The Willard Carpenter House, located at 405 Carpenter Street in

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

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 ...

, is one of two landmarks recognized as memorials to one of the city's most influential pioneers, philanthropist Willard Carpenter. The other is

Willard Library The Willard Library is a private donation library incorporated in 1881 to serve the city of Evansville, Indiana, and to carry out the terms of a private trust. The Willard Library houses a trove of local archives and genealogical materials in add ...

which he built, endowed and gave to the people of the area. Willard Carpenter, born on March 15, 1803, at Strafford, Orange County, Vermont, was a son of Willard, Sr., and Polly (Bacon) Carpenter, and a descendant of the noted

Rehoboth Carpenter family The Rehoboth Carpenter family is an American family that helped settle the town of Rehoboth, Massachusetts in 1644. Note: This book has been reprinted and duplicated by many organizations in print, CD, DVD, & digital formats. This 900-plus page to ...

. Construction on Willard Carpenter's house, an early Evansville mansion, began in 1848 and was completed in 1849. It is a two-story,

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

style dwelling constructed by local "mechanics" including carpenter Gottlieb Bippus and masons Knoll and Tenford. The brick for the 21" thick walls was made close by while other materials were brought down the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

from

Lawrenceburg, Indiana Lawrenceburg is a city in Dearborn County, Indiana, United States. The population was 5,042 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat and largest city of Dearborn County. Lawrenceburg is in southeast Indiana, on the Ohio River west of Cinci ...

. Furniture was purchased by the Carpenters in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and shipped to Evansville via

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

. ''Note:'' This includes When built the Carpenter house was one of three conspicuous Evansville landmarks (the Robert Barnes residence and the State Bank were the other two, both now demolished) and people came from many miles to view it. Its format of block massing, low hip roof with a deck and Greek Revival motifs ( Doric-ordered portico, entablature with frieze board pierced by rectangular window, eaves dentil molding and roof cornice) are very similar to examples found in other Ohio River towns, notably Vevay and

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

, and are suggestive of New England heritage. The home passed from Carpenter ownership in the Depression years when the property was purchased by Funkhouser American Legion Post. In 1956, they sold the property to WTVW. Medco purchased the mansion in 1974 and restored the home to as close to original condition as possible. Medco stayed in the home until 1985, when it was purchased by

WNIN (TV) WNIN (channel 9) is a PBS member television station in Evansville, Indiana, United States. Owned by WNIN Tri-State Public Media, it is sister to NPR member station WNIN-FM (88.3). The two outlets share studios in downtown Evansville and transmit ...

. It now also houses the offices of

WNIN-FM WNIN-FM is the NPR (National Public Radio) member station in Evansville, Indiana, with offices in downtown Evansville at the corner of Main Street and Riverside Drive. It broadcasts on 88.3 MHz FM. The radio station streams online via the W ...

.WNIN Tri-State Public Media, Oct 6, 2009. 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 1978.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carpenter, Willard, House Historic American Buildings Survey in Indiana Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Indiana Houses completed in 1849 Greek Revival houses in Indiana Georgian Revival architecture in Indiana 1849 establishments in Indiana Houses in Evansville, Indiana National Register of Historic Places in Evansville, Indiana