 and shut down in 1932 due to the depression. It was demolished in 2018 after sitting vacant for 10 years after its purchase by an out-of-state LLC. Before being razed it was located at 3000 Broadway Avenue, right at the end of Cumberland Street. It is currently an empty lot still in the Howell district of Evansville.

Howell Mortgage Bank

Howell was in need of a fire house and library during the 1920s. The Department of Public Works petitioned for a new hose house and library in the area. From 1922-1936, the fire house was home to the Howell library which sat in its top floor. The library was later moved to Daniel Wertz school then it had its own building next door to the fire station.The thing that made this fire station's unique was its structure. It was the first built in Evansville for the specific use of fire trucks. Previously, Evansville relied on horse-drawn wagons to get to fires. They also kept dogs at the fire stations to keep the horses calm. The mechanized apparatuses were cheaper than horses and wagons; however, when they pulled the first truck in, it didn't fit. They had to cut the mirrors off the truck to make it fit. The fire station was uniquely made for trucks due to its pad in front of the station. The pad was made smooth for the trucks whereas many pads had cuts in them made for the horse-drawn wagons. Their apparatuses still had the capabilities to "catch plugs" in the water system to put out fires. The station also had a pole for the men on duty to get to their trucks quicker from the second floor.The hose house was mainly manned by volunteers. Many firemen at No.7 , up until about the 1980s, were known to drink heavily, gamble, and bring prostitutes into the station while they were on duty. Local kids frequently visited the station where they could stop in and get candy for a dime. The firemen at No.7 were known to be very involved in Howell activities and the neighborhood in general. Locals would frequent the station and find the men sitting outside talking. Some men who worked at No.7 also played for the EFD baseball team.During the 1937 flood, many people in Howell could not leave their homes. Men from No. 7 used boats to shuttle people from Howell to Reitz High School. The school's campus served as a place for flood refugees.

In its third iteration of Hose House No.7, this station served the Howell area from 1921-1983. Originally, Hose House No.7 sat in Franklin Park before it came to Howell. When Evansville annexed Howell in 1918, it was decided the Hose House should move. The decision to move the station was highly politicized. When it first moved to Howell it was at 112 Dearborn and later 3012 Dearborn Street.The building itself was commissioned by the city in 1921 for Howell. It was designed by Russ Karge in the Dutch Colonial Revival Style. The two floors of the building held many different purposes during its years of use as a fire station.

Hose House No.7 

The Howell library branch first opened in late 1916 in the Old Daniel Wertz school. The library occupied one school room and it started with 2,000 books and different magazines. While here, the library was only open Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays.[1] Plans to move the library from the school to the, to be constructed hose house, were in motion as early as 1920. They planned to add in specific quarters inside the hose house separate from the fire station.[2] There was a meeting held in the community to spark interest about the new library that would be coming to the area that included exhibiting children's books, speeches, and songs.[3] The library was officially moved from the school to the hose house in August of 1921 and was expected to be open every day Monday through Friday.[4] While in this new location they held programs for the children and parents in the community to get involved with the library.[5] Eventually in July of 1936, the library board of Evansville approved of funds to begin construction of the new Howell Branch Library, $5,000 were given to begin the project.[6] As the year progressed construction went along quickly, and the building was nearly done by that December.[7] However, when the new year began there was quite a large setback for the entire community. Evansville flooded in January of 1937 right as the new library was set to open. It was set to open on January 24th of that year [8] but was pushed back, and the librarians had to remove all of the materials from the basement that were freshly moved there. [9] Despite this, the library opened not much later than its original opening date.The library ran with no issues up until the late 1970s. In 1978, the library board discovered that the Howell branch library was the most expensive library to run compared to all of the others within the city. When the residents of Howell discovered the library was considering closing, they put up a protest, this caused the library to start up their special programs again. Use of the Howell branch went up 25 percent. [10] Although this did keep the library in Howell for a bit longer, it would all come to a halt in the early 90s. In 1991, the library was once again the most expensive to run in Evansville.[11] However, after reviewing, the library board gave the Howell branch one more year to run due to protests from the residents once again. In July of 1992, the board held the meeting that would decide the library's official fate.[12] It was decided in that meeting that the branch would close on August 22nd of that same year.[13] Although the branch was closing, the some of the staff were able to rent out space for the children's programs, along with the South Western Indiana Regional Council on Aging who rented the upper floor to make a senior center.[14] However, it seems as no matter what events occurred in this building they weren't able to keep them running, with low attendance at the senior center the SWIRCA was considering its decision to make the senior center.[15] This eventually lead to the closing of the senior center by the end of the year, and it was up to the library board to decide what should be done with the building.[16] It was discussed by the board on whether or not to give it to a non-profit or to sell it in an auction, but ultimately, they decided to put it up for auction.[17] On February 6th of 1994, there was a public auction advertisement posted in the newspaper detailing the Howell branch library building and the date it was going to be auctioned (February 11, 1994).[18] It ended up selling for $20,250 to a married couple who planned to make it into their permanent residence.[19] Ever since it has been a residential lot and has not been turned into a public structure again. It is still standing and is located at the same address as its original. The current residential status is unknown.

