River City: Evansville, Indiana

A mural on Main Street

River views, a charming Main Street, and a cat café selling 16 different types of macarons – there’s really no need to say any more...but I will.

Evansville is situated on the Ohio River in the southwest corner of Indiana, right next to Kentucky and Illinois. It only came onto my radar last month when my kids told me it was less than a 4½ -hr drive from Huntsville, and they were attending a concert at the arena there. I knew absolutely nothing about this city, so I decided to go along. I had such a great time exploring the city over three days, which was not nearly enough time to experience all it has to offer. I didn’t even make it to the Dream Car Museum! I’m definitely going back.

Evansville Convention & Visitors Bureau on the riverwalk in a repurposed park pagoda

Downtown Riverwalk

Nowadays, it seems that just about every city has a thriving/revived and walkable downtown, and Evansville does not disappoint. In addition to gorgeous historic architecture, a riverfront promenade, and prehistoric Native American mounds, Evansville has attractions I would not expect to find in a city of this size (less than 120,000 people), including a 45-acre zoo, an 11,000-seat arena, an art museum with a very impressive permanent collection, and a new (2017) land-based Tropicana casino.

Downtown is full of interesting architecture and monuments. The Old Vanderburgh County Courthouse was built in 1888 on the site of a basin in the filled-in Wabash and Erie Canal. A tunnel leads to the Old Vanderburgh County Jail across the street, which was modeled after Liechtenstein Castle.

Old Vanderburgh County Courthouse

Old Vanderburgh County Jail

Koch Family Children's Museum in the old Art Deco-style library building

The old post office and customs house (now an event center)

Main Street has plenty of restaurants in the historic buildings, including Arazu (Mediterranean food)

At River Kitty Cat Café on Main Street you can watch the kitties on the other side of the glass while enjoying macarons (delicious!), coffee, smoothies, hummus, and more. You can also spend time with the kitties inside their enclosure.

River Kitty Cat Café on Main Street

Kitties napping in the glass-enclosed kitty lounge

Almond, Coffee Caramel, Creme Brulee,
and White Chocolate macarons

Fun on Main Street

The Bru Burger Bar is located in this fabulous Streamline Moderne-style Greyhound bus station built in 1938.

The Evansville Museum of Arts, History and Science is much larger than I expected and includes art galleries, a hands-on children's science section, an immersive theater and planetarium, an anthropology gallery, and an old Evansville city street recreation. The history collection includes furniture made by Abraham Lincoln and objects owned by his parents. The art collection includes American and European works from the 16^th century to the present. The museum is located right on the river, so there is a nice view from the outdoor sculpture garden. 

The Transportation Center is also on the campus of the Evansville Museum of Arts, History and Science.

Angel Mounds State Historic Site is also located on the Ohio River, about 10 miles east of downtown. Here you can see the mound remains of a town built by people of the Mississippian culture and occupied from 1100-1450 AD. The site includes a small museum and an outdoor recreation of a section of the impressive wall that once surrounded the town. Inside the museum you can see how this type of wall was built.

I took a walk through the Tropicana Evansville Casino to see all the colorful lights. I tried to play a quarter machine but it didn't take quarters (cards only)! The casino complex includes several restaurants and hotels, along with an event space with floor-to-ceiling views of the river.

Imagine having your local library in a Victorian gothic building like this! The Willard Library was built with private funds in 1885 and is one of the oldest libraries in the midwest. The interior features lots of beautiful oak wood, and the children's section (in the basement) has modern stained glass windows. The library is supposed to be haunted by the Grey Lady. You can even watch for her on the Willard LibraryGhostCams. 

I visited the Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden on a very rainy Monday morning, but the grounds were still beautiful. It was founded in 1928 and has a few artifacts on display from its early days. However, it is a thoroughly modern zoo with large enclosures surrounding a central lake. Animal exhibits are grouped by region, including an indoor Amazonia rainforest. My favorite animal was the prehensile-tailed porcupine, native to South America. The zoo also has a carousel, pedal boat rides, a tram, and beautiful views of the lake area.

I always enjoy exploring historic districts and Evansville has 425 buildings in its Riverside Historic District. 

One of the buildings in the Riverside Historic District is the Reitz Home Museum, where I had a tour guide all to myself on my Sunday afternoon tour. I have been on a lot of home tours and this one was particularly interesting. It had several things I had not seen in other homes, including stained glass windows on hinges with electric lights behind them for dark days, a still-functional electric servant call bell, and flame-heated clothes drying racks in the basement. (The guide said the Biltmore has such a contraption too, but I don't remember seeing it on the tour I took there.) The original owner of the home was in the lumber business, and every room in the home has a different parquet pattern in the wood flooring.

One famous house that is not located in the historic district is the house from the opening credits of the 1990's TV show Roseanne.

Here are some more pictures of the architectural (including Mid-Century Modern) and art sights around downtown.

The sights I didn't get to see on this trip include the Dream Car Museum, Evansville African American Museum, Evansville Wartime Museum, and the USS LST-325 (a World War II-era naval landing ship, which also sails to other ports in the summer, so I have been able to tour it in Huntsville).