This was my original childhood mall. Later Eastland Mall took that title. Here are a few bits of information you asked about in your video. The store you questioned closer to the beginning of your video was originally a, "Harry Levinson's". After its retail days the space was used to house a local malt shop. In its final use the University of Evansville used that same space as a theatre space. Between the malt shop, and the UE students that is the purple sort of retail look you were viewing. As far as WHY they dropped the word, "mall" from Washington Square a few years back. While Sears was still in the game, the owners were going to eliminate the majority of the inner mall. Plans were to make the mall into more of a big box center. Eliminating the entry to the mall from the Sears store. The current mall was going to look more like the nearby Lawndale Commons with exterior entrances to the retail stores. As you can tell, those plans never happened. One of the best things about Washington Square is if you happen to be inside the Food Court during a hard rain. The sound is incredible, and so few ever get to experience it. Great job on your footage and history of the mall. You did a great job.
I'm glad you stopped in Evansville,IN to video Washington Square Mall. As of July 2024 Goodwill Industries set to open in Nxt Month. The front and side of the old Sears is so awesome! Can't wait to see the grand opening!!! Glad they are trying to keep this mall open. Just saw a walk through in 2016 Fountain still running then!!! Stores and SEARS still open and beautiful!
Glad you looked at THE WASHINGTON SQUARE MALL!!! THE OLDEST MALL BUILT IN 1963. GLAD TO SEE ITS PAST ARCHITECTURE! I worked in the mall in the 1980's as a hairdresser in Asante's Salon!!! Love the renovations they did over the years!
This mall was a huge part of my childhood. My aunt was the manager for one of the shops and gma worked at Sears so we were there often. Throwing pennies in the fountain, cookies and lemonade at Just Cookies, destroying my brother at Galaga in the arcade, a personal pan pizza at Noble Romans for lunch, and TMNT ice cream bars for dessert(with gumball eyes - damn things were harder than a rock!) And no trip was complete without a visit to the pet store in the back! Good times!
What you're doing reminds me of what Henry Chapman Mercer did in the early 20th century. He observed that traditional crafts were dying and so made it his mission to collect as many tools, trade manuals, and ephemera as he could, adding them all to his Mercer Museum. By documenting these malls visually and with historic background, your videos may very well be all the remains of a dying cultural touchstone.
Very pleasant and enthusiastic narration. You weren't kidding when you said we'd see an iconic liminal location! Channels like yours make me inspired to create a video about my own local dying mall.
Gotta love a neon mall! But seriously, my partner and I can't stop singing this old mall's jingles. They're so catchy! Great video once again! I can't wait to see the next mall, I do hope you do a Mason City Southridge revisit (even if its not the next one!)
the ceiling in the center court is INSANE it almost looks like fabric tents i’ve never seen a mall ceiling look like that before that whole mall is so creative. i wish malls didn’t all look the same nowadays
You're right. They should put the old pictures near the entrance. That would be neat to see. The neons are my favorite and the food court was really cool. Thanks for another one.
Man I grew up going to this mall on the weekends. Now folks use it as an indoor walking park and it’s super sad. I remember being so stoked to go in and see the koi in the fountain
One of my favorite malls here in Phoenix is Christown Mall. I worked at it in the mid 2000s and it was still all 1960s original except that they had removed the bird and sand castle courts. But they still had the planters and fountains. When they did a large remodel in 2006-2008 it lost the fountains and the fun retro look BUT when the mall celebrated a birthday, they had these awesome retro posters placed throughout the mall with old photos of the place. It was so delightful. So I appreciate the malls that share their photo history.
I grew up in central Michigan, but my grandparents on my dad’s side grew up in Evansville, moved to central Michigan, and moved back to Evansville around 1987. I went there maybe once a year in the 90’s. I never really liked it much, but o remember going to a mall there most times I visited. Don’t think it was this mall though. Pretty sure it was Eastland. It had a Lazarus as an anchor; an anchor I wasn’t very familiar with. As well as an arcade called “The Gold Mine” that had prices on every arcade game there that you could not only play, but buy for anywhere from around $1,500 to $3,000. It made my eyes get wide at the idea of owning one!
