Posey County (pop. 25,910) is in the far southwestern corner of Indiana, across the Ohio River from Kentucky and across the Wabash River from Illinois. It’s the only Posey County.
The county seat of Posey County is the city of Mount Vernon (pop. 6,687).
Posey County Courthouse (1876)
Port of Indiana-Mt. Vernon, on the Ohio River, is the seventh-largest inland port in the U.S.
Four silos on a farm near Mt. Vernon are labeled Tea, Coffee, Sugar, and Flour.
The town of New Harmony (pop. 789) was originally named Harmonie. It was purchased in 1825 by social reformer Robert Owen, who planned a utopian community called New Harmony.
New Harmony attracted scientists and scholars in its early years; many of the early buildings are still standing.
New Harmony today
Posey County was named for Revolutionary War Gen. Thomas Posey, who later served as governor of the Indiana Territory.
Vanderburgh County (pop. 179,703) is south of Gibson County. It is Indiana’s seventh-largest county in population, and eighth-smallest in square miles.
The only Vanderburgh County in the U.S., it’s named for Henry Vanderburgh (1760-1812), a captain in the Continental Army and later a Territorial judge for the Indiana Territory.
Buried in Knox County
The county seat of Vanderburgh County is Evansville (pop. 117,429), third-largest city in Indiana.
The University of Evansville is a private university, founded in 1854 and affiliated with the United Methodist Church.
About 2,500 students
The old Vanderburgh County Courthouse was built in 1890 in Beaux Arts style. It is now available for receptions and other special events.
The Victory Theatre (1921) is now the home of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra.
The Moorish-style Alhambra Theatre was built in 1913. It is currently being renovated.
The Children’s Museum of Evansville is in the city’s former Central Library.
The museum opened in 2006
The Willard Library is a private library, built in 1877 in the Gothic Revival style.
Rumors of a ghost named “Lady in Grey”
Bosse Field (1915) is the third-oldest baseball stadium in the U.S. (after Fenway Park and Wrigley Field) that is still in regular use for professional baseball. It’s home of the Evansville Otters.
In the independent Frontier League
Bob Griese, quarterback for Purdue and the Miami Dolphins, and Yankee great (and current Miami Marlins manager) Don Mattingly are natives of Evansville.
The University of Southern Indiana, a public university founded in 1965, is just west of Evansville. It has about 11,000 students.
Gibson County (pop. 33,503) is west of Pike County. Its population has been growing every decade since 1830. The only other Gibson County is in Tennessee.
Gibson County in 1908
The county seat of Gibson County is the city of Princeton (pop. 8,644).
Gibson County Courthouse (1884)
Dave Niehaus (1935-2010), longtime announcer for the Seattle Mariners (1977-2010), was born in Princeton. He received the Ford C. Frick Award in 2008.
Statue at Safeco Field
Toyota has a large plant just south of Princeton. The plant, which opened in 1996, makes Highlanders, Sequoias, and Siennas.
More than 5,000 employees
The plant has a Visitor Center, open weekdays.
Tours are also available.
The Henager “Memories and Nostalgia” Museum, in the community of Buckskin, has exhibits on Smokey Bear, western movie stars, and Abraham Lincoln’s legacy.
It’s been called “The Loneliest Museum in America.”
Hipp Nursery, in the town of Haubstadt (pop. 1,577), has a martini-drinking pink elephant, suitable for photos.
The Gibson Generating Station, near the Wabash River, is Duke Energy’s largest power plant and one of the largest coal power plants in the world.
Pike County (pop. 12,845) is north of Warrick County. It reached its peak population of 20,486 in 1900.
Pike County in 1908
It’s one of 10 Pike counties in the U.S., all named for explorer and brigadier general Zebulon Pike (1779-1813), who died in the War of 1812.
From 1959 to 1963, both of Indiana’s U.S. senators were Pike County natives – Vance Hartke (1919-2003) and Homer Capehart (1897-1979).
The county seat of Pike County is the city of Petersburg (pop 2,383).
Baseball great Gil Hodges (1924-1972) starred in baseball, basketball, football, and track at Petersburg High School. He was an eight-time All-Star for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Hodges mural in Petersburg
The Patoka Bridges Historic District includes two historic bridges in Pike and Gibson counties.
Warrick County (pop. 59,689) is in southwestern Indiana, west of Spencer County. Its population has been growing steadily since 1930.
Warrick County in 1908
The county was named for Captain Jacob Warrick (1773-1811), an Indiana militia company commander who was killed in the Battle of Tippencanoe.
The county seat of Warrick County is the city of Boonville (pop. 6,246).
Warrick County Courthouse (1904)
Young Abraham Lincoln studied law in Boonville, borrowing law books and watching local attorney John Brackenridge argue cases.
The town of Newburgh (pop. 3,325) is on the Ohio River, just east of Evansville.
Rivertown Trail, Newburgh
The Newburgh Museum is in the former Presbyterian Church building (1853).
On the National Register of Historic Places
The town of Elberfeld (pop. 625) is unusual, in that it is adjacent to Interstates 64 and 69 but has no direct access to them, and has no major highway running through it.
Spencer County (pop. 20,952) is south of Dubois County, on the Ohio River. The only other Spencer County is in Kentucky.
Spencer County in 1908
Spencer County has several major claims to fame: It was the boyhood home of Abraham Lincoln, it has a town named Santa Claus, and it was the childhood home of singer-actress Florence Henderson.
The county seat, Rockport (pop. 2,270), is the southernmost city in Indiana.
Spencer County Courthouse (1921)
The Holiday Drive-In in Rockport, which opened in 1955, has five screens.
Now closed for the season
North of Rockport, Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial preserves the farm site where Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) lived with his family from 1816 to 1830.
The cabin is a replica.
Rockport also has a Lincoln Pioneer Village and Museum, with 14 replica buildings from Lincoln’s era.
Opens May 1
The town of Santa Claus (pop. 2,481) is the largest community in Spencer County. It has the world’s only post office with the name Santa Claus.
Volunteers known as Christmas elves work every year to answer all the letters that arrive for Santa Claus.
