Evansville began around 1858 when Evan Evanson, the first mail carrier to carry mail through this area, chose to rest here on his route which ran between St. Cloud and Fort Abercrombie in North Dakota. In 1859 Mr. Evanson erected a shanty or stopping place in the spring and when J.C. Burbank & Co. of St. Paul began running a stage line his building became the stage station. The station remained open until the Indian outbreak of 1862.

 

Many of the early settlers went to Sauk Centre and St. Cloud until a squad of soldiers arrived and the men returned to attend to their crops. The soldiers stayed until 1866. The townsite was laid out in 1872 by Jacob Shanar but since he did not record it the first real townsite was laid out by Lorentz Johnson in 1879 and covered between 18 & 20 acres. This new townsite was given the name “Evansville” after Mr. Evanson, the first mail carrier. Gustav Willius later laid out the same number of acres as a new village by the name of East Evansville. The city was incorporated in 1881 and the first Evansville Fire Department was also organized that year.

 

In 1879 the railroad came to Evansville and the first edition of the Evansville Enterprise was published on October 5, 1882.

 

City Water Fountain in front of the fire department was built by Otto Moody in 1903.