Assumption Catholic Church

New Assumption Catholic Church was built in 1871 and became the offical church of Assumption Catholic parish moving from the old location. The new building was founded by Father Patrick McDermott and Father Roman Weinzapfle after the old church was growing old and they needed upgrade the capacity to fit the growing demand. The church functioned as normal for almost 100 years up until it was razed in 1965 for the building of the civic center.

Father McDermott took over as the priest for the parish after Father Anthony Deydier (who founded the original church) retired in 18 blah. Initially, the church did not have its iconic tower on the front; it was added ten years later, in 1895, to complete the total look. 

In 1944, when the diocese of Evansville was created, Assumption Parish became the cathedral. At this point, bishop Henry J. Grimmelsman became the first bishop of Evansville. He was also the only bishop to minister in the Assumption Church before it was razed in 1965. 

The decision to tear down the historical church was not made without loud backlash from the public. Many wanted to preserve its historical place downtown and believed that tearing it down would erase history from the city. However, as Bishop Grimmelsman stated in the last sermon, the church was beyond repair and could never be restored to its former glory. The church, however, did not go down without a fight. It took nearly 60 days to use the metal ball method to raze the church. Although the tower was a later addition to the front of the church, it was the most challenging part to tear down. 

New Assumption Church embodied and amplified the rich history of the previous building while also bringing new people to the parish and the faith. It served downtown Evansville until it was physically impossible to. Now, in its place is the Evansville Civic Center, which holds all of the city offices for the Evansville Police Department and the Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office.

Brooks, Clifton. "Preist Walked from Mexico to Found Church that Stood on Second Street 60 Years Ago." The Evansville Press (Evansville) June 11th, 1933.

Ryder, Tom. "Sentimentalist Visit Cathedral Last Time." (Evansville) January 18th, 1965.

Engler, Joe. Evansville's Cathedral: Assumption Catholic Church, Vanderburgh County Historical Society. April 16th, 2014. Accessed December 1st, 2023. https://www.vchshistory.org/2014/04/16/evansvilles-cathedral-assumption-catholic-church/.