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Evansville
Saturday, July 19, 2025

Across the Street

For as long as our family has lived in our house, we announce to one another sometimes several times a day, “I’m going across the street.” During our coronavirus quarantine, this announcement has been made even more frequently. Our across-the-street neighbors Tom and Donna are wonderful, but we’re not visiting with them several times a day; nor are we seeing our catty-corner neighbors Chris and Siobhan, who are equally wonderful. Where we are going now when we make this announcement is the “park” — the Evansville State Hospital grounds directly across Lincoln Avenue from our house.

▲ The vast grounds of the Evansville State Hospital have grown even more popular for families to visit during the pandemic.

My sons grew up playing on the grounds of the Evansville State Hospital. They know all the nooks and crannies. Maxwell remembers some of the original buildings; the last were torn down in 2008. On a recent walk with Maxwell and our family dog Jed, Max showed me a small ravine sloping down from behind the Eykamp Scout Center toward the baseball park along Vann Avenue. During 7th and 8th grade cross-country practices held on the grounds, the boys would duck into the ravine to lighten their training load.

In 1883, the Indiana General Assembly authorized the construction of the Southern Indiana Hospital for the Insane. The hospital was built on 160 acres of land on Newburgh Road, now known as Lincoln Avenue. The first patients were seen in 1890. The campus quickly expanded, eventually holding nearly 900 acres of what is now the East Side of Evansville, including the land eventually repurposed for Roberts Stadium, St. Mary’s Medical Center, and Wesselman Woods Nature Preserve. Using patient labor, the hospital staffed a working farm, including dairy cows, poultry, and an orchard. Due to stigma, early staff unofficially took to calling the facility Woodmere, meaning “tranquility in the forest.”

▲ My kids discovered some of the secrets of the Evansville State Hospital growing up, like this plaque marking a time capsule buried in 1990 for the hospital’s centennial. It is to be opened in 2040.

Today, the land west of the main entrance off Lincoln and north to the Lloyd Expressway is owned by the city of Evansville. The land east of Administration Drive, including a softball diamond and the lakes, all the way to the eastern property line is owned by the State Office Building Commission. The actual State Hospital is owned by the State Hospital of Evansville.

▲ The Evansville State Hospital grounds are home to the Display Garden of the Southwest Indiana Master Gardener Association.
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Kristen K. Tucker
Kristen K. Tucker
Kristen K. Tucker formed Tucker Publishing Group, Inc., along with her husband, Todd, in September 1999 and published the first issue of Evansville Living in March 2000. Kristen, publisher and editor of Evansville Living, holds a bachelor’s degree in public relations and English from Western Kentucky University and a master’s degree in liberal studies from the University of Southern Indiana. Kristen has recently served on the board of directors of The Catholic Foundation of Evansville, the Board of Advisors for the IU Medical School Evansville, and Indiana Landmarks. In 2007, she helped found the Women’s Fund of Vanderburgh County. She also is a member of the 125-year-old Social Literary Club. Kristen is the 2003 Athena Award recipient and the 2006 recipient of the Indiana Commission for Women’s Torchbearer Award. Tucker Publishing Group, Inc., magazines have won dozens of awards through the years from the City & Regional Magazine Association, the Advertising Federation of Evansville, the Evansville Design Group, and the Indiana Society of Professional Journalists. A native of Des Moines, Iowa, Kristen moved with her family to Evansville, her father’s hometown, in 1971. She attended Caze Elementary School, and Castle Jr. and Castle Sr. High Schools in Newburgh, Indiana. Kristen and Todd have two adult sons, Maxwell and Jackson. Kristen enjoys walking, travel, Pilates, and reading.

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