YESTERYEAR: Holy Trinity Church

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Yesteryear by Pat Sides

This view of downtown Evansville, looking towards the intersection of Vine and Third streets, is one of the earliest known images of the city. At the center left is Holy Trinity Church, which is located in the 200 block of NW Third Street.

It was founded in 1849 to serve the city’s German population, and a three-story schoolhouse was constructed next to the church.

The 208-foot bell tower stood until 1950, when it was struck by lightning on Palm Sunday, igniting a blaze that destroyed the church, which was replaced by the current one in 1957. The Old Courthouse now stands behind Holy Trinity; construction on the government building began in 1888, and its absence here dates the image earlier than then, but before the school was built in 1869.