Santa Claus has a variety of Santa-themed attractions, including Santa’s Candy Castle, Holiday World, the Santa Claus Museum, and the World’s Oldest Santa Statue.
Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler was born in Santa Claus in 1983 and played football at Heritage Hills High School in nearby Lincoln City.
The town of Dale (pop. 1,593) is the home of Dr. Ted’s Musical Marvels Museum.
Florence Henderson (1934-2016) was born in Dale, one of 10 children of a tobacco sharecropper and a homemaker. She attended school in Rockport.
Dubois County (pop. 41,889) is northwest of Perry County. It’s the only Dubois County in the U.S.
Dubois County in 1908
The county was named for Toussaint Dubois (1762-1816), a French-Canadian fur trader who fought in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.
Buried in Vincennes
The county seat of Dubois County is the city of Jasper (pop. 15,038).
DuBois County Courthouse (1911)
Jasper is known as “The Wood Office Furniture Capital of the World,” with a tradition of carpenters and cabinet-makers dating back to German immigrants in the early 19th century.
St. Joseph Catholic Church in Jasper dates from 1904. Its stone bell tower is 235 feet high.
Romanesque Revival style
The Geode Grotto in Jasper, built between 1960 and 1970, covers four city blocks in gardens, fountains, planters, and cave-like openings
Local geodes, marble, limestone, concrete
The Jasper Gift Basket and Popcorn Company has a 17-foot-tall popcorn box.
The Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame is in Jasper.
Jasper has a two-mile Riverwalk, along the Patoka River.
The town of Ferdinand (pop. 2,157) is the home of Monastery Immaculate Conception, one of the largest communities of Benedictine women in the U.S.
Founded in 1867
The city of Huntingburg (pop. 6,057) has been called the “Hollywood of the Midwest” because of the movies filmed there, including “A League of Their Own” in 1992.
Crawford County (pop. 10,713) is west of Harrison County, on the Ohio River.
Crawford County in 1908
It is one of 11 Crawford counties, which are named for three different people named Crawford. It’s uncertain which Crawford this one was named for.
Possibly William H., definitely not Joan
The county seat of Crawford County is the town of English (pop. 645), third-smallest county seat in Indiana.
After English had six floods between 1959 and 1990, most of the businesses and residences in the town were moved about a mile south, away from Camp Fork Creek.
Former downtown area
The Lucas Oil Golf Course, formerly the Old English course, opened in 2002. The front nine holes of the 18-hole course are in the flood plain.
Marengo Cave is in the nearby town of Marengo (pop. 828). The cave, discovered in 1883 by two children, is open for tours.
A National Historic Landmark
Marengo was named for the 1800 Battle of Marengo, in present-day Italy, between the French forces of Napoleon and Austrian forces.
Napoleon won.
The Marengo warehouse and distribution center has 4 million square feet of storage space in a former limestone quarry, 160 feet underground.
Used by U.S. Department of Defense and others
Much of Crawford County is in Hoosier National Forest.
Hemlock Cliffs trail
The William Proctor House (1832) is now owned by the Crawford County Historical Society.
Harrison County (pop. 39,364) is west of Floyd County, along the Ohio River. Its population has grown in every decade since 1940.
Harrison County in 1908
It’s one of eight Harrison counties, and one of the four named for President William Henry Harrison (1773-1841). He was governor of the Indiana Territory when the county was named.
The county seat of Harrison County is the town of Corydon (pop. 3,122), which was the capital of the Indiana Territory, 1813-16, and of the state, 1816-25.
The Capitol is now a State Historic Site.
The Battle of Corydon, in 1863, was the only Civil War battle fought in Indiana.
The current Harrison County Courthouse replaced the old State Capitol building, which was the courthouse for many years.
Built in 1929
The Harrison County Fair has been running for 156 straight years – the longest consecutively running fair in Indiana.
Indiana’s state Constitution was debated and drafted under the “Constitution Elm” in Corydon. The tree died in 1925, but its trunk is still a local landmark.
Dutch Elm disease killed it.
Harrison County has several caves that are open to the public. Indiana Caverns, just south of Corydon, is Indiana’s longest cave system.
Always 56 degrees underground
The town of Milltown (pop. 818), northwest of Corydon, has one of Indiana’s best shoe trees.
Horseshoe Southern Indiana, on the Ohio River, is the world’s largest riverboat casino, the largest riverboat in the U.S., and the closest casino to Louisville.
The riverboat is a four-deck casino.
Harrison Spring, just north of the unincorporated community of White Cloud, is the largest spring in Indiana. It has an average discharge of 100 cubic feet per second.
Owned by the Nature Conservancy
The steep hills of the Knobstone Escarpment are the most rugged terrain in Indiana.
Floyd County (pop. 75,283) is southwest of Clark County, on the Ohio River. It is Indiana’s second-smallest county in square miles.
One of six Floyd counties
In the mid-1800s, Floyd County was the wealthiest county in Indiana. New Albany was Indiana’s largest city from 1816 to 1860.
New Albany (pop. 36,372), the county seat, has a Mansion Row Historic District, with homes of wealthy residents of the mid-19th century.
The Culbertson Mansion (1869) is now a state historic site, open for tours. It has 25 rooms and 20,000 square feet.
Second Empire style
In the early 20th century, New Albany was the world’s largest producer of plywood and veneer. In 1917, a tornado destroyed much of the city.
The former Carnegie Library (1904) in New Albany is now the Carnegie Center for Art and History.
Beaux Arts style
New Albany High School was the first high school in Indiana when it opened in 1853. Astronomer Edwin Hubble taught physics, Spanish, and math (and coached the basketball team) there for a year.
Golfer Frank Urban “Fuzzy” Zoeller was born in New Albany in 1951 and graduated from New Albany High School in 1970.
’79 Masters champion
Indiana University Southeast, founded in 1941, has about 7,000 students. Its New Albany campus opened in 1973.
The Grand Theater (1909) in New Albany is now used for weddings and other special events.
Floyd County has the longest tunnel in Indiana, the 4,295-foot Duncan Tunnel, completed for the Southern Railway in 1881.
Clark County (pop. 110,232) is south of Scott and Jefferson counties, on the Ohio River.
