St. Boniface Catholic Church at 418 N. Wabash Ave. St. Boniface Parish was established in 1881 to serve the German speaking Catholic families living in the Independence area [largely workers in furniture factories and wood processing businesses]. The present church was built in 1902 to replace the first temporary structure and the subsequent permanent building that was destroyed by fire in March, 1902. The present church is the only local church listed on the National Register of Historic Places. St. Boniface was established because of travel for the large German population living in the northwestern portion of the city. Its territory formerly belonged to Holy Trinity parish, however, it was remote and inconvenient for many. 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 first church was a temporary wood frame building. Construction began February 1, 1880 and it was built within one week. After two months an addition had to be made to accommodate the people, and in less than a year later this building was torn down to give room for the first St. Boniface. The cornerstone of the original church was laid on September 4, 1881, and construction moved rapidly. The building 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. (http://www.saintbonifaceevansville.com/) The house across the street, with the cupola, is the 1894 August Rosenberger house at 409 N. Wabash Ave., formerly 609 Wabash Ave. Picturesque is a term often applied to late-nineteenth-century residential achitecture, and the former August Rosenberger House, as seen in this period view, was all of that. Rosenberger built this fanciful Queen Anne statement in 1894, four years after the construction of his Franklin St store. In addition to his mercantile pursuits, Rosenberger was a partner with Anthony J. Klein in the Southwestern Broom Company. After Klein's death in 1903, he devoted more time to the broom business, becoming one of the 3 largest broom manufacturers in the county. in about 1911 he moved to Kansas. However, he returned to his home town periodically to visit his friends and relateves and to check on his business interests. (http://historicevansville.com/site.php?id=wabash409n) A limestone porch was added in the 1920s; other than the porch changes, this house today is in excellent . Rosenberger died May 9, 1931 in Kansas, and his obituary lists, in addition to the broom business, that he had Rosenberger Klein Grocer Co. and was a director of the West Side Bank. The 1882 city directory lists the aforementioned Franklin St. store as National Grocery, wholesale and retgail dealer in staple and fancy groceries and liquors. Also feed, lime, salt and cement. At that time he lived at the store. The 1904 edition lists the business as Rosenberger, Klein and Co., still on W. Franklin, but in a different block. This area of Wabash Ave. is well maintained and preserved, so it's probable that the other houses seen in this photo still exist.