This early view of Southeast Riverside and Cherry Street is still recognizable today. The stately residence on the corner (left) has stood since 1856. Originally designed in the Italianate style, it was remodeled to its current French-inspired appearance in 1873.Â
Across the street from the row of houses is Sunset Park, which was just beginning to be developed around the turn of the century when this photo was taken. The large building in the park was a two-story frame residence erected around 1850. In 1906, it became home to the first Evansville Museum but was razed four years later after its condition was deemed unsafe.
After a few decades of homelessness, then regrouping in another old building on Northwest Second Street, the Museum returned to its original location in Sunset Park when a new facility opened in the late 1950s.