Clark County in 1908
The town of Clarksville (pop. 21,724), adjacent to the county seat of Jeffersonville, was the oldest American town in the old Northwest Territory, dating from 1783.
The town was founded by Gen. George Rogers Clark (1753-1818) at the only seasonal rapids on the Ohio River; the town and county were named for him.
Brother of William
Clarksville has one of the world’s largest clocks – the 40-foot-diameter Colgate Clock, atop the former Colgate-Palmolive factory, which closed in 2007.
Formerly the world’s 2nd largest
Falls of the Ohio State Park, along the river in Clarksville, is known for its exposed Devonian fossil beds.
Visitor Center from above
Jeffersonville (pop. 44,953), the county seat, has been a center of shipbuilding since the early 19th century.
Howard Steamboat Museum
Jeffboat, formerly the Jeffersonville Boat & Machine Company, is the largest inland shipbuilder in the U.S.
Recently building riverboat casinos
The George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge (1929), also known as the Second Street Bridge, goes from Jeffersonville to downtown Louisville, Kentucky.
Looking toward Louisville
Nearby is the Big Four Bridge, a former railroad bridge that now carries pedestrians and bicyclists.
2,500 feet long
Papa John’s Pizza began in Jeffersonville in 1984. The headquarters is now in Jeffersontown, Kentucky.
Jeffersonville has a 20-foot-tall statue of a woman, made of hubcaps.
Jefferson County (pop. 32,683) is west of Switzerland County. It’s one of 26 counties and one parish named (directly or indirectly) for Thomas Jefferson.
The county seat of Jefferson County is Madison (pop. 11,967), which was a major port on the Ohio River until just after the Civil War, when railroads took away much of the river traffic.
Largest city on the Ohio between Cincinnati and Louisville
The Jefferson County Courthouse was built in 1855, and was recently restored after a major fire in 2009.
Adjacent to the Courthouse is a miniature Statue of Liberty, erected by the Boy Scouts in 1950.
The Lanier Mansion was built in 1844 in Greek Revival style. It is now a historic house museum.
A State Historic Site
The 1958 movie “Some Came Running,” directed by Vincente Minnelli, was filmed in Madison.
Actress Irene Dunne (1898-1990) lived in Madison during her teenage years.
5-time Oscar nominee
Madison is known worldwide as a center of hydroplane racing. The Madison Regatta draws crowds of up to 100,000 every July 4 weekend.
Clifty Falls State Park, on the west side of Madison, has four waterfalls on Clifty Creek.
1,400 acres
The town of Hanover (pop. 3,546) is the home of Hanover College, a liberal arts college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. It has about 1,000 students.
Founded in 1827
Actor Woody Harrelson graduated from Hanover College in 1983. His “Cheers” character, Woody Boyd, grew up in Hanover, although Woody Harrelson actually grew up in Ohio.
Switzerland County (pop. 10,613) is south of Ohio County, along the Ohio River. It’s the only Switzerland County in the U.S.
Many of the early settlers came from Switzerland, and that’s how the county got its name. The county has never had a railroad line.
The county seat of Switzerland County is the town of Vevay (pop. 1,683). The Swiss city for which it was named is spelled “Vevey.”
Switzerland County Courthouse (1864)
In the 19th century, Switzerland County was known as the “Rhineland of America” because of its wine grape production. Vevay had the first commercial winery in the U.S.
Local winemaking was revived in 1995 with the opening of the Ridge Winery in Vevay.
The tasting room overlooks the Ohio River
The Hoosier Theatre in Vevay was built in 1837 as a warehouse and store. It was a movie theater from 1926 to 1955, and now has concerts and other events.
225 seats
The Benjamin Schenck Mansion in Vevay (1874) is now a bed and breakfast.
Italianate/Second Empire style
The Switzerland County Historical Museum is in a former Presbyterian Church built in 1860.
Western actor and stuntman Ken Maynard (1895-1973) was born in Vevay.
Dearborn County (pop. 50,047) is east of Ripley County, on the border with Ohio, and across the Ohio River from Kentucky. It’s the only Dearborn County in the U.S.
Dearborn County in 1908
The county was named for Henry Dearborn (1751-1829), U.S. Secretary of War when the county was formed.
A general in the War of 1812
The population of Dearborn County (which is only about 25 miles west of Cincinnati) has been growing since 1920.
The county seat of Dearborn County is the city of Lawrenceburg (pop. 5,042), on the Ohio River.
Dearborn County Courthouse (1871)
Lawrenceburg has long been known as “Whiskey City” because of its history of whiskey production. MGP of Indiana, a Lawrenceburg distillery, dates from 1847.
Beer’s Auto Sales in Lawrenceburg has a wall of vintage gas signs and other signs.
Lawrenceburg has a riverboat casino on the Ohio River – the Hollywood Casino, which opened in 1996 as the Argosy Casino.
The Perfect North Slopes Ski Area, north of Lawrenceburg, founded in 1980 by the Perfect Family, has a vertical drop of 400 feet.
Snowboarding was not allowed until 2002.
The town of Moores Hill (pop. 597) was the home of Moores Hill College from 1854 to 1917. It eventually became the University of Evansville.
Carnegie Hall (1907)
In the city of Aurora (pop. 3,750), the Hillforest Mansion (1855), on a bluff above the Ohio River, is available for tours.
Italian Renaissance style
In Aurora’s Riverview Cemetery, Aurora Schuck was buried in her red Cadillac, according to her wishes, in 1989. Her husband, Ray, had purchased 14 plots so there would be enough room.
Ripley County (pop. 28,818) is east of Jennings County. The only other Ripley County is in Missouri.
The county was named for Gen. Eleazer Wheelock Ripley (1782-1839), an officer in the War of 1812.
The county seat of Ripley County is the town of Versailles (pop. 2,113). It is pronounced Ver-SALES.
Ripley County Courthouse (1863)
Versailles was named for the Palace of Versailles, built near Paris by King Louis XIV in the 17th century.
The annual Versailles Pumpkin Show is the oldest annual festival in Indiana, dating from 1899.
The Bel-Air Drive-In Theater in Versailles has been open since 1957.