We shopped at Washington Square starting in 1976, Eastland Mall located just down Green River road was built in a the 80’s which kind of killed off Washington Square, great memories 👍
I stumbled upon this video today. I attended the Catholic school across the street which used the parking lot for drop off and pick up (with a crossing guard). The food court most popular spots were Noble Roman's and Subway. The corner of the food court had an arcade named the Tilt. Even in the mid 90's, the main places I remember were Elder Beerman and Sears as the anchor tenants, with a Foot Locker in the middle. Plus a Schmitt Photo shop where you would get senior pictures, and a Libs chocolate (still the best). Even in that mid 90's timeframe, it was bleak. Outside the mall was a small strip-mall with a basketball card shop named Ball Four that was very popular, and a restaurant the Merry-Go-Round I believe it was called. Nice video.
One of my all time favorite memories of going to Washington Square was Baynham's Shoes which was near the food court on the now Noble Roman's side. My grandparents used to take me to shop for school shoes there and they had live monkeys in their enclosed glass display areas that shoppers or mall walkers could stop and watch. I loved to go watch them play and climb on the branches they had inside for them. I also remember Kinney Shoes which was down by Sears on the same side as the Evansville Rescue Mission Thrift Store now. Also, Libs Candies was down near the restaurant and there was an Orange Julius I remember too and a toy store. I used to work at Dauble's Flowers across from the food court down on the old Stewart's side of the mall and there was a Brook's Clothing Store (kind of like a Maurice's) that I loved to shop in while I was in high school and college!
Oh wow, I remember going to Washington Square several times as a youth in the mid 90s, mostly for the Sears there. It was a dead mall even back then, like you said. Eastland was jam-packed in that same time period, and it was definitely weird to have two malls so close together in a city that really couldn't support two malls.
Neon lights on a leaky ceiling Laughter dies in empty echoes and stark white walls hide the truth A threshold moves towards decay I found the visual of those neon light poetic, and that’s the best two semesters of creative writing at a community college 15 years ago could do 🤣 awesome video
Southridge Mall, Mason City Iowa Next? This is another mall where I can just imagine the 1980s and 1970s music and cars of the 1970s and 80s in the parking lot. Great Video!!
Great video as per usual! Thank you! Especially like the choice of music in all your videos. Would be great if you could include a list of music played under videos :)
Thank you for watching! As much as I would love to put in music tracks for all the songs, I do select from a library of over 600 songs so it’s a little difficult to go back and pinpoint which ones I used
i go here just about every weekend!! upset that they recently shut off the neons. also before it closed for good the 2nd liminal photo in the lenscrafters shop was an amazing antique store!!! i remember my mom bought me a mirror there lol
i saw the title and didnt realize there could be other malls with the same name. we have a washington square mall in oregon that is very much alive and bustling so i was pretty confused to see this 😅
Also not to be confused with Washington Square Mall in Tigard, Oregon, which just so happens to be one of the only malls that seems to actually still be thriving (there are so many people please save me I am a mall employee)
The 1980's were the heyday of shopping malls. It will never be the same again (except maybe in Vegas) but many have evolved and changed with the times. Anchor stores need to become arenas, rec centres, multi-retail or something else to offer the local and broad neighbourhoods a different experience.
@@BoratWanksta oh I know! As someone who grew up in Indy and spent so much time of my childhood of the 80s in that mall, I’m always curious to see how it has been falling apart.
to be COMPLETELY honest i still EQUALLY really really LOVE the evansville washington square mall lafayette square mall keystone at the crossing and you tube ALMOST as much as the indianapolis washington square mall castleton square mall greenwood park mall and circle centre mall
wow took 9 months to release video long progression. Sadly these kind of malls are dying quickly soon sadly all be gone or most sooner rather then later unfortunately. When open that entrance door sound like could hear a pin drop and heard echo of door not good sign. Another great video love back story you give on mall your in and when talk of era gone by. Beautifil neno to
You know I wonder about this being turned around. Is it the mall in Spencer? I want to say the name of it is SouthPark. I try to find great content to help with future trips to the Quad City area and stuff. I know they don't have a lot of green in it.
