Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Evansville

EVANSVILLE, a city of America, capital of Vanderburg county, Indiana, is situated on a high bank of the Ohio river, 200 miles below Louisville, Kentucky—measuring by the windings of the river, which double the direct distance. On account of the peculiar bend of the river at this point, Evansville is built somewhat in the shape of a crescent, and is sometimes called the “Crescent City.” It has railway communication in various directions; and the Wabush and Erie Canal, completed in 1853, extends from it to Toledo, Ohio, a distance of 400 miles. Evansville is a busy commercial and manufacturing town, and is rapidly increasing. It is the principal shipping port for the grain and pork of south-western Indiana; and among its other articles of export are lime, cotton, dried fruit, and tobacco. It has flour mills, breweries, iron founderies, tanneries, machine shops, and woollen and cotton factories. Coal and iron ore are found in the vicinity. The principal buildings are the court-house, the city hall, the high school, the marine hospital, and a new building in which are included the post-office, the United States courts, and the custom-house. The population, which in 1860 was 11,484, had increased in 1870 to 21,830.