Now closed for the season
Versailles State Park, established in 1843, is adjacent to the town.
Busching Covered Bridge (1885)
Batesville (pop. 6,520), the largest city in Ripley County, is partly in Franklin County.
Gibson Theatre (1921)
The town of Milan (MY-lan, pop. 1,899) is the home of Milan High School, legendary winners of the 1954 Indiana high school state basketball championship, when the school had only 161 students.
As told in “Hoosiers”
The Milan ’54 Hoosiers Museum is in the former State Bank of Milan building.
Jennings County (pop. 28,525) is north of Scott County. It’s the only Jennings County in the U.S.
The county was named for Jonathan Jennings (1784-1834), the first governor of Indiana.
Jennings County has the smallest county seat in Indiana – the town of Vernon, population 318.
Jennings County Courthouse (1859)
Vernon was named for Mount Vernon, Virginia.
The largest city in Jennings County is North Vernon (pop. 6,728), just northwest of Vernon.
Park Theatre Civic Center, North Vernon
Author Jessamyn West (1902-1984) was born in North Vernon. Her family moved to Southern California when she was six.
Hannah Milhous Nixon (1885-1967), mother of President Richard Nixon, was born near the unincorporated community of Butlerville.
Dick and Hannah
Richard Nixon and Jessamyn West were second cousins. (Her mother was a Milhous.) Both were raised as Quakers, and both graduated from Whittier College in California.
The Muscatatuck Urban Training Center is in Jennings County. The site was originally the Indiana Farm Colony for Feeble Minded Youth.
Scott County (pop. 24,181) is east of Washington and Jackson counties. It is Indiana’s fifth-smallest county in square miles.
Scott County in 1908
There are 11 Scott counties in the U.S., and they’re named for six different men named Scott. This one was named for Charles Scott (1739-1813), military officer in the Revolutionary War and later governor of Kentucky.
He rose to Brigadier General.
The county seat of Scott County is Scottsburg (pop. 6,747). Scottsburg was not named for Charles Scott; it was named for Horace Scott, a local railroad official.
Scott County Courthouse (1874)
The former Scott County Home, built in 1892 as the county “poor farm,” is now the Scott County Heritage Center and Museum.
The museum opened in 2001.
The Scott Theatre (1947) now hosts the Ross Country Jamboree, with country music performances most weekends.
The Scottsburg Depot (1872) is now the Scottsburg Heritage Station.
Moved one block
Goat Milk Stuff, in Scottsburg, sells a variety of products (including cheese, candy, and soap) made from raw goat milk.
Goat milk caramels
The 741-acre Hardy Lake is the smallest reservoir maintained by the state of Indiana.
Jackson County (pop. 42,376) is north of Washington County. Its population has been increasing every decade since 1930.
It’s one of 24 Jackson counties, and one of the 21 named for President Andrew Jackson (1767-1845).
The county seat of Jackson County is the town of Brownstown (pop. 2,947). The courthouse was built in 1870 and renovated in 1911.
Classical Revival style
The largest city in Jackson County is Seymour (pop. 17,503), once known as the “Crossroads of America” because east-west and north-south railroads crossed there.
Farmers Club, Seymour (1914)
Singer John Mellencamp was born in Seymour in 1951 and lived there until he was 14.
The first train robbery in history took place just outside Seymour, in 1866. The robbers (three brothers named Reno) were caught, lynched, and buried in Seymour.
Graves of the Reno Gang
In Elvis Presley’s first movie, “Love Me Tender,” he played Clint Reno, younger brother of the gang members. Clint had no connection with Seymour.
Original title: “The Reno Brothers”
The town of Medora (pop. 693) has the longest-spanning historic covered bridge in the U.S., dating from 1875.
432 feet long
The 2013 documentary film “Medora” was about the Medora High School basketball team and its struggles to compete against teams from larger schools.
Washington County (pop. 28,262) is east of Lawrence and Orange counties. It’s one of 30 counties (and one parish) named for George Washington.
The county seat of Washington County is the city of Salem (pop. 6,319). Salem’s population has increased in every decade since 1870.
Washington County Courthouse (1886)
Salem’s 1905 Carnegie Library is still in use.
American statesman John Hay (1838-1905) was born in Salem. Among other positions, he was private secretary to President Lincoln and secretary of state to presidents McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt.
The John Hay Center in Salem includes his birthplace, a Pioneer Village, and a museum.
The Salem Speedway is a .55-mile, paved motor racetrack, dating from 1947.
Uplands PEAK Sanctuary calls itself Indiana’s first and only farm sanctuary. Founded in 2012, it rescues and rehabilitates abused and neglected farm animals.
Lawrence County (pop. 46,134) is north of Orange County. It’s one of 11 Lawrence counties.
Ten of the 11 Lawrence counties, including this one, were named for James L. Lawrence (1781-1813), naval hero of the War of 1812.
His famous dying words
The county seat of Lawrence County is the city of Bedford (pop. 13,413), known as the “Limestone Capital of the World” because of its limestone quarries.
Lawrence County Courthouse (1930)
Actor Claude Akins (1926-1994) grew up in Bedford. He later graduated from Northwestern University.
Damon Bailey, of Bedford North Lawrence High School, was the 1990 Indiana Mr. Basketball and starred for Indiana University. He was recruited by Bobby Knight while still in 9th grade.
The town of Oolitic (pop. 1,184), named for oolite limestone, has a limestone statue of comic-strip boxer Joe Palooka.
Dedicated in 1948
Virgil “Gus” Grissom (1926-1967), one of the seven original Project Mercury astronauts, was born in the city of Mitchell (pop. 4,350) and grew up there.
The second American in space
Just east of Mitchell, Spring Mill State Park has a Gus Grissom Memorial.
Gemini 3 capsule
Underneath Lawrence County, limestone formations contain several large caverns. Bluespring Caverns has a three-mile, navigable underground river.
Orange County (pop. 19,840) is southeast of Martin County. It’s one of eight Orange counties in the U.S.
The county got its name from Orange County, N.C. The early settlers were Quakers who came from North Carolina to escape slavery, bringing freed slaves with them.