"Cardiology Cards and gifts" sounds like quite the place (it's a business on the history wall at the beginning of the episode). Need to have your heart checked and it's your wife's bday? We've got you covered.
I wanted to write you an angry rant about how Washington Square isn't even close to being dead but thriving, but apparently, there are other malls with the same name. Duh. I thought you were going to talk about the mall in Tigard, Oregon. My apologies heh
Would you ever consider releasing videos of just the raw footage without background music/voiceover? The videos are nice but I would really like to experience what the actual ambiance is like now
It's so sad to see mill everywhere closing because they us save gas mill would be a great place to save gas i know internet has helped mill to die because people stay home shop an don't have lave but their still people that want go out shop i would love seeing mill stay opening gave people a place to shop an work to my name Bill Thompson
That mall is fake the real one is in Oregon this one hella fake get tf out bro only one WASHINGTON SQUARE MALL DONT DISRESPECT CUZ! the nerve on this guy ehhhhh!
I'm really glad to see the malls closing! Like suburbia they serviced they're ugly, unsightly, totally auto & truck dependent, unsustainable and a very poor use of land! They destroyed once-vibrant downtown shopping areas and gutted downtowns period. I'm glad to see them go and I hope that current and future generations will continue the trend of abandoning suburbia and malls and moving back into downtown urban areas! Tear this horrid eyesore down!!
You do know not everyone wants to live in a really dense area, right? That's the beauty of this country, is that certain areas will be denser than others.
@@BoratWanksta Well, no, not everyone wants to live in a dense area, but an increasing number of people, especially young people want a walkable community where owning a car is not necessary!
babe wake up new northcdogg22 video drop
what i love about earlier malls is how many shapes there are, in newer malls it’s usually only squares and rectangles
I also had two radios stolen out of my convertible when I was packed in the back!!!
This was my original childhood mall. Later Eastland Mall took that title. Here are a few bits of information you asked about in your video. The store you questioned closer to the beginning of your video was originally a, "Harry Levinson's". After its retail days the space was used to house a local malt shop. In its final use the University of Evansville used that same space as a theatre space. Between the malt shop, and the UE students that is the purple sort of retail look you were viewing. As far as WHY they dropped the word, "mall" from Washington Square a few years back. While Sears was still in the game, the owners were going to eliminate the majority of the inner mall. Plans were to make the mall into more of a big box center. Eliminating the entry to the mall from the Sears store. The current mall was going to look more like the nearby Lawndale Commons with exterior entrances to the retail stores. As you can tell, those plans never happened. One of the best things about Washington Square is if you happen to be inside the Food Court during a hard rain. The sound is incredible, and so few ever get to experience it. Great job on your footage and history of the mall. You did a great job.
Goodwill Center now open! Can't wait to see what else might move back in! Beautiful front facade on the Goodwill side!
Wow. I'm a fan of photo walls, but the general nostalgia hits hard. Honestly, the re-do sounded pretty cool.
I love the purple neon. I hope they keep it up forever.
I'm glad you stopped in Evansville,IN to video Washington Square Mall. As of July 2024 Goodwill Industries set to open in Nxt Month. The front and side of the old Sears is so awesome! Can't wait to see the grand opening!!! Glad they are trying to keep this mall open. Just saw a walk through in 2016 Fountain still running then!!! Stores and SEARS still open and beautiful!
Glad you looked at THE WASHINGTON SQUARE MALL!!! THE OLDEST MALL BUILT IN 1963. GLAD TO SEE ITS PAST ARCHITECTURE! I worked in the mall in the 1980's as a hairdresser in Asante's Salon!!! Love the renovations they did over the years!
This mall was a huge part of my childhood. My aunt was the manager for one of the shops and gma worked at Sears so we were there often. Throwing pennies in the fountain, cookies and lemonade at Just Cookies, destroying my brother at Galaga in the arcade, a personal pan pizza at Noble Romans for lunch, and TMNT ice cream bars for dessert(with gumball eyes - damn things were harder than a rock!) And no trip was complete without a visit to the pet store in the back! Good times!
