Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns · #80 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
90 places in town are on the National Register, among them nine historic districts with 1,925 buildings between them. Below: 15 old photos and papers, maps from 1895 on, and the census since 1820.
Evansville dates its founding to 1600 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1820.
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Evansville is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #80 of 593 in Indiana. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Evansville ranks #47 on History.
Indiana towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Indiana town has 7.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Evansville’s 174 sits above most of its state (86% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 2,020 historic buildings outnumber those of 99% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveSouth-western view of
Born hereLouise Dresser is born here
In the archivePanoramic View of Evansville, Indiana, 1880BuiltWillard Library is built
BuiltLiberty Baptist Church is built
In the archiveEvansville, Indiana [map] / compiled from official records and surveys by J.D. and M. S. …
In the archiveRiver front, Evansville, Ind
BuiltAlhambra Theatorium is built
BuiltSoldiers and Sailors Memorial Coliseum is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereAvery Brooks is born here
Born hereDylan Minnette is born hereFrom Wikipedia’s history of Evansville.
There has been a continuous human presence in the area that became Evansville from at least 8000 BC by Paleo-Indians. Archaeologists have identified several archaic and ancient sites in and near Evansville, with the most complex at Angel Mounds. This was built and occupied from about AD 900 to about 1600, just before the arrival of Europeans to North America.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Evansville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Elisha Harrison as the first legislator from the said county. The .state legislature met at the town of Corydon, Ind., which was at that time the seat ot government of the state, and at this session of the legislature Mr. Harrison procured a charter for the town of Evansville. The first meeting of the trustees of the town of Evansville was held on Saturday, March 20, 1819, and the board of trustees consisted of the following names, to-wit : Hugh McGary, president ; Isaac Fairchild, Everton Kennerley, Alanson Warner, Francis J. Bfentley, Elisha
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
4 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Evansville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Evansville.
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.
1895Sheet 2 of 85Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Evansville’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 993 and 141,543 people in every census since 1820.
21 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Evansville’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Evansville’s post office has been open since 1818. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1600, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Evansville’s post office opened in 1818, and the census of 1820 counted 993 people here.
Evansville is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #80 of 593 in Indiana. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
90 listings: 79 buildings, among them the Old Vanderburgh County Courthouse (listed 1970, the first), 9 historic districts with 1,925 contributing buildings, 2 sites, and 2 structures. 2,020 historic buildings in all.
22% of Evansville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.3 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1961.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (11), the Library of Congress (4), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (92), Wikipedia, 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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1888![Evansville, Indiana [map] / compiled from official records and surveys by J.D. and M. S. Saunders](https://images.townratings.com/story/5045/cf9d6b882810358bccac-s.jpg)
1890![Evansville, Indiana [map] / compiled from official records and surveys by J.D. and M. S. Saunders](https://images.townratings.com/story/5045/c358ab8365b6a515434b-s.jpg)
1890![Evansville, Indiana [map] / compiled from official records and surveys by J.D. and M. S. Saunders](https://images.townratings.com/story/5045/b60f874736b09e1a98e4-s.jpg)
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