The Vanderburgh County Historical Society Board of Directors has voted to avoid large, in-person, in-door gatherings for the remainder of the year, but we do have several interesting history projects in the works. Plus we have a one-time membership offer. We have reduced membership from $20 a year to $10 a year. The change is already reflected in the PayPal drop down menu to the right.
Please consider becoming a member of VCHS. We use the funds to defray expenses and sponsor larger projects such as the two-hour documentary feature Evansville at War. We also digitized at considerable expense portions of the Bernard Noelting 16mm film collection. We have future projects in the works, projects that will require expenditures. Please help us out by becoming a member. Follow the steps identified in the Join/Donate section to the right. If you don’t use PayPal, we have other methods to join. Click here.
Meanwhile, we do have some projects planned that do not involve large indoors gatherings.
Walking Tours
Walking tours are free and open to the public. Reservations are not necessary, but we appreciate notice that you will attend. Email to mailto:vchshistory.org
North Main Street: on Wednesday, September 1, 2021 at 6:00 PM starting at the Zesto on Franklin Street. Joe Engler, creator of historicevansville.com will lead the tour that begins and ends at the Zesto on West Franklin Street. The approximate tour time is 1 hour and 20 minutes
Franklin Street: Then and Now on Sunday, September 19, 2021 at 2:00 PM starting at the West Side Library on Franklin Street. Jon Carl, award winning US History teacher from FJ Reitz High School, and his Feel the History class will conduct the tour.
A Non-Walking Walking Tour of Historic Third and Main on Sunday, October 3, 2021 at 2:00 PM starting at the intersection of Main and Third Streets. Vanderburgh County Historian Stan Schmitt will lead the tour that talks about Evansville’s most historic intersection. The only walking involves moving from one corner to the next. Stan will discuss the platting of the city, the formation of the county, the first three county courthouses and jails, and the historic Washington House (Comfort restaurant). The discussion does include several violent events that took place in the immediate area.
Oak Hill Cemetery Twilight Tour — benefit for the Adopt an Ash Program attempting to save 23 Ash Trees within Oak Hill Cemetery from the Emerald Ash Borer.
The Twilight Tour will be held on Saturday, October 16th at 5:00pm. Tickets are $15.00 and can be ordered via Pay Pal at vchshistory.org or you can pay in person the night of the event. Sign in tables will be located at the Veterans Plaza just inside the main gate of the cemetery. This tour is the fifth of its kind in the 168 year existence of Oak Hill and will feature LIVE RE-ENACTORS. You can learn more about how you can help in the fight against Emerald Ash Borer in Evansville by visiting evansville.adoptanash.org.
For questions, please email VCHS Board Member and Cemetery Superintendent Chris Cooke at ccooke@evansville.in.gov.
Pay Pal Link:
Articles in Maturity Journal
The VCHS Board of Directors has a agreed to write an history oriented article each month for Maturity Journal.
• August 2021: Stan Schmitt on 1906 Sunnyside Coal Mining Disaster
• September 2021: Dr, James MacLeod on Karl K. Knecht
• October 2021: Terry Hughes on the 100th Anniversary of the Victory Theater
• November 2021: Tom Lonnberg on Early Downtown Hotels
• December 2021: Steve Appel on Cook’s Park
• January 2022 : Dr. Stella Ress on Four Freedoms Monument
• February 2022: Chris Cooke on Oak Hill Cemetery
• March 2022: Joe Engler on the Coliseum
• April 2022: Amber Gowen – Evansville Nurses during WWI
Maturity Journal is available for free at locations listed on this pdf.
You can subscribe to Maturity Journal by completing this form and sending payment to Maturity Journal.
Potential Maturity Journal publication dates – subject to change depending upon the lengths of articles submitted.
Potential Zoom Presentation
We are developing a Zoom Presentation for October. Board member Dr. James MacLeod, Professor of History and Department Chair at University of Evansville, will present Creating a New City: Evansville in the 1960s. We will send out updates once the plans for this Zoom presentation solidify.
Self-Directed Vanderburgh County Tavern Tour
Don’t forget our online Vanderburgh County Tavern Tour. We originally starting planning the Tavern Tour for the Vanderburgh County Bicentennial, but we ran into issues of transportation and liability. Instead, we wrote the tour as part of the IUPUI’s Discover Indiana project. The tour is self-directed and takes tourists to the site of the former Dogtown Tavern, The Hilltop Inn, the St. Joe Inn, the Nisbet Inn, the Darmstadt Inn, the Hornet’s Nest, and the site of Hagedorn’s Tavern. This tour is available online at Discover Indiana. Visit the taverns that are still open, sample the fare, and have a look at these taverns that once anchored local communities.