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Brief History ofThe Town of Oldenburg, Indiana

 

In 1817, a pioneer settler, William George, of Tazwell, Virginia, filed a claim at Brookville, Indiana, for a quarter section of land that later was to become the Town of Oldenburg.

 

In 1837, two land speculators, Wm. Flaspholer and Wm. Ronnebaum, purchased the farmland from William George and platted the town. The original plat consisted of 16 blocks of equal size, with provisions made for parks, church and school grounds, cemetery and market place.German immigrants gathered in Cincinnati, purchased lot in the new town, built a log church and started a school. The first Post Office opened in 1845. By 1849 they had adopted a constitution of 13 articles.

 

Father Franz Joseph Rudolf, newly ordained Priest from Germany, arrived in Oldenburg in 1844, and together with Sister Teresa Hackelmeier, a Franciscan Sister from Vienna, Austria, began a religious and building program which still carries on as the Sisters of St. Francis Convent and Academy, and the Parish and Church of the Holy Family.

 

The village became an incorporated town in 1869, and is widely known as the "Village of Spires", an example of the old world German heritage in America.The most distinctive architectural aspect to Oldenburg is, of course, its many spires. Another significant aspect is the fact that 80 of the roughly 115 homes in the historic district were constructed of stone or wood or a combination thereof. Brick structures were not built until after 1858 with bricks from the Gehring Brickyard at the South edge of town. The use of cast and wrought iron as well as the usual work of Master Tinsmith Casper Gaupel provided the community with great visual richness.

 

Many of the buildings in the community follow the Old World tradition of combining shop and residence under one roof. The Town of Oldenburg was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in March 1983.

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