Reitz+Museum,+Evansville,+Ind

=The Reitz Museum= 224 S.E. First Street Evansville, Indiana http://www.reitzhome.evansville.net/

The Reitz house was built in 1872 by John Augustus Reitz. The Reitz family was a leading family in Evansville making their fortune in the lumber business. The Reitz family gave back to the community in donations to schools, churches, and community organization. The Reitz name is still a prominent feature in the landscape of Evansville. The home itself is the gemstone for the historic district in Evansville. The Preservation society in Evansville applied for a listing on the National Register of Historic Sites in 1973 and was granted National Register listing the same year. A detailed description of the home was submitted along with a history of the family and the homes place in the community. In order to begin the process of creating the museum the house under went a complete restoration.

The Reitz Home Preservation Society, formed in 1973 decided to take the house back to the state it was in at the turn of the 19th century. The preservation society had to define what interpretation of the house they were going to preserve as part of the application for the National Register. This is when J.A. Reitz’s eldest son, Francis Joseph Reitz lived in the home with his two sisters. As the Director of the museum explained, the décor at that time was heavily influenced by the Columbian Worlds Fair that was held in 1890. It was decorated by the Reitz in a rich Victorian style, with hand painted murals and embellished trim. Special furniture and fixtures were purchased for the home and many of them are still in the house today.

While the renovation of the home, and much later the carriage house, is an ongoing project that started in 1973, there are some restriction associated with being listed on the National Register. The main limitation is that the exterior of the historic home cannot be altered. Recently the Reitz Museum did receive a grant to restore the exterior of both buildings. In order to comply with the National Register’s mandate the preservation society had the paint on the exterior brick analysis in order to determine what color paint was on the house at the targeted time period. Today the museum serves the community not only as a historic site, but it hosts workshops, historical re-enactments, and has a learning center.

Here are pictures of the home from 1901 to the present.



//**Primary author of this page: Jennifer Greene**//