What you're doing reminds me of what Henry Chapman Mercer did in the early 20th century. He observed that traditional crafts were dying and so made it his mission to collect as many tools, trade manuals, and ephemera as he could, adding them all to his Mercer Museum. By documenting these malls visually and with historic background, your videos may very well be all the remains of a dying cultural touchstone.
Very pleasant and enthusiastic narration. You weren't kidding when you said we'd see an iconic liminal location!
Channels like yours make me inspired to create a video about my own local dying mall.
You should go for it! The more malls documented and put on UA-cam the better! Thanks for watching!
Great work! I really enjoyed the history of this episode.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Gotta love a neon mall! But seriously, my partner and I can't stop singing this old mall's jingles. They're so catchy! Great video once again! I can't wait to see the next mall, I do hope you do a Mason City Southridge revisit (even if its not the next one!)
This gives me life. Have goosebumps on the intro. You do such great work.
Thank you so much!
@@NorthCdogg22 anytime 😊
the ceiling in the center court is INSANE it almost looks like fabric tents i’ve never seen a mall ceiling look like that before that whole mall is so creative. i wish malls didn’t all look the same nowadays
Me too, back in the 80s they were all given character
Denver International Airport is like that too.
@@PrimericanIdolI love that airport. Are the talking gargoyles still there?
You're right. They should put the old pictures near the entrance. That would be neat to see. The neons are my favorite and the food court was really cool. Thanks for another one.
Man I grew up going to this mall on the weekends. Now folks use it as an indoor walking park and it’s super sad. I remember being so stoked to go in and see the koi in the fountain
One of my favorite malls here in Phoenix is Christown Mall. I worked at it in the mid 2000s and it was still all 1960s original except that they had removed the bird and sand castle courts. But they still had the planters and fountains. When they did a large remodel in 2006-2008 it lost the fountains and the fun retro look BUT when the mall celebrated a birthday, they had these awesome retro posters placed throughout the mall with old photos of the place. It was so delightful. So I appreciate the malls that share their photo history.
I grew up in central Michigan, but my grandparents on my dad’s side grew up in Evansville, moved to central Michigan, and moved back to Evansville around 1987. I went there maybe once a year in the 90’s. I never really liked it much, but o remember going to a mall there most times I visited. Don’t think it was this mall though. Pretty sure it was Eastland. It had a Lazarus as an anchor; an anchor I wasn’t very familiar with. As well as an arcade called “The Gold Mine” that had prices on every arcade game there that you could not only play, but buy for anywhere from around $1,500 to $3,000. It made my eyes get wide at the idea of owning one!
Those are some great memories! Thanks for sharing!
So was the Saturday Love music was used because you was focusing on the 80's. Also thanks for using Chick Corea
I haven't seen this mall in yesrs and it still looks as beautiful as i remember. Great Video as always!
Thank you very much!
We shopped at Washington Square starting in 1976, Eastland Mall located just down Green River road was built in a the 80’s which kind of killed off Washington Square, great memories 👍
i never been here it's kind of relaxin' & interesting to look at the art & et-cetra of this mall. 💜👍
I stumbled upon this video today. I attended the Catholic school across the street which used the parking lot for drop off and pick up (with a crossing guard). The food court most popular spots were Noble Roman's and Subway. The corner of the food court had an arcade named the Tilt. Even in the mid 90's, the main places I remember were Elder Beerman and Sears as the anchor tenants, with a Foot Locker in the middle. Plus a Schmitt Photo shop where you would get senior pictures, and a Libs chocolate (still the best). Even in that mid 90's timeframe, it was bleak. Outside the mall was a small strip-mall with a basketball card shop named Ball Four that was very popular, and a restaurant the Merry-Go-Round I believe it was called. Nice video.
Amazing video as usual!
That was my childhood mall so many’s memories 😅
Fantastic as always 😊😊
Thanks Pizza Man!
I also LOVE the sign that says that no guns are permitted. Good to know.
For real😭
Bro how do you only have 8,000 subscribers I love your vids
Thank you so much! Were slowly growing!
Great video as always! What’s the name of the song that plays while you’re looking at the photos collages?
