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History · Evansville

Evansville’s post office opened in 1849, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1899 on and the census since 1880.

1849first post office
0on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Paul Sableman · CC BY 2.0
Quick answers

How Evansville began

When was Evansville founded?

1849

The Evansville post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 321 in 18802020 census: 547177 years
Founding year: the first Evansville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Evansville’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Evansville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 863 in 1980; 547 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19124 editions of the USGS map, 1912 to 1982. Watch Evansville change.Old housesHalf of Evansville’s homes were built before 1949.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Evansville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Evansville’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Evansville, census by census

020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 863

Peaked at 863 in 1980; 547 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Evansville’s Wikipedia page.

On the map

Evansville on the map, 1912 to 1982

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Evansville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Evansville on the 1912 USGS mapEvansville on the 1942 USGS mapEvansville on the 1970 USGS mapEvansville on the 1982 USGS map1912Baldwin sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Evansville.

The story so far

Evansville, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Evansville yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Evansville is a village in Randolph County, Illinois, United States, on the banks of the Kaskaskia River. The population was 547 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1849. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 701 to 547 (-22%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Evansville, 1849 to 1980

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1849Post officeThe Evansville post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1911Born hereRoger Wolff is born here
  5. 1912On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 863
By decade

Evansville, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Evansville, Illinois2020Evansville, Illinois
Every building

Evansville, building by building, 1899–1906

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Evansville fire insurance map, 1899, sheet 11899Sheet 1 of 3
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Questions about Evansville’s history

What year was Evansville founded?

The Evansville post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.