The county seat of Orange County is the town of Paoli (pop. 3,677). The courthouse (1850), in Greek Revival style, is the second oldest in Indiana that’s been in continuous use.
The Paoli Peaks ski area is just west of town. It has a 300-foot vertical drop, with 17 runs.
Night skiing is popular.
The adjacent towns of French Lick (pop. 1,807) and West Baden Springs (pop. 574) were famous mineral-spring spa resorts in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
At the West Baden Springs Hotel (1902), the 200-foot dome covering the atrium was for many years the largest free-spanning dome in the U.S.
Hotel rooms face the atrium.
The West Baden Springs and French Lick Springs hotels, both recently restored, are now part of the French Lick Resort, which includes a casino and three golf courses.
In the early 20th century, Pluto Water, bottled at French Lick Springs, was a very popular (and strong) natural laxative.
The French Lick Scenic Railway operates between French Lick and Jasper, through Hoosier National Forest.
The French Lick West Baden Museum has “The World’s Largest Circus Diorama.”
1,100 square feet
Basketball great Larry Bird grew up in French Lick, and played at Springs Valley High School.
Martin County (pop. 10,334) is east of Daviess County. It’s the fifth-smallest county in Indiana, in population.
It’s one of six Martin counties, which are named for six different people named Martin. This one was apparently named for Maj. John Martin of Kentucky.
Fog over the White River
From about 1915 to 1947, Martin County was a center of button-making, with buttons made from mussel shells dug up from the White River.
Mussel-button factory in Shoals
The county seat of Martin County is the town of Shoals (pop. 756), fourth-smallest county seat in Indiana. The former courthouse is now the county historical museum.
Built in 1876
The Shoals area has been a center of gypsum mining since the mid-20th century.
Shoals is best known for Jug Rock, the largest free-standing table rock formation in the U.S., east of the Mississippi River.
In Jug Rock Nature Preserve
The sports teams at Shoals High School are called the Jug Rox.
In the city of Loogootee (pop. 2,751), the yard of Bill Larkin has more than 3,000 colorful birdhouses. The derivation of the city’s name is uncertain.
Free birdhouses for visitors
About one-fourth of Martin County is in Hoosier National Forest, and about one-third is in the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division.
Daviess County (pop. 31,648) is east of Knox County. It’s one of three Daviess counties; the others are in Kentucky and Missouri.
Daviess County in 1908
All three Daviess counties (and Jo Daviess County, Illinois) were named for Joseph Hamilton Daveiss (the correct spelling of his name), who commanded the Dragoons of the Indiana Militia at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811.
1774-1811
The county seat of Daviess County is the city of Washington (pop. 11,509).
The Daviess County Courthouse was built in 1928 in the Classical Revival style.
Brick and limestone
The Indiana Theater in Washington opened in 1926, closed in 2011, and was restored and reopened in 2014.
Still showing movies
The Robert C. Graham House (1912) in Washington is on the National Register of Historic Places. Graham was a founder of the Graham-Paige automobile company.
Prairie School style
Cody Zeller, now of the NBA Charlotte Hornets, was Indiana’s Mr. Basketball at Washington High School. He played college ball at Indiana University.
7 feet, 0 inches
Washington was hit by a tornado on Nov. 17, 2013, that destroyed 20 houses and severely damaged about 20 others.
Knox County (pop. 38,440) is south of Sullivan County and east of Illinois. It’s one of nine counties named for Henry Knox (1750-1806), the first U.S. Secretary of War.
Bordered by the Wabash and White rivers
Knox County was one of the original counties in the Northwest Territory, in 1790, and included almost all of today’s Indiana, and parts of the present states of Michigan, Illinois, and Ohio.
Knox County in 1800 (before interstates)
The county seat of Knox County is the city of Vincennes (pop. 18,423), the oldest (1732) continually occupied settlement in Indiana.
Knox County Courthouse (1873)
George Rogers Clark National Historical Park, in Vincennes, commemorates Clark’s capture of Fort Sackville in the Revolutionary War.
Built in 1931
Comedian Richard Bernard “Red” Skelton (1913-1997) was born in Vincennes and grew up there, before entering vaudeville in 1934.
The Hall of Hollywood Hoosiers, in Vincennes, has a collection of memorabilia related to Indianans in the movies.
Open by appointment
Grouseland, the William Henry Harrison Mansion and Museum, is in Vincennes. Harrison (1773-1841), later the ninth president, lived there when he was governor of the Indiana Territory.
Built in 1804
Vincennes University is the oldest public institution of learning in Indiana. Founded in 1801, it has about 4,000 students.
Vincennes is also the home of the Indiana Military Museum.
New museum opened in 2013
The town of Bruceville (pop. 478) has a homemade, backyard roller coaster, open to the public, summer weekends only.
Bruceville also has a replica of the Washington Monument, next to a giant peach – a 1954 tribute to the Trylon and Perisphere at the 1939 New York World’s Fair.
Sullivan County (pop. 21,475) is west of Greene County, across the Wabash River from Illinois. It reached its peak population of 32,439 in 1910.
It’s one of six Sullivan counties, which are named for three different Sullivans. This one was named for Daniel Sullivan (1754-1790), a scout and spy in the Revolutionary War.
The county seat of Sullivan County is the city of Sullivan (pop. 4,249).
Sullivan County Courthouse (1928)
The sports teams at Sullivan High School are known as the Golden Arrows.
The town of Merom (pop. 228) was the home of Union Christian College from 1859 to 1924. It was one of the first coeducational colleges to allow women to take any class that men could take.
Now a church conference center
The town of Farmersburg (pop. 1,118) is the home of a tiny church called the Taylor Prayer Chapel.
Just off the highway
Peabody Energy’s Bear Run Mine, south of the town of Dugger, is the largest surface mine in the eastern U.S. It employs more than 500 persons.
The coal is hauled out by truck.
Shakamak State Park, partly in Clay and Greene counties, is known for its fishing.
Greene County (pop. 33,165) is west of Monroe County. It’s Indiana’s fourth-largest county in square miles.
It is one of 14 Green counties, all of them named for Nathanael Greene (1742-1786), a major general in the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War.
