Whether you have lived in Evansville your entire life or are passing through for only a few days, Evansville City View offers you an illustrated pullout map to tour your town. Be a tourist in your own city and visit the places that attract visitors from miles away. Get outside with hikes at Wesselman Woods, or breathe in history at Willard Library and Bosse Field, or catch a show at the Ford Center. Your exploration begins now. Welcome to Evansville.
It’s often said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. With a bounty of diners, cafés, and restaurants in Evansville, it’s hard to pick just one place to visit for some early-morning fuel. Here’s a list of desired deals, hopping hotspots, and homey hole-in-the-walls that offer the best breakfast in town.
Evansville, unlike most Indiana cities, is home to not one, but two successful four-year universities — the University of Southern Indiana and the University of Evansville. The two schools have been a notable part of the Evansville community and culture for a combined total of 212 years. During those more than two centuries, the universities have achieved many accolades, and 2015 was no different. The University of Southern Indiana celebrated its 50th anniversary in style, racking up numerous awards and recognitions.
Archery and lacrosse have caught fire as club sports among high schools in the Evansville-Newburgh areas. Teams in both sports play at the club level at most schools in the Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corp., Catholic Diocese of Evansville Schools, and at Warrick County School Corp. The EVSC offers 19 sports that are sanctioned by the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA). Archery and lacrosse are offered as a club sport only in the high schools by outside organizations, according to Lekita Hart, assistant athletic director for the EVSC.
For many years, the fate of Oak Meadow Country Club was unknown. Suffering from a major fire in 1997, and later attempting to climb out of financial distress, it wasn’t until David and Karen Blankenberger purchased the membership-owned club that it experienced revitalization.
From savoring produce at the peak of freshness to meeting the people who grow your food, there are countless reasons to learn to live like a locavore. Taste real flavors, buy in season, support family farmers, nourish yourself, and know where your food comes from by navigating our sustainable food landscape at these area farmers markets in Southern Indiana.
In 2015, Evansville residents took to the polls in November to decide on who would be mayor of the city for the next four years. Up against competition from Democrat Gail Riecken and Independent Steve Wozniak, incumbent mayor Lloyd Winnecke would win his re-election bid with more than 60 percent of the vote, landing his second term in the top city seat. Evansville City View sat down with the mayor and asked him about plans for his second term, what he loves most about the city, and more.
When in need of a break, John Scott Foster, executive director of the Wesselman Woods Nature Preserve, has the unique opportunity to get up from his desk and take a walk in the woods. “This is just such a fabulous place,” he says of the old growth forest located at 551 N. Boeke Road. “It’s so incredibly beautiful, and it’s so incredibly beautiful all the time.”
When Barb Dykstra was about to graduate from the University of Evansville in 1986, the sports management major and star basketball player realized she couldn’t bear to say goodbye to the athletics world. (Dykstra is now a member of UE’s Athletics Hall of Fame and remains the Lady Aces’ fourth leading scorer of all time.) After graduation, she took a job with the YMCA of Southwestern Indiana working the front desk, helping with youth programs, and officiating basketball games at the Downtown YMCA.
Every day, University of Evansville faculty member Joe Atkinson walks past the “Weeping Basketball” in the Memorial Plaza on campus. Stone slabs are etched with the 29 names of members of the Aces men’s basketball team who lost their lives on Dec. 13, 1977, in a fatal plane crash.
A city will see many momentous occasions during its lifetime. From natural events and political races to business openings and war industry, Evansville has had its fair share of memorable moments in history. One modern-day event sure to stick in the minds of residents will be the construction of the Evansville Multi-Institutional Academic Health Science Education and Research Campus in Downtown.
On the banks of the Ohio River, many local manufacturing businesses saw the abundant supply of corn, rail access, and a willing work force as an ideal location to settle. Several family-owned businesses have continued operations through multiple generations and have deep roots and investments in the area. The companies have evolved as consumer trends have shifted — some changing their profit strategies, some buying other entities to create a diverse portfolio, and some staying ahead by regularly introducing new products.
When Aaron Johnson was little, his mother took him to the Evansville Freedom Festival, not to watch the full-throttle, full-sized hydroplane boat races the Freedom Festival was known for, but to see the opening act — a miniature boat race called “Little Thunder.” A group called the River City Racing Club, a model power boating club that has been competing around the country since 1981, performed Little Thunder.
On June 6, 1906, the Washington Post asked, “Who, excepting Kentuckians and their favored Southern Friends and kinsmen, has ever really known the bliss of genuine burgoo?” We believe those mentioned include rural Vanderburgh County residents.
It’s the highest ranked local school you’ve never heard of. New Tech Institute was named by U.S. News and World Report as one of the Nation’s Best High Schools in spring 2015. Located at 1901 Lynch Road in the same building as the Southern Indiana Career & Technical Center, the institute was launched in 2010 as a project-based learning school with a focus on science, technology, engineering, and math.
For those in the area who have a love of history and a thirst for knowledge of Evansville’s and Vanderburgh County’s pasts, the Vanderburgh County Historical Society (VCHS) offers a camaraderie of like-minded individuals and a chance to add to history. Originally formed in the 1880s, VCHS served as a focal point for Vanderburgh County history, says current Society President Terry Hughes.
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