One of my all time favorite memories of going to Washington Square was Baynham's Shoes which was near the food court on the now Noble Roman's side. My grandparents used to take me to shop for school shoes there and they had live monkeys in their enclosed glass display areas that shoppers or mall walkers could stop and watch. I loved to go watch them play and climb on the branches they had inside for them. I also remember Kinney Shoes which was down by Sears on the same side as the Evansville Rescue Mission Thrift Store now. Also, Libs Candies was down near the restaurant and there was an Orange Julius I remember too and a toy store. I used to work at Dauble's Flowers across from the food court down on the old Stewart's side of the mall and there was a Brook's Clothing Store (kind of like a Maurice's) that I loved to shop in while I was in high school and college!
For not experiencing the 80s you gave a spot on description of it. That was my era.
Oh wow, I remember going to Washington Square several times as a youth in the mid 90s, mostly for the Sears there. It was a dead mall even back then, like you said. Eastland was jam-packed in that same time period, and it was definitely weird to have two malls so close together in a city that really couldn't support two malls.
Neon lights on a leaky ceiling
Laughter dies in empty echoes
and stark white walls hide the truth
A threshold moves towards decay
I found the visual of those neon light poetic, and that’s the best two semesters of creative writing at a community college 15 years ago could do 🤣 awesome video
Dude! The opening music, was that a vapor remix of Airship Nothings Gonna Stop Us Now? I was waiting to see a scene from Mannequin!😂
It was! Good ear!!
13:20 is the place of a really infamous liminal space picture
Southridge Mall, Mason City Iowa Next? This is another mall where I can just imagine the 1980s and 1970s music and cars of the 1970s and 80s in the parking lot. Great Video!!
Thanks for watching! Glad you enjoyed! And close but not quite!
I was born and raised in east central Indiana. I never knew Evansville had the first mall in the state!
Yeah it’s pretty sweet!
Used to go there, for lunch, in high school. We would eat Noble Romans Pizza and play in the arcade.
This mall has changing for these years
Great video as per usual! Thank you!
Especially like the choice of music in all your videos. Would be great if you could include a list of music played under videos :)
Thank you for watching! As much as I would love to put in music tracks for all the songs, I do select from a library of over 600 songs so it’s a little difficult to go back and pinpoint which ones I used
Loves tonight’s episode!👍🏻🖖🏻 opening tune name? Was so epic
Glad you enjoyed! Song was called DISKETTE PARK - MANNEQUIN
I don't know! Our malls are still OPEN! I LOVE IT!! LOOK AT Eastland Mall!!!
i go here just about every weekend!! upset that they recently shut off the neons. also before it closed for good the 2nd liminal photo in the lenscrafters shop was an amazing antique store!!! i remember my mom bought me a mirror there lol
That center court ceiling looks insane!
Right?? I love it so much!
i saw the title and didnt realize there could be other malls with the same name. we have a washington square mall in oregon that is very much alive and bustling so i was pretty confused to see this 😅
I will keep you updated on the Sandburg mall! And if we win the lotto you will be our first customer!
I’m on vacation in Hawaii watching this
Hope you enjoy!
@@NorthCdogg22 yeee
The merchant mall building isnt vacant, they do some sort of inustiral thing in there. Its not retail but it is rented out for something.
i literally have a washington square mall here in my hometown in oregon..
I have a mall called Washington Square mall in Beaverton Oregon i thought you were making a video on mine 😂😅
Also not to be confused with Washington Square Mall in Tigard, Oregon, which just so happens to be one of the only malls that seems to actually still be thriving (there are so many people please save me I am a mall employee)
F to the Y to the I - there is also a Washington Square Mall in Tigard OR 😁
Liminal Square Mall
Aw that makes me sad! I used to go get a bunch of Mexican donuts while waiting on my doctors appt from 2014-2017!!
The 1980's were the heyday of shopping malls. It will never be the same again (except maybe in Vegas) but many have evolved and changed with the times. Anchor stores need to become arenas, rec centres, multi-retail or something else to offer the local and broad neighbourhoods a different experience.
I was about to be shocked that it was Washington Square Mall in Oregon because last time i was there it was booming. Interesting vid tho!
OH! I know for sure the next mall is Southbridge in Mason City! The minute you said "Green Hoops"!
Yessir!
