Woodmere Traditional Cache

In 1883, the Indiana General Assembly authorized the construction of the Southern Indiana Hospital for the Insane.

The hospital was built on 160 acres of land on Newburgh Road, now known as Lincoln Avenue, between Evansville and Newburgh. The hospital saw its first patients admitted in October 1890. The campus quickly expanded, eventually holding nearly 900 acres of what is now the East Side of Evansville, including the land eventually repurposed for Robert Stadium, St. Mary’s Medical Center and Wesselman’s Woods Nature Preserve. Using patient labor, the hospital staffed a working farm, including dairy cows, poultry and an orchard.

Due to stigma, early staff unofficially took to calling the facility Woodmere, meaning “tranquility in the forest.” In 1927, the General Assembly officially changed the name to the Evansville State Hospital. On February 9, 1943, a fire set by an attendant destroyed much of the original building, leaving at least two staff members dead and six patients missing.

Log only. BYOP. Stealth will be needed. Please put back as found. Enjoy!