Published by The Evansville Courier

In 1879, the city's eastern riverfront still was being used as a town dump when residents began to press for beautification. A campaign, complete with band concerts and speeches, was staged at the riverfront. When the dump was covered, Sunset Park took its place.

That same year, the high-wheel bicycle caused a stir when it made its first appearance on Main Street. The contraption was difficult to ride and a fall from its seat (five feet off the ground) could cause serious injury. It is said the bike made Courier headlines for days.

The shooting of President James Garfield on July 2, 1881 - and his death the following September - generated many Courier headlines. The Courier's first extra edition, a newsy one-page flier with lots of stacked headlines, was sold on the streets on June 30, 1882. It described in long and colorful detail the hanging for Garfield's assassin, Charles Guiteau.

By 1900, Evansville claimed a world-record in population growth. A census reported that the population boomed from 2,121 in 1840 to 59,007 at century's end.

Newcomers found jobs in Evansville's 500 manufacturing plants that included plow and engine works; breweries and foundries; flour, cotton and woolen mills; and factories that made cigars, furniture, barrels, carriages, glass, stoves, brooms and other goods. The city also had become one of the world's largest hardwood markets with 30 big sawmills operating around the clock to supply local and export demands.

In 1903, Evansville had seven banks, 65 churches, a free library and a fire department that enabled residents to pay the lowest insurance rates in the state of Indiana.

Old records show that The Courier's circulation - 2,500 in 1897 - skyrocketed to more than 9,000 by 1900. The newspaper in April 1896 had moved to a Locust Street location and installed four new typesetting machines, forever abolishing the slow and painful process of hand-setting. The first machine-set issue was eight pages.

The Courier moved up - and out - again in 1902. A new location at 125 Main St. housed a Goss Clipper rotary eight-page press that could turn out an amazing 1,200 copies per hour. (Today, Courier Co. presses are capable of printing 70,000 newspapers per hour.) The paper operated from its Main Street offices until the great Ohio River flood of 1937.

By 1910 (under owners Percy, Carroll and Roosa), The Courier's circulation ranked it the second-largest newspaper in Indiana - just after the Indianapolis News.

The paper's layout had evolved as well. The type and design were modernized, a sports section was added - two columns on Page 2 - and the news included more items on Indianapolis and surrounding Tri-State communities. The owners also had added illustrations like those they had seen in Chicago newspapers.