I thought this was the Washington Square mall, the outdoor mall in Homewood, IL.
Never mind, I’ll see myself out
That sears is a goodwill now, or at least its about to be.
Oh darn, I thought it was going to be the Indianapolis Washington Square Mall
There are 2 Washington Square malls in Indiana. One in Indianapolis, and the other in Evansville.
@@BoratWanksta oh I know! As someone who grew up in Indy and spent so much time of my childhood of the 80s in that mall, I’m always curious to see how it has been falling apart.
This is very strange it has the same name as the mall in my hometown I was so confused when I saw this video
It was good. The mall was an all day adventure.
So does this place still exist? or has it been demolished?
Still open! As far as I’m aware
@@NorthCdogg22 oooo nice
to be COMPLETELY honest i still EQUALLY really really LOVE the evansville washington square mall lafayette square mall keystone at the crossing and you tube ALMOST as much as the indianapolis washington square mall castleton square mall greenwood park mall and circle centre mall
wow took 9 months to release video long progression. Sadly these kind of malls are dying quickly soon sadly all be gone or most sooner rather then later unfortunately. When open that entrance door sound like could hear a pin drop and heard echo of door not good sign. Another great video love back story you give on mall your in and when talk of era gone by. Beautifil neno to
That payphone is a dead ringer.
Values Unlimited Discount Mart 😂 sounds like an off brand Big Lots
Exactly!
You know I wonder about this being turned around.
Is it the mall in Spencer? I want to say the name of it is SouthPark.
I try to find great content to help with future trips to the Quad City area and stuff. I know they don't have a lot of green in it.
It’s not that one, but good guess!
I hate to see these nicer malls like this going down.
Is the next Mall the southbridge Mall in mason city Iowa
Southridge mall next?
Not quite! But good guess!
"Cardiology Cards and gifts" sounds like quite the place (it's a business on the history wall at the beginning of the episode). Need to have your heart checked and it's your wife's bday? We've got you covered.
I thought this was my Washington Square Mall. Took me a hot minute to realize my mall is still open lol
This mall IS still open(technically), but man I have no idea how. It's such a trip to walk around here. It's a time portal to 1990.
Niceeeee
South bridge mall mason city iowa
colonial park next?
I wanted to write you an angry rant about how Washington Square isn't even close to being dead but thriving, but apparently, there are other malls with the same name. Duh. I thought you were going to talk about the mall in Tigard, Oregon. My apologies heh
Would you ever consider releasing videos of just the raw footage without background music/voiceover?
The videos are nice but I would really like to experience what the actual ambiance is like now
I’ve thought about uploading vods before but often it’s just loud pop music over the radio. Maybe one day tho!
Why do you snicker so often while talking?
Looks to be barely hanging on
I like tonight episode i like videos
It's so sad to see mill everywhere closing because they us save gas mill would be a great place to save gas i know internet has helped mill to die because people stay home shop an don't have lave but their still people that want go out shop i would love seeing mill stay opening gave people a place to shop an work to my name Bill Thompson
Not much of a food festival going on anymore sadly.
Southridge mall
You’re way behind. Thrift store in there. Goodwill going in. Pfft
C3
That mall is fake the real one is in Oregon this one hella fake get tf out bro only one WASHINGTON SQUARE MALL DONT DISRESPECT CUZ! the nerve on this guy ehhhhh!
I'm really glad to see the malls closing! Like suburbia they serviced they're ugly, unsightly, totally auto & truck dependent, unsustainable and a very poor use of land! They destroyed once-vibrant downtown shopping areas and gutted downtowns period. I'm glad to see them go and I hope that current and future generations will continue the trend of abandoning suburbia and malls and moving back into downtown urban areas! Tear this horrid eyesore down!!
Come on man, let us know how you REALLY feel. LOL
Let it out!
I'm a Gen-z'er and I hate urban areas. Low density FTW.
You do know not everyone wants to live in a really dense area, right? That's the beauty of this country, is that certain areas will be denser than others.
@@BoratWanksta Well, no, not everyone wants to live in a dense area, but an increasing number of people, especially young people want a walkable community where owning a car is not necessary!
Turn all dead malls into vertical gardens!