Evansville is home to a lot of unique buildings including the first enclosed retail shopping center in Indiana. Yes, our very own Washington Square Mall was the place to be when it opened in 1963. Check out the photo gallery below featuring Then & Now photos. If you walk through the mall today, you would never guess how alive the shops were, even through the 1980s.

EBAY - BABY SHOP EVANSVILLE
EBAY - BABY SHOP EVANSVILLE
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The Baby Shop was one of the popular stores in Washington Square Mall. These days we sign up for birthday deals with businesses and you get an email addressed to you. That's nice, but the owners of The Baby Shop sent out personalized postcards for their customer's birthdays.

Keep scrolling to see more vintage Indiana postcards

Let's all take 30 seconds and laugh at this super cheesy television ad for Washington Square Mall.

I recently walked through our 'Dead Mall', and it really was kind of sad. Nearly every retail space is empty. There is also a creepy laugh that echos every so often. Don't worry, it's probably not haunted. It's just one of the little kid rides that are strangely at the food court area. Like who takes their littles to the mall with basically no shops, just for the little rides?

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Up until recently maybe you stopped in for a cookie or a tamale at Just Cookies. Yes, Ron Rhodes says that was on the secret menu. But alas, it has left Washington Square, too. But there is a shining beacon of an OPEN sign right above the glorious cheese pump at Noble Roman's.

Yes, I said NOBLE ROMAN'S! This is an original pizza shop serving up those famous breadsticks with that cheese sauce. Remember the Pan One? They've got 'em. I asked the guys working what they would like to see in our mall and they simply said - People.

Enjoy this walk down memory lane I've put together. Maybe you'll recognize someone in the photos. It will definitely give you all of the nostalgia feels. I can practically smell the fountain now.

Then & Now - Evansville's Washington Square Mall Through the Years

Evansville is home to a lot of unique buildings including the first enclosed retail shopping center in Indiana. Yes, our very own Washington Square Mall was the place to be when it opened in 1963. If you walk through the mall today, you would never guess how alive the shops were, even through the 1980s. Enjoy this walk down memory lane I've put together, and maybe someday there will be new life inside 5011 Washington Ave.

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