The Howell Library moved throughout three different places in the district and finalized its location to 1506 Delmar Avenue. It was open for around 50 years before it was no longer a library. It closed altogether in the 90s and became a residential lot much like the rest of the houses on the street.

Howell Public Library

When it comes to looking up this Baptist church, it is best to look it up as the Howell General Baptist instead of Liberty General Baptist as there are two Liberty General Baptist in the city of Evansville. As for the Howell General Baptist it was founded in 1823, organized by Elders Benoni Stinson, George Parker and Lewis C. Stinson. Elder Benoni was not a charter member of Liberty but as he was chosen as pastor he and his wife joined. The original meeting site for the church was located on Carpenter Creek in a little house.The church had seen several renovations, in fact the church had outgrown two other buildings before they had built the A-frame church in 1891 where it is located at the current location of the church now, however the streets were called Rose and Signal rather than Delmar and Emerson. As for what happened to the A-Frame building there has been a report that a cyclone had taken it out though there is not a lot of evidence to find this true. The thought of them outgrowing the church seems to look more accurate. The present brick building was built in 1916 on the site of the old buildings with the help of Clifford Shopbell, a famed architect, a single story church was built. In 1955 they built a Sunday School addition to the north side of the church. In 1976 the church had voted to build a second story onto the Sunday School addition for the cost of $72,000. The church had bought several surrounding buildings such as the Old Daniel Wertz to provide more storage or parking for their members. The location of the Old Daniel Wertz, the church had also decided to use it as ground for their Family Life Center built in 1995.

Liberty General Baptist, more clearly known as Howell General Baptist was founded in 1823 and had started out in a little house that was heated in the winters through a stove. Due to growth in the church, the church has been through several renovations, some that where not tracked through records, though their latest building was built in 1916 and the official last add on to the church being in 1976.

Howell General baptist (Liberty General Baptist) 

Howell School had opened back in 1886, originally a 2-story building built with a bell tower located on the northwest corner of Delmar and Emerson. It has gone through several renovations and in 1922 renamed it to Daniel Wertz after a community service person. Daniel Wertz did several different projects around the community and held several titles. He was the President of Maley &amp; Wertz Lumber Co., Secretary and director Hoosier cardinal corp.; Dir of Vendome &amp; McCurdy; Directory of Amos-Thompson corp; director international steel; Directory YMCA; Chairman of Board of Central Union Bank; Active C of C and passed away in 1939.The town of Howell is located Southwest of Evansville and had several railroad activities due to the Howell Railroad Yard. The Railroad had brought several people to the area, which had the school's population grow as well, leading to additions in 1898, 1935, and 1958. In 1986 the school had to relocate due to the closing of nearby schools, where they relocated to Red Bank Road south of Broadway where the school is located today. A little fact, the 1937 did not impact a lot of the Howell district though if we were to see another flood to this level happen again the new location would be under water.The original spot of where the school was located was bought out by the Howell Baptist Church in 1986. For a short amount of time the school used it as a storage building. In 1990 the building was razed and today the site is a parking lot. The only indication of the Old Daniel Wertz building being there is the sidewalks leading up to the old entrances. The Howell General Baptist had also decided to build their Family Life Center on part of this ground in 1995.

