GERMAN BENEVOLENT CLUB - GERMAN SOCIETY

 

The German Benevolent Club was organized in Logansport in April of 1866. This photo shows the old “German Hall”, which stood at 427 5th Street (Now South 5^th St.). Estimated to have been built about 1876, it was the home of all the German societies/clubs in Logansport – and there were a lot of those in the early days of Logansport - just as there were for other immigrant groups. This building was also known as “Graf’s German Hall”. Note: this building, rather the remaining portion of it, would later become part of Amelio’s; doing business as "Amelio’s on The River" as of 2022, using that area as the restaurant/pub’s family dining area.

Amelio's By The River - before even more recent improvements to the exterior. The white siding area was original to the German Benevolent Club building.

Another German Society known as the Deutscher Verein met in rooms on the upper floors of the Kreuzberger building, which stood on the southwest corner of Third and E. Market Streets; razed many years ago. This was for German born residents and their descendants and was active for a long time. The Germania Gesang Verein, was a “singing society” which would meet for practice in the upper floors of the Kreuzberger building. Pictured below. The Mike Anderson Dodge, Ram, Chrysler, Jeep dealership occupies this corner as of 2022.

The Stone Building located at the corner of Clinton and Sherman Streets on Logansport’s south side, address 989 Sherman Street, is a reminder of an early German home.

 In the 1990s it was home to a tea house called Rose-Moor Emporium. Now it is a private residence. Made of limestone, the building is 20 by 70 feet, two-story, with a full basement. The walls are two feet thick at the base and narrow up to 18 inches at the top. The original stairs went down from the kitchen to the basement floor, which was originally, and for many, many years - dirt. The builder was Gottfried Gruenoch, a veteran of the Franco-Prussian war, who, like thousands of other Germans, emigrated to America to get away from Bismarck’s military service. He was a stone mason by trade. In the early 1800’s there were as many as 11 of these structures, in a “German settlement”. This settlement was even further outside of Logansport than Shultztown. 

Shultztown—named for Dr. J. B. Shultz—was west of Burlington Ave., A stand of trees stood between Burlington Ave. and Shultztown. That area was bordered by Anthony St. east, Howard St. north, Biddle St. south and by the Railroad to the west.

About 1868-1870 a German newspaper, the Fort Wayne Banner, printed in Fort Wayne was distributed by John A. N. Frentzel, a local editor or “newspaper gatherer”, in Logansport. But it wasn’t a financial success and soon ended.

From 1899 to 1913 or so, John Day (born in Bavaria) published a successful German language newspaper—the Freie Presse to accommodate the increasing German population of the Logansport area.

Those with German background can be thanked for involvement with St. Joseph Catholic Church, St. James Lutheran Church, beer brewing and beer gardens, expert meat butchering and butcher shops, cigar making and many other things, as all worked together to make Logansport, Indiana a great place to live.

THE TWO BARNETT HOTELS

 Let me begin by reminding the reader that we are talking about landmarks of Logansport, Indiana. And this particular post has to do with the Barnett Hotel and the "new" Barnett Hotel, which were two separate buildings.

WASHINGTON HALL - THE OLD BARNETT

This was the original "old" Barnett Hotel. It stood on the SW corner of 3rd and E. Market Street.

The old Barnett was built in 1820 by a Scotsman named Gillis McBane. At that time it was a one-story structure and it was known as Washington Hall. It was the main place for meetings by the town fathers - a town which would, in 1828, be incorporated as such and named Logansport. Ten years later, in 1838, Logansport would be incorporated as a city.

The hotel was a stop for the stagecoach line. After stopping here the stagecoach would continue on to Lafayette. 

Above: Painting of the Old Barnett by Wils Berry (1851-1928), from a private collection

1854 Logansport Journal - Ads in the paper would use the Barnett House as a landmark – example “Dr. Manlove, D.D.S. located nearly opposite the Barnett House…” and “Ferguson, Hill and Co. opening for spring and summer opposite the Barnett House…”

There were five other owners before Alexander Barnett bought the structure(1859) and named it the "Barnett". Those owners were Capt. T. Douglas, Capt. Benjamin Scott, Alexander Chamberlain, Cyrus Vigus and Benjamin Ganson. 

After Alexander Barnett bought the hotel (1859) he added two upper stories.

June 16, 1869

"The Barnett Brothers have leased the Barnett Hotel from their father and intend running it from the 1^st of July."  from Democratic Pharos, page 3

BECOMES A "FLOP HOUSE"

Between the years 1869 and 1880 the old Barnett went from being a nice hotel where people would sometimes stay while their houses were being constructed to an undesirable place.

May 15, 1880

…Within the past few years the corner position of the old Barnett House has become the concentration of all that is wicked and vile. The respectable inmates have been gradually driven out until now all except the west end of the building has been given over to the rats, harlots and men of the lowest stamp. Well may it be said that satan’s headquarters in Logansport were in the old Barnett House.

The state’s prosecutor took notice of this and called the attention of the grand jury that material here existed for a half dozen or more indictments against certain crooks for living in open and notorious adultery.

Several witnesses were examined. Warrants for offenders were issued.

The action of the grand jury and the prosecutor will go a long way toward bringing about better condition of affairs in the den known as the Old Barnett House.

The parties took their medicine but had some cuss words to say of the witnesses who had informed on them. From Logansport Weekly Journal

HOUSE CLEANING 1884

July 27, 1884

The Old Barnett House has been vacated, improved, renovated and purified. FROM AN ARTICLE BY JUDGE HORACE P. BIDDLE From the Critic

The Old Barnett burned sometime in 1893.

THE NEW BARNETT HOTEL

The "new" Barnett co-existed for about 13 years with the old as the "new" was built (across Market Street and down a little to the west) in 1880. 

Alexander and his wife left Logansport for a few years. They lived in California, then in Florida. When they returned they built the beautiful structure pictured above. Mrs. Barnett was credited with the design (see September 29, 1883 Logansport Weekly Journal, page 9).

Above: November 2, 1880 Logansport Evening Journal

Above: Barnett Hotel at left; the Nelson Theater (later the Roxy) at right circa 1911-12

1920 FIRE BARNETT HOTEL

On Sunday, February 8, 1920 a fire broke out inside the Barnett Hotel. The building was gutted, one person died and five others were injured as they escaped. Charles Finch, master carpenter for the Michigan division of the Pennsylvania Railroad was died after falling from a rope while trying to escape.

Above: 1920 fire at Barnett Hotel

The western section of the building was removed after the fire.

1920 Sanborn Map Image thanks to fellow researcher Jim Moore

Sanborn maps were initially created to estimate fire insurance risks.

REMODELED

The remodeled property became part of the Barnes family holdings. In 1965 it was announced that the business would close.

May 21, 1965 article Logansport Pharos Tribune

In November of 1965 it was announced in the Logansport newspapers that the building would be razed and that work would begin after Thanksgiving Day.