From malaria on the Patoka to high ground in 1814
Gibson County's first choice for a seat was Patoka, but its low-lying spot along the Patoka River brought a malaria outbreak, so commissioners moved the county seat to higher ground about four miles south in 1814 and named it Princeton, for commissioner Captain William Prince. That original decision to build on higher, drier ground still shapes how Princeton's oldest neighborhoods sit relative to the surrounding lowland.
Princeton's high-ground core versus its newer edges
As Gibson County's largest town among Evansville's eight surrounding communities, Princeton has grown well beyond that original high-ground townsite, and newer construction on the town's edges doesn't always share the same elevation or drainage advantages the founders picked in 1814. A foundation evaluation should treat 'which Princeton' a property is in -- historic high ground or newer expansion -- as a real starting question.