The Bayard Park Neighborhood is a neighborhood in

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...

which is bounded by Lincoln Avenue,

US Highway 41 U.S. Route 41, also U.S. Highway 41 (US 41), is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs from Miami, Florida, to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Until 1949, the part in southern Florida, from Naples to Miami, ...

, Washington Avenue and Garvin Street. The Bayard Park Historic District contains approximately 87 acres including 335 contributing buildings and 1 contributing site within the neighborhood boundaries. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1985. The architecture of residential homes in the neighborhood include quaint 1890s

Queen Anne cottages Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mothe ...

, ground-hugging bungalows, American Fourquares, and high-style Early American and English revival types. The neighborhood also features Evansville's first neighborhood park and the East Branch Library, a Carnegie Library funded by the renowned philanthropist

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...

History

The Bayard Park enclave took root in the last decades of the 19th century as the city of Evansville expanded eastward. The area's future as a residential area was determined when various owners of the land determined in 1893 to prohibit, via recorded plan restrictions, any type of commerce in their respective subdivisions. This made the neighborhood the first planned land development in Evansville. ''Note:'' This includes an
Site map
/ref> By 1897, the area had been annexed into Evansville which brought with it city amenities like water and sewer lines, and the erection of a public school. As the 20th century commenced, the city's

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Commo ...

moved heavily into the area, with the period of 1905 to 1915 one of intense development. By the beginning of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, the residential district was fully established.

Demographics

Like many urbanized neighborhoods, Bayard Park has undergone significant demographic changes over the years. In 2009 about 22.9% of the residents in the historic district of the neighborhood lived below the

Poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, compared with 13.7% in the city as a whole.

Bayard Park

Bayard Park, located within the neighborhood and giving the district its name, was Evansville's first neighborhood preserve. The ten-acre tract was donated in 1901 to the city for perpetual park use by Mrs. Martha Orr Bayard (1836–1909). The gift was made on the condition that the park be named after her late husband, banker Samuel Bayard, and that she be allowed to landscape it; however, she further stipulated that the city was to provide maintenance.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Indiana Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Indiana Victorian architecture in Indiana Geography of Evansville, Indiana Historic districts in Evansville, Indiana Tourist attractions in Evansville, Indiana National Register of Historic Places in Evansville, Indiana