he City of Evansville, Indiana, was founded in 1812 on a scenic bend in the Ohio River. With a population of nearly 121,000 people in the city limits, and more than 300,000 people in the metropolitan area, Evansville is the third-largest city in Indiana. Evansville is the social and economic hub for our region, which includes Southwest Indiana, Southeast Illinois and Northwest Kentucky.
Interesting facts about Evansville include:
America’s Promise – The Alliance for Youth named us one of the 100 Best Communities for Young People in 2005.
The National Civic League recognized Evansville with their prestigious All-America City Award in 2004.
The Indiana Chamber of Commerce named Evansville the 2006 Community of the Year.
Built in 1915, Evansville’s Bosse Field is the third-oldest professional baseball stadium in the nation behind only Boston’s Fenway Park and Chicago’s Wrigley Field.
Scenes from the movie “A League of Their Own,” which starred Geena Davis, Tom Hanks and Madonna, were also filmed at Bosse Field.
Some of the sports greats that came from Evansville include Don Mattingly, Don Buse, Bob Griese, Calbert Cheaney, and Walter McCarty.
Evansville’s Willard Library opened in 1885 and is the oldest operating library in the State of Indiana. Willard Library is home to one of the most extensive collections for genealogy study in the Midwest and to a famous “Grey Lady” ghost.
Fashion designer Halston, whose real name is Roy Halston Frowick, graduated from Evansville's Bosse High School.
The first American soldier to be killed in battle in World War I was an Evansville native, Cpl. James Bethel Gresham of Company F, 16th Infantry, 1st Division, who was killed during a raid near Bathelemont in France on November 3, 1917. He is buried in Evansville's Locust Hill Cemetery.
