The Evansville Furniture Co is one of the last remaining factories near the mouth of the Pigeon Creek, an area once dominated by industrial and manufacturing companies.
The company was established sometime around 1867 as the Miller Karges & Co. It was located on the north side of 4th St (Lamasco) --now Pennsylvania St-- between Sixth and Seventh Avenues and founded by Christiam Miller Ferdinand Karges Ferdinand Weiberg and Henry Stolz. In 1870 the company was incorporated as the Evansville Furniture Co.
A fire on Jan 15, 1879 burned down the factory, but it was rebuilt soon after. This is the L-shaped building standing today. The west facade was angled to accommodate the railroad track that connected the PD&E RR to the L&N RR. The tracks are gone but you can still see the bend in the building.
An additional warehouse was built across the RR tracks (west) sometime around the turn of the century. It was later enlarged c1920 to front Seventh Ave.
Evansville Furniture Co was bought in 1936 by Universal Furniture Co, a wholesale outlet.
The site again fell victim to fire as the addition was destroyed in a blaze on February 24, 1975.
Universal Furniture Co closed down in 1985 and the building became an antique mall, opening the next year. The mall, however, closed in June 1996 and the building is now used as corporate office space.
Evansville Furniture Co at HistoricEvansville.com
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