The story
Read it all →How Evansville came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Evansville.
Evansville was platted in 1879 when the railroad was extended to that point.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Evansville
Evansville’s post office opened in 1868, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1969 on and the census since 1890.
1868first post office
0on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Quick answers
How Evansville began
When was Evansville founded?
1868
The Evansville post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 452 in 18902020 census: 603158 years
Founding year: the first Evansville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Evansville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ 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.Timeline
Evansville, 1868 to 1969
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1868Post officeThe Evansville post office opens
- 20th century
- 1908
Born hereArt Lasky is born here - 1969
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
Evansville, decade by decade
Today10 recent
2020
2012
2010
2010
2010
2010
2010
2010
2010
2005On the map
Evansville on the map in 1969
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Evansville.
1969Evansville sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Evansville.
People over time
Evansville, census by census
Between 389 and 612 people in every census since 1890.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Evansville’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Places now gone and burying grounds
Evansville’s post office has been open since 1868.
Gone or out of use
Elmer AirportairportEvansvillelocale
1cemetery inside Evansville
Mound Grove Memorial Park
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Evansville’s history
What year was Evansville founded?
The Evansville post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (10), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.