German Festivals Wood Capital and Historic
Commercial Buildings
Jasper is strategically
located one-hour northeast of Evansville, 2 1/2 hours southwest of Indianapolis, 1 1/2 hours west of Louisville
and 3 hours east of St. Louis, this community is consistently ranked among the
best small towns to live in Indiana and the United States, start a business as
well as one of the safest. The Wood Capital of the World is home
to many furniture companies and the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame, which honors
players and others associated with the national pastime who were born or lived
in Indiana.
The Jasper post office has been in
operation since 1832
The Jasper Strassenfest is a celebration between Jasper and its German sister-city Pfaffenweiler,
a small village in southwest Germany; the four-day event is held annually
during the first weekend in August. Visitors from Germany travel to Jasper around
this time of year. The street festival encompasses the entire city square,
complete with food stands, rides, a Biergarten and over 1,300 pounds of bratwurst.
The Strassenfest culminates in a Sunday parade and evening fireworks. The
festival also features a golf tournament, beauty pageant, box parade, fishing
tournament, and a network of German Polka Masses at the three Roman Catholic
parishes: St. Joseph's, Holy Family, and Precious Blood.
Louis H. Sturm Hardware
Store is a historic
commercial building built about 1850; the three-story, three bay, Italianate
style brick building houses the oldest continuously operated commercial retail
business in Jasper.
Environment the
75-acre central park features two miles of trails, 25 acres of woods and
wetlands utilized for nature studies as well as an indoor public event space,
musical playground and four exercise pods.