Published by The Evansville Courier

A few blacks settled in the Evansville area during the 1820s, most of whom were freed or escaped slaves. Indiana passed a law in 1851 prohibiting blacks from settling in the state and by 1860, fewer than 100 black residents lived in the Evansville area.

Most were unskilled, finding work as house servants, cooks, laborers and washwomen. A few were skilled as bakers or carpenters but for the most part, black residents made a meager living.

The biggest percentage of blacks here who did not live in servants' quarters resided in the area of Eighth and Canal streets during the mid-1800s.

It wasn't until after the Civil War that Evansville's black population began to grow. By 1870 the black population had reached 2,130 and by 1880 there were 3,819 blacks here. When Evansville's population reached 59,007 in 1900, the black population was 7,405.

Very early Irish immigrants - including the Hugh McGary family - left Northern Ireland to escape political strife. But Evansville's largest group of Irish immigrants didn't begin arriving until after 1845, when a two-year potato famine caused the starvation deaths of some 750,000 Irish people - nearly half of the population.

It happened that the influx of Irish immigrants coincided with Indiana's work on the Wabash and Erie Canal. Many Irish came to the Midwest - and to Evansville - to work on the canal and railroads. Many died, as well while working on the canal.