Saint Boniface Catholic Church

The first move to build this church was a meeting of prominent Catholic Germans at the residence of Mr. Charles Schulte in October 1878. The land for the church was a lot bounded by Wabash Ave, Michigan St, 10th Ave and Virginia St. It was purchased by five Catholic gentlemen (Adam Helfrich, Charles Schulte, August Rosenberger, Henry Rietman, and Theodore Rechtin) in 1878 for $5,000. Soon after a letter was sent to the bishop of the Diocese of Indianapolis setting forth the facts. On January 4, 1880, Rev. Bishop Chatard visited Evansville and received the deed to the property from the gentlemen. He appointed Rev. William Bultmann as pastor thus creating St. Boniface's parish. St. Boniface became the fourth parish and the third of the German-speaking Catholic congregations in Evansville. The cornerstone of the original church was laid on September 4, 1881, and construction moved rapidly. The building, shown above, was dedicated on April 27, 1882 with a final price tag of $68,000. It was 70 feet wide, 147 feet long, and the spires stood 202 feet. On March 30, 1902 (Holy Saturday), the church building was struck by lightning at 11:30pm. A fire broke out and raged on through Easter morning. Only the 12 inch brick walls were left standing, and a few of the valuable articles were saved. Still, the parish was undaunted. No sooner had the flames completed their devastating work when plans were made to rebuild the church superior in beauty and size to the one destroyed. The original walls were used, gables where added and the steeples were lowered to 175 feet. The construction costs totalled $62,000, and the building was rededicated later that year.