Evansville is located in
Vanderburgh County and is the county seat. It lies east of Mount Vernon along highways 66 and 62, on the banks of the Ohio River.
Founded in 1816, Evansville became a trade center because of the many steamboats that traveled the river after 1817. It received its charter in 1847.
Today, Evansville is home to a significant number of plastics-related firms, earning it the nickname, "Plastics Valley." Other companies are involved in pharmaceutical, aluminum sheet, food products, and home appliance production. The population estimate for 1998 was 122,779. Evansville is home to The University of Evansville and the University of Southern Indiana campuses.
Places to visit are the Angel Mounds State Historic Park, one of the best preserved prehistoric Native American sites in the United States; and the Evansville Museum, which offers more than 30 exhibits, artwork from the 16th century onward and an early 1900s Main Street.
Evansville is part of the Evansville-Henderson, Indiana-Kentucky metro area.
