What You Need to Know About Evansville, IN

Evansville was initially McGary's Landing
​In 1812, Hugh McGary established a town on the Ohio River which he named after himself, McGary's Landing. It was not until 1814 that McGary's Landing changed its name to Evansville to draw prospective land buyers. McGary renamed the town to Evansville to commemorate Colonel Robert Morgan Evans.

McGary's wife is buried under the Old Jail parking lot
When a church was being built, the construction workers found a woman buried in the ground and recognized her as Mary McGary because of her bright red hair, the founder of Evansville's wife. Apparently, that area was once a cemetery, thus the remains. They decided to build the church's foundation over her.

The Fall Festival is not the second largest street festival in America
We don't want to tell you this but what Paul Harvey said about the Fall Festival that it is the second largest festival after Mardi Gras is not based on facts. But that doesn't mean you can no longer enjoy the festival with your deep-fried twinkie.

The first humans that inhabited Evansville date back to 8,000 BCE
Archaeologists discovered artifacts as old as 8,000 BCE in this city. Almost everyone in the town is familiar with Angel Mounds, but they weren't there until 900 A.D. to approximately 1600 A.D.

The Old Courthouse is built on the Wabash and Erie Canal
The construction of the Wabash and Erie Canal was a great fail that pulled Indiana to financial loss. It eventually fell into poor condition until the Old Courthouse was erected on the site in 1891. 

Bosse Field is the third-oldest baseball stadium still being used
Everyone in Evansville loves watching the games of Evansville Otters during a hot summer night at Bosse Field. It is one of the oldest ballparks still in use along with Wrigley Field and Fenway Park.

Wesselman Woods is the largest virgin forest in the entire country
This 240-acre of natural forest is home to century-old trees. This unspoiled virgin forest is the largest in all of U.S.  

The Old Jail is modeled after a castle in Lichtenstein
The Old Jail resembles the Lichtenstein Castle that is found in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. Henry Wolters was the one who designed the Old Jail and Old Courthouse. It was reported that he lived near the castle and admired it, thus the resemblance of the design.

Evansville was once in Warrick County
Before Evansville became a city, it was part of the Warrick County. Vanderburgh, Posey, Perry, Spencer, and some areas of Crawford counties used to be part of a much larger Warrick County

The first American soldier casualty in WWI was a native of Evansville
It is recorded in history that the first American soldier who died in World War I on November 3, 1917, was Cpl. James Bethel Gresham. Gresham was an Evansville citizen and was killed during a raid in France. His remains were buried in Locust Hill Cemetery in the city of Evansville.