"Ken McCutchan is a life-long resident of Vanderburgh County, Indiana, descended from pioneer families that entered the area in the early 1800s. He is veteran of WWII, having served with Army Corps of Engineers in both North Africa and Europe. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English Composition and Modern Language from the University of Evansville, a certificate in French Language and Culture from the Sorbonne in Paris, and an Honorary Doctor of Letters Degree from the University of Southern Indiana. His other books include: The Adventures of Isaac Knight, From then Til Now, Saundersville, An English Settlement, At The Bend in the River, and Dearest Lizzie. Mr. McCutchan's books may be purchased at Willard Library in Evansville, IN.

White City    - History

by Kenneth McCutchan

In 1910, there was quite an excitement in Evansville over a new city that was to built directly across the river.

A promoter named J.A. "Blondy" Brown of the Crawford Development Co., who claimed to have been a longtime student of the philosophy of Herbert Spencer, said that some 12 years earlier he had come up with the idea while in Evansville to buy hardware lumber.

His plan envisioned a modern communal Utopia for Caucasians only, built on the Kentucky peninsula that thrusts into the horseshoe bend of the Ohio River.

Sand and silt would be dredged from the river to raise the land above flood stage. All the buildings, including the houses, would be built of concrete with sand from the river.

A factory covering two acres would manufacture all kinds of chewing and smoking tobacco products and would give employment to the city's residents. To eliminate politics and graft, the governing body would be a council of citizens that would meet weekly.

No one would own more than two lots, and if someone decided to sell his property, his prospective buyer would first have to be approved by the council.

In addition, Brown envisioned a bridge spanning the Ohio from the end of Fulton Avenue that would carry a railroad track for steam trains, an auxiliary track for electric interurbans and a wide road for carriage and wagon traffic.. All of this was to financed with private funds.

Supposedly around $750,000 was raises. and Brown was asking Evansville to put up an additional $500,000 and Henderson, Kentucky to put up $125,000.

Evansville architect Manson Gilbert was engaged to draw up the plans for the buildings. While some of the preliminary foundations were being laid, Evansville Mayor Charles Heilman was invited to lay the first concrete block as a symbolic cornerstone for the new Utopia.

Since the population was to be only Caucasian the project was generally referred to as "The White City." However, the Evansville Courier conducted a contest to select a new name. Hundreds of suggestions, some quite bazarre, poured in from all parts of the United States: Libertia, Caucasia, Indiken, Nuova, Mowogan, Dreamland, Mushroom, Brownapolis, Come Over, Celestia and Perfectus, to name a few.

One religous group even suggested that it be called Jerusalem.

Of course, all of Brown's grandiose plans came to naught. Two years later, in 1912, architect Gilbert filed suit in an attempt to get paid for his services.