Published by The Evansville Courier

But the coming of the first steam-powered engine ushered in a slow industrial transformation that had a great impact during the 1840s and '50s.

The city's first steam engine propelled a sawmill that stood close to the Ohio River near Vine Street. Within the next few years, steam engines were powering several lumber and grain operations and the milling industry became one of the city's leading employers. Evansville's first industry, however, was Palk Furniture Factory, founded in 1836.

Barrel-making - by craftsmen called coopers - also was an important local industry because barrels were used extensively for shipping goods up and down the Ohio. And by the mid-1840s, the waterfront was almost always piled high with barrels, crates and bales of commodities that had been received or were waiting for shipment.

Water Street was the city's busiest with the constant coming and going of steamboats and an expansive business district that included retail and wholesale centers, work contractors, hotels, lodging houses and plenty of taverns.

The city had graded the river bank and in 1848 built a wharf that became the center of trade and business activity.

Steamboats - called packet boats - carried passengers, freight and livestock on regular daily schedules. A listing of arrivals and departures was an important part of every newspaper's edition. Travelers could ride steamboats from Evansville as far south as Paducah, Ky., and upriver as far as Cincinnati. An extended passage to New Orleans - including bunk and meals - could be purchased for $15.

Extensive trading made possible by Evansville's location on the river brought vast fortunes to many businessmen.

Perhaps one of the best known was Willard Carpenter, who completed a stately mansion in 1849 (currently the home of WNIN television and radio). Robert Barnes built an impressive home on Riverside Drive in 1851, and the Charles Viele mansion at 400 SE Riverside Drive also became an imposing landmark.