The county seat of Greene County is the town of Bloomfield (pop. 2,405). The courthouse was built in 1885, and lost its tower in the 1950s.
Now “headless”
Bloomfield is the home of the Shawnee Summer Theatre, a professional company running continuously since 1960.
Now closed for the season
Bloomfield is also the home of “The World’s Largest Tire Jack.” HI-Lift Jack Company is headquartered in Bloomfield.
20 feet tall
The largest city in Greene County is Linton (pop. 5,413).
Linton Public Library (1908)
The comedian, and singer Phil Harris (1904-1995) was born in Linton. He was the voice of Balloo the Bear in “The Jungle Book” (1967) and Little John in Robin Hood (1973).
The Friends of Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area have an annual event in March called the Marsh Madness Sandhill Crane Festival.
Marsh Madness T-shirt
A park in the town of Worthington (pop. 1,467) has a monument containing a limb of what was once the largest sycamore tree in the U.S., with a circumference of 42 feet, 3 inches.
The tree died in a storm in 1925.
Greene County has the longest railroad trestle in Indiana – the 2,295-foot Tulip Viaduct, near Solsberry.
Greene County has a town called Switz City (pop. 293), the only Switz City in the world. It was named for a local family named Switz.
Monroe County (pop. 137,974) is west of Brown County. It’s one of 18 Monroe counties, all named for James Monroe (1758-1831), fifth president of the U.S.
The county seat of Monroe County is Bloomington (pop. 80,405), seventh-largest city in Indiana.
Bloomington is the home of the flagship campus of Indiana University, founded in 1820. IU Bloomington, known for its Indiana limestone buildings, has more than 40,000 students.
Famous graduates of IU include actor Kevin Kline, journalist Jane Pauley, businessman Mark Cuban, composer Hoagy Carmichael, and the a cappella group Straight No Chaser.
The World’s Largest Anatomically Accurate Sculpture of the Human Brain is on the IU campus. The limestone brain weighs six tons.
David Lee Roth, lead singer of Van Halen, was born in Bloomington.
Most of the 1979 movie “Breaking Away” was filmed in Bloomington.
5 Academy Award nominations
The Indiana Theater (1922) in Bloomington is now the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, hosting a variety of concerts and other events.
The town of Ellettsville (pop. 6,378), northwest of Bloomington, is the starting point of the annual Hilly Hundred bicycle tour, a two-day event that attracts about 5,000 cyclists from around the country.
Lake Monroe, southeast of Bloomington, is the largest lake entirely within the state of Indiana. It was created in 1965 by the damming of Salt Creek.
Limited ice fishing in winter
The community of Elkinsville was evacuated to make room for Lake Monroe; as it turned out, elevation estimates were incorrect, and the lake’s waters never reached the town.
Brown County (pop. 15,242) is west of Bartholomew County. One of nine Brown counties, it was named for Gen. Jacob Brown, an American Army officer in the War of 1812.
Brown County is one of Indiana’s two least densely populated counties, and the Indiana county with the largest percentage of land (almost 90%) covered by forest.
Hoosier National Forest
The town of Nashville (pop. 803) is the fifth-smallest county seat in Indiana.
Brown County Courthouse (1874)
The Brown County Art Colony, established in Nashville around the turn of the 20th century, was a major center for American Impressionist painters, including T.C. Steele (1847-1926).
Steele’s “The Old Mills” (1903)
The T.C. Steele State Historic Site is southwest of Nashville.
Steele’s home and studio
Brown County is still known today for its art galleries.
The Brown County Playhouse in Nashville has movies, live theater, and concerts.
Brown County State Park is Indiana’s largest and most-visited state park. It dates from 1931.
The Bill Monroe Music Park and Campground, north of Nashville, has the world’s longest continuously running bluegrass festival.
Bartholomew County (pop. 76,794) is west of Decatur County. It’s the only Bartholomew County in the U.S.
The county was named for Major Gen. Joseph Bartholomew (1766-1840), a hero of the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811.
Badly wounded in the battle
The county seat of Bartholomew County is the city of Columbus (pop. 44,061), which has grown every decade since its founding in the mid-1800s.
Bartholomew County Courthouse (1874)
Columbus is known worldwide for its collection of modernist architecture and public art, with works by Eero Saarinen, I.M. Pei, Robert Venturi, Cesar Pelli, Richard Meier, and many others.
First Christian Church (1942)
J. Irwin Miller, CEO of Columbus-based Cummins, Inc., started the program, which paid architects’ fees for public buildings and public art.
First Baptist Church (1965)
Columbus City Hall was completed in 1981. It was built of brick and Indiana limestone.
Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill
North Christian Church (1964) was designed by Eero Saarinen. The building is hexagonal, with a 192-foot spire.
An oculus below the spire admits light.
The Republic newspaper building (1971) has a glass and white aluminum curtain wall.
248 feet long
The Crump Theatre in Columbus has been called Indiana’s oldest theater. It dates from 1889, but was remodeled into Art Deco style in 1941.
Currently closed
Kidscommons, a children’s museum in Columbus, features “the world’s largest toilet,” which is actually a slide.
Mike Pence, former Indiana governor and current vice-presidential candidate, was born in Columbus in 1959 and grew up there.
On left
NASCAR star Tony Stewart was born in Columbus in 1971. He played trombone in the Columbus North High School marching band.
Franklin County (pop. 23,087) is south of Union County, along the border with Ohio. It’s one of 25 Franklin counties and parishes in the U.S.
Twenty-four of the Franklin counties were named for Benjamin Franklin; the one in Idaho was named for Franklin D. Richards (1821-1899), an apostle of the Mormon Church.
Ben (1705-1790)
The county seat of Franklin County is the town of Brookville (pop. 2,596).
Brookville in the fall
The Franklin County Courthouse is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Built in 1851
Skyward Adventures in Brookville has 10 zip lines and four sky bridges.
In the woods
Brookville is also the home of Wolf Creek Habitat, open to the public.
Weekends only
The town of Oldenburg (pop. 674) has been known as the “Village of Spires” because of its churches and other religious institutions.
