Evansville is beautifully situated on the eastern side of the Kaskaskia River. The land upon which it is built is hilly, affords good drainage, and had fine plats for dwellings and businesses. In 1805, Alexander Clark settled on a farm three miles south of Evansville. In 1807, John Campbell from South Carolina settled near the mouth of the Nine Mile Creek.

The Village of Evansville apparently had two beginnings. In 1811, a man by the name of Andrew White was the first one who saw the natural fitness of the region for a good town and he formed a town site among the beautiful rolling hillside of the east banks of the Kaskaskia River. What progress the place made from that time until 1834 no one seems to know. It is recorded that in that year a gentleman by the name of Cadwell Evans laid part of it out into streets and lots. This was the beginning of the Village of Evansville.