History of Evansville, Indiana, USA

Evansville, a flourishing town, port of entry, and capital of Vanderburg county, Indiana, is situated on a high bank of the Ohio river, 200 miles from its mouth, and 200 miles below Louisville, in Kentucky. It is connected by railroad with Vincennes, 60 miles distant, and is the terminus of the Wabash and Erie canal, which was completed in 1853. This canal, which is about 460 miles long, is the most extensive in the Union. The course of the river is here so winding that Evansville is not far from the centre of the county. The situation is fine, on ground which ascends gradually. About one-fourth of the houses are built of brick, and the others of wood. Among the public buildings are 9 or 10 brick churches, a court house, the branch of the State Bank, a splendid and costly edifice, and a marine hospital. There are 6 printing offices. The commercial advantages above named, together with the navigation of the Ohio, which is seldom obstructed either by drought or ice below Evansville,...

Evansville, Ind., May 29. -- A tremendous rain fall visited this city yesterday afternoon. The centre of the cloud-burst seemed within the territory bounded by Indiana and John Streets and Main Street and Garfield Avenue, and the streets and pavements in that district were covered with water to a depth of six inches. Cellars were flooded and many first floors of stores and residences were flooded causing heavy damage. Street car travel was suspended. The Evansville & Terre Haute passenger depot and yards were flooded to a depth of six inches. The loss to property will reach $20,000.

IN INDIANA.
Later Reports Show the Loss of Life and Property Increasing.

EVANSVILLE, Ind., March 31. - Every hour brings additional news of the dreadful results of the tornado which passed over the Ohio valley on Thursday night, and it seems as if the calamity has neglected no community in its work of destruction to property and life. News from all directions is of the most sickening and harrowing.

In Union township, below the city, the waves dashed against the soft band and carried nine farm houses and a crossroads grocery away - not a vestige of any of them is left remaining. Several of the farmers lost most of their live stock. The waves carried off about 1,200 feet of bank.

Evansville, a city and port of entry of Indiana, the capital of Vanderburg co, is situated on a high bank of the Ohio River, about 190 miles below Louisville, and 190 miles above Cairo. It is on the St. Louis & Southeastern Rail road (which here crosses the river by a ferry-boat), 162 miles E.S.E. of St. Louis, and is the south terminus of the Evansville & Terre Haute Railroad, which connects here with the Lake Erie, Evansville & Southwestern Railroad, 109 miles S. of Terre Haute. The course of the river is here so remarkably sinuous that Evansville, though upon its bank, is near the centre of the county. The city contains about 50 churches, a city hall, 5 national banks, a savings bank, a high school, a handsome court-house, an opera-house, a custom-house, 8 public halls, a United States marine hospital, and printing offices which issue 6 daily and 5 weekly newspapers; 2 of the dailies are in the German language. Its prosperity is chiefly derived from trade, and extensive...

Evansville, Ind., March 31 - St. Boniface Catholic church, located in the western suburbs of this city, was struck by lightning at an early hour Sunday morning. The structure took fire, and the interior of the building was a mass of flames before an alarm was turned in. When the department arrived it was too late to do any good. The building is an entire loss. Rev. Father Burkhardt, when he heard of the loss, fainted, and for several hours was unconscious. His residence, to the left of the church, was damaged, and his fine library, worth many thousands of dollars, was destroyed.

St. Boniface was probably the largest and finest Catholic church in this state on this side of Indianapolis. It was commenced in 1878 and finished in 1881. The dedication ceremony brought nearly 50,000 people to the city. The church cost about $200,000, and there was only $10,000 insurance on the edifice. The congregation is wealthy, and the church will be rebuilt at once.

Evansville, Ind., March 20 - Five were killed and a score injured in an explosion at the Sunnyside mine this afternoon.
The dead:
WILLIAM SCHNUTE.
SAMUEL COOMER.
NELSON WALLINGHAM, SR. (colored).
NELSON WALLINGHAM, JR. (colored).
JOSEPH SCHENK.

The explosion was caused by a windy shot, due to an overcharge of powder said to have been placed by JOHN PETIT.

PETIT is burned over his entire body and will die.

The dead were all killed by sulphuric fumes which followed the shot.
The mine was swept as if by a whirlwind.

Twenty-nine men were in the mine when the explosion occurred.
The rescuers found the dead, injured and suffering miners thrown over all portions of the west shaft.

All the dead and injured were identified as fast as brought from the mine cage.

The first intimation of the disaster to those on the surface was a terrific concussion which stopped the fan. Realizing what had occurred the engineer turned the full power on the fan and began filling the mine ...