The Evansville Grove Society is pleased to announce that its headquarters and museum in the historic Baker Building, at the lower entrance to Leonard-Leota Park, will open to the public on Saturday, June 7. Visitors will be welcome from 1 pm to 4 pm, every Saturday until September 30 or by appointment. The one exception will be on the fourth weekend in August, when the Grove Society will host its annual History in the Park observance at the Leonard-Leota Park Upper Pavilion. This year’s History in the Park will feature a presentation on the history of the Varco – Pruden Manufacturing Company of Evansville (now Bluescope Buildings North America).
This year the museum will highlight photographs and artifacts from many of Evansville’s noteworthy businesses over the decades. Grove Society members will be on hand to welcome visitors, explain the exhibits, and talk about the Society’s plans for the upcoming season. The Baker Building formerly served as the administrative headquarters for the Baker Manufacturing Company; the Grove Society led the effort to preserve it at its current location. Also on the site, at the corner of Madison Street and Antes Drive, is the Antes Tourist Cabin, which originally served as overnight lodging for motorists in the 1930s.
Building on its improvements to the site over the past few years, the Grove Society recently reorganized and catalogued its collection of documents and artifacts to make them more accessible to the public. A generous grant from the Evansville Chamber of Commerce paid for museum-quality storage tools to aid in the effort. The Society recently refreshed its website with information about its collections, its work in preserving Evansville history, and its activities past and present. The website can be found at https://grovesociety.org.
Evansville Grove Society Announces Museum Opening for 2025