The unincorporated community of Metamora, on the 19th-century Whitewater Canal, has canal rides, the Whitewater Valley Railroad, and a working gristmill.
The Duck Creek Aqueduct (1843), the last remaining covered wood aqueduct in the U.S., carries the Whitewater Canal over Duck Creek.
Restored in 1949
Grannie’s Cookie Jars and Ice Cream Parlor in Metamora has one of the world’s largest collections of cookie jars.
Union County (pop. 7,516) is east of Fayette County, on the border with Ohio.
Union County in 1908
Union County is Indiana’s third-smallest county in square miles and second-smallest county in population – although its population has increased in every decade since 1930.
It’s one of 17 Union counties. It got its name because it was formed by the union of parts of Fayette, Franklin, and Wayne counties.
The county seat of Union County is the town of Liberty (pop. 2,133). The courthouse, built in 1891, is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Richardsonian Romanesque style
Civil War general Ambrose Burnside (1824-1881) was born in Liberty. He is best remembered today for giving his name to the facial hair known as “sideburns.”
Poet Joaquin Miller (1837-1913) was also born in Union County (with the name Cincinnatus Heine Miller). He lived most of his life in Oregon and California.
“The Poet of the Sierras”
Whitewater Memorial State Park, Indiana’s third-largest state park, is partly in Union County.
Fayette County (pop. 24,277) is east of Rush County. It’s one of 11 Fayette counties.
All 11 were named for Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834), the Frenchman who fought in the American Revolutionary War.
The county seat of Fayette County is the city of Connersville (pop. 13,481). Connersville reached its peak population of 17,698 in 1960.
Fayette County Courthouse (1890)
In the early 20th century, Connersville was known as “Little Detroit” (as was Toledo, Ohio) because of its many automobile manufacturing plants.
1922 McFarlan touring car
The Stant Corporation, founded in Connersville in 1898 and still headquartered there, was the world’s largest producer of piano tuning pins.
Connersville High School had the first public high school band in the country, in 1906-07.
Film director and producer Robert Wise (1914-2005) grew up in Connersville. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for “The Sound of Music” and “West Side Story.”
On set with the Trapps
The Whitewater Valley Railroad runs 19 miles between Connersville and Metamora on former Penn Central railroad tracks.
Since 1974
The Thomas Ranck Round Barn (1904) is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Rush County (pop. 17,392) is east of Shelby County. It reached its peak population of 20,393 in 1960.
Rush County in 1908
The only other Rush County is in Kansas. Both were named for Dr. Benjamin Rush (1745-1813) of Philadelphia, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
The county seat of Rush County is the city of Rushville (pop. 6,341).
Rush County Courthouse (1896)
Wendell Wilkie (1892-1944) had his 1940 presidential campaign headquarters in Rushville (his wife’s hometown), and he is buried in Rushville’s East Hill Cemetery.
Wilkie gravesite
The John K. Gowdy House (1888) is the home of the Rush County Historical Society Museum.
Free admission
The Riverside Park Amphitheatre has free outdoor concerts in the summer.
“Live by the Levee”
Rural Rush County has several 19th-century covered bridges.
Forsythe Covered Bridge (1888)
The former Indiana Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Children’s Home (1878) is north of Rushville. The land was turned over to the Indiana National Guard in 2009.
Shelby County (pop. 44,436) is east of Johnson County. It’s been growing since 1940, when the population was 25,953.
It is one of nine Shelby counties, all of them named for Isaac Shelby (1750-1826), who fought in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. He was Kentucky’s first and fifth governor.
The county seat of Shelby County is the city of Shelbyville (pop. 19,191).
Shelby County Courthouse (1937)
The Strand Theatre in Shelbyville dates from 1916. It was renovated in 2008, and is now the home of the Shelby County Players.
Shelbyville also has a drive-in theater, the Skyline.
The Porter Pool Bathhouse (1930) in Shelbyville is on the National Register of Historic Places. The pool was demolished in 1998.
Now home of the Chamber of Commerce
William Garrett (1929-1974), the first African-American to play on the Indiana University basketball team, was Indiana Mr. Basketball at Shelbyville High School.
1947 state champions
Sandy Allen (1955-2008), the tallest woman in the world at 7 feet 7 inches, lived much of her life in Shelbyville.
Johnson County (pop. 139,654) is east of Morgan County and just south of Indianapolis. Its population has grown steadily over the years; in 1950, it was 26,183.
The county seat of Johnson County is the city of Franklin (pop. 23,712).
Johnson County Courthouse (1881)
Franklin College is a private liberal arts college in Franklin, founded in 1834. It was the first college in Indiana to admit women, in 1842.
About 1,000 students
Actress Marjorie Main (1890-1975), an Indiana native, attended Franklin College. She played Ma Kettle in 10 “Ma and Pa Kettle” movies between 1947 and 1957.
The Artcraft Theatre (America’s only one) in Franklin was built in 1922 and recently restored. Swartz Family Mortuary sponsors a free Senior Movie Series.
The World’s Largest Rocking Chair is just south of Franklin.
It was associated with a furniture store.
The “Franklin Wonder 5” was a group of basketball players that played together in grade school, won three state championships, 1920-22, and played together (and were undefeated) at Franklin College in 1923.
Morgan County (pop. 68,894) is east of Owen County. Located conveniently between Indianapolis and Bloomington, it’s been growing steadily since the 1930s.
It is one of 11 Morgan counties, and one of the nine named for Daniel Morgan (1736-1802) of Virginia, an American general in the Revolutionary War.
The county seat of Morgan County is the city of Martinsville (pop. 11,858).
Morgan County Courthouse (1859)
Martinsville has been known as “The Goldfish Capital of the World” because of its fisheries businesses, dating from 1899 and continuing today.
From the late 1800s to the 1960s, Martinsville was also known for its artesian mineral water health spas, or “sanitariums.” The athletic teams at Martinsville High School are still known as the Artesians.
The gym at Martinsville High School, built in 1924, is on the National Register of Historic Places.
John Wooden (1910-2010) grew up in the area, and played basketball at Martinsville High School.
State champions in 1927
Singer Bobby Helms (1933-1997) spent much of his life in the Martinsville area. His biggest hits were “Jingle Bell Rock” and “My Special Angel,” both in 1957.
