Historic Evansville

Jacobsville

Approximate map of Jacobsville

Jacobsville, the area east of First Ave and north of Columbia St, then 11th St (Lamasco), was named after Hannah Jacobs. The area around her farmhouse on Maryland between Oakley and Edgar was platted out for a town, but it quickly became engulfed by the growing Evansville. Jacobsville first appears as a location in the 1863 city directory, but the neighborhood was officially annexed sometime around 1868.

When Evansville adopted a numbering system in 1873, most of the streets were renamed to align with the city names on the opposite side of the road. At the same time, Lamasco's numbered streets running east-west were given the state names we know today. The following table summarizes the name changes and explains the jogs at Columbia St.

OLD STREET NAME	NEW STREET NAME
Dunk Ave / Dunk's Lane	Oakley St*
Jacobs Ave	Edgar St*
German St	Mary St
Ann St / Marshall St	Harriet St

^{* renamed later in 1907}

As the north side continued to grow, Jacobsville became known as a blue collar community which expanded from Columbia St north to Morgan Ave between First Ave and Main St.

Over the years, Jacobsville has become synonymous with the entire North Main neighborhood, but the original area--sometimes called "Old Jacobsville"--is principally north of Columbia St. Today Jacobsville Park at Maryland and Baker and the Jacobsville Aparments on the old Stockyard property bear the name of the old community.

View the map of the North Main district including Jacobsville

Research Notes

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Jacobsville

Research Notes