The Howell public school has gone through several renovations and even moving locations due to overpopulation of the school and surrounding schools shutting down. The Howell school has been open since 1886 and changed their name to Daniel Wertz in 1922 and now the location is now called Old Daniel Wertz due to relocating in 1986 to Red Bank Road. The Howell General Baptist has since then bought the location and has torn down the building to put a parking lot and their family life center, where there is a marker to say that the school was once there.

Howell School (Old Daniel Wertz) 

The Howell area came alive with the arrival of the railroads in Evansville. Captain Lee Howell, for which the area is named after, was a General Freight Agent. He was born in the 1840s in Florence, Alabama. His contributions to the Howell area consisted of helping lay out the town in 1889. He was known as a public figure in Vanderburgh County and described as a prominent businessman. He was considered public-spirited and congenial. The L&amp;N railroad erected a round-house in March 1889, then a machine shop and engine and boiler house were all completed by December 1889. The railroad depot was built in 1902 on 300 Fulton Avenue.The railroad can still be seen being used today to transport shipments in and out of Evansville. Due to its proximity to Howell, it became the reason people moved and lived in the Howell area creating a small town all its own before its annexation.In 1972, L&amp;N was taken to court and pleaded guilty in federal district court against charge it was responsible for dumping 80 cubic feet of oil into the Ohio River by the Howell Yards.

An extensive system train tracks can be seen roping alongside Howell closest to the river to this day. In bringing the railroad to Howell, Howell's early population consisted mainly of railroad workers employed by L&amp;N. Due to the concentrated nature of the Howell area, it had its own identity separate from Evansville. Before its annexation, it was its own town. While transportation on the Ohio River was important to the Evansville area, commerce became dependent on railroads. In 1854, the first railroad opened in Evansville.

Howell Railyard 

The Howell viaduct was planned to be constructed in 1913 by L&amp;N Railroad and the Howell council. It would temporarily shut down Stinson Avenue so L&amp;N could lay down 14 new tracks.[1] By July 1914, the viaduct was nearing its completion and traffic would be transferred from Stinson Avenue and Henderson Road to the Viaduct.[2] It was included in a 1914 map of Evansville and Howell located at the end of Stinson Avenue.[3]There were multiple accidents involving the injury of people either at or surrounding the viaduct. In June of 1918, a man who had been working on his farm, sat on the viaduct for several hours to cool down, a witness said that the man had tried to catch his hat that had blown off the side causing him to fall off of the viaduct and end up in the hospital.[4] Only a year later in July of 1919, another grimmer situation happened involving the finding of a dead man's body next to the tracks that went under the viaduct, he was found to be from Alabama. [5] Later that same year, a man's car flipped around a mile away from the viaduct, where he was found trapped under his car by a fishing party, and luckily, he suffered no major injuries.[6]In 1922, a repair initiative was made to fix Henderson Road by extending it from the Howell Viaduct and bring it closer to the Henderson Bridge.[7] However, while this seems like a completely fair project, many were opposed. The county auditor at the time believed that it wasn't necessary to extend the road.[8] When it went before the county council, the decision was divided, opponents mostly composed of taxpayers were concerned that while there would be a new addition to the viaduct, the current road would keep its bad condition.[9] This proposal never went through and eventually repairs needed to be done to the viaduct anyway. In 1926, General Evans wrote a letter to the count High Superintendent, which stated that the conditions of Henderson Road over the viaduct consist of it being caved in on the right-hand side and had been there for over a month. He also mentioned that the entrances to the viaduct were very rough and needed to be smoothed.[10] It is unknown if this letter ever produced any actual changes.The viaduct was eventually deconstructed in 1975 with much push back from the community surrounding the railroads. A specific instance in 1976 where a fire truck was prevented from reaching its destination due to passing trains really pushed the pro-viaduct narrative of the area.[11] In October of 1976, a road was built to bypass the tracks in order to make even more room for railroad expansion, just as the viaduct had previously done.[12]As far as now, the viaduct is still no longer there and there is no leftover spot showing where it stood. The most recent picture that I took myself shows the end of Stinson Avenue where the viaduct previously stood, and it is clearly shown that it's no longer there.

The viaduct was built as a part of the Dixie B Highway in 1914. It was built so traffic from Henderson Road could reach Stinson Avenue by going across the set of railroad tracks. It no longer exists in Howell and cut off the neighborhood from much of the traffic they received because of it.

Howell

Howell Methodist Church

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information