North of Martinsville, the town of Mooresville was the hometown of artist Paul Hadley, who designed the current Indiana state flag.
Owen County (pop. 21,575) is east of Clay County. The only other Owen County is in Kentucky.
Owen County in 1908
The county was named for Abraham Owen (1769-1811), who died in the Battle of Tippecanoe.
The county seat of Owen County is the city of Spencer (pop. 2,217).
Owen County Courthouse (1911)
The Spencer Town Hall and Fire Station is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Built in 1898
There is a giant chicken at the entrance to the Owen County Fairgrounds in Spencer. It was formerly located in front of a restaurant.
Spencer has a drive-in theater called the Cinema 67.
It opened in 1957.
Downtown Spencer also has a restored movie theater, the Tivoli, dating from 1928. It is still showing movies.
Reopened in 2013
Cataract Falls, on Mill Creek north of Spencer, is Indiana’s largest waterfall, by volume. The Upper Falls is 45 feet high, and the Lower Falls is 30 feet high.
Lower Falls
Nearby is the much-photographed Cataract Falls Covered Bridge (1876).
Open only to pedestrians
McCormick’s Creek State Park is just east of Spencer.
Clay County (pop. 26,890) is east of Vigo County. It’s one of 18 Clay counties, and one of the 15 named for Kentucky statesman Henry Clay (1777-1852).
Three-time presidential candidate
Interstate 70 (Maryland to Utah) runs through Clay County, east to west, paralleling U.S. Route 40 (the old National Road).
The county seat of Clay County is the city of Brazil (pop. 7,912). The city was named in 1866 for a local farm; the farm was named in the 1840s for the country.
The “Chafariz Dos Contos” (“Fountain of Tales”), a memorial fountain in Forest Park, is a replica of a fountain in Ouro Preto, Brazil.
Dedicated in 1956
The Clay County Courthouse (1914) is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Classical Revival style
The former U.S. Post Office (1913) in Brazil is now the Clay County Historical Society Museum.
Beaux Arts style
In 2010, KFC gave Brazil $2,500 for fire safety improvements in exchange for a month-long promotion of its “fiery” chicken wings.
Indianapolis got $5,000.
Popcorn tycoon Orville Redenbacher (1907-1995) was born in Brazil and grew up there; labor-union leader Jimmy Hoffa was born in Brazil in 1913 and lived there until 1924.
He disappeared in 1975.
The unincorporated community of Bowling Green has a bed and breakfast called the Clayshire Castle.
Vigo County (pop. 107,848) is south of Parke County, on the border with Illinois. It’s the only Vigo County in the U.S.
The county was named for Colonel Francis Vigo (1747-1836), an Italian-American who helped American forces during the Revolutionary War.
Statue in Vincennes
The county seat of Vigo County is the city of Terre Haute (pop. 60,785). Terre Haute means “highland” in French.
Vigo County Courthouse (1883)
Terre Haute was known as “The Crossroads of America” because of the meeting of U.S. Route 40 (San Francisco to Atlantic City) and U.S. Route 41 (Copper Harbor, Michigan, to Miami).
Indiana State University, founded in 1865 as Indiana State Normal School, is in Terre Haute. It now has about 13,000 students.
Larry Bird statue and Larry Bird (ISU ’76-’79)
Terre Haute is also the home of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, established in 1874. It is one of America’s most prestigious schools specializing in engineering, mathematics, and science.
The Indiana Theatre (1922) in Terre Haute was an early example of an atmospheric theater, designed by architect John Eberson. It is now open for concerts, movies, and special events.
Built for vaudeville and silent movies
Labor-union leader Eugene V. Debs (1855-1926) was born and raised in Terre Haute. He was a five-time Socialist Party candidate for president of the United States. His home is now a museum.
Terre Haute’s industrial history includes steel mills, distilleries, and food processing. In 1953, its Quaker Maid plant was called “the largest food-processing plant under one roof.”
Clabber Girl is still based in Terre Haute.
The Swope Art Museum, established in 1942, is known for its collection of works by American artists such as Grant Wood, Thomas Hart Benton, and Edward Hopper.
And Andy Warhol
In 1913, a tornado killed 21 people in Terre Haute and destroyed or damaged more than 300 homes.
The LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute is one of the world’s few purpose-built cross country courses. It was built on a reclaimed coal mine.
Parke County (pop. 17,339) is west of Putnam County. It reached its peak population of 23,000 in 1900.
The only Parke County in the U.S.
With 31 covered bridges, it is known as “The Covered Bridge Capital of the World.”
Jackson Covered Bridge (1861)
The county seat is the city of Rockville (pop. 2,607).
Parke County Courthouse (1881)
The Chautauqua Pavilion in Rockville is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Built in 1913
Rockville and other Parke County communities have hosted an annual Covered Bridge Festival since 1957.
One of Indiana’s largest festivals
The Ritz Theater (1912) in Rockville is the home of the Parke Players.
The town of Marshall (pop. 324), north of Rockville, is known for its arch at the entrance to town.
Built in 1921
Turkey Run State Park is in the northern part of the county. It was Indiana’s second state park, purchased in 1916.
Known for its sandstone gorges, or “runs”
Pitcher Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown (1876-1948) was born in rural Parke County. Although he lost parts of two fingers in a farm-machinery accident, he had a lifetime record of 239-130.
He’s in the Hall of Fame.
The unincorporated Parke County community of Lodi was not the setting of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s 1969 song; the song referred to the city in California’s Central Valley.
Hendricks County (pop. 145,448) is west of Indianapolis and Marion County. It has been growing steadily since 1950, when its population was 24,594.
It’s the only Hendricks County – named for William Hendricks (1782-1850), who was governor of Indiana when the county was formed. His nephew Thomas was also governor, and later vice president of the United States.
Gov. William
The county seat of Hendricks County is the town of Danville (pop. 9,001).
Hendricks County Courthouse (1915)
The old county jail and sheriff’s residence (1866) is now the Hendricks County Historical Museum.
It was a jail until 1974.
The Royal Theater in Danville (1914) is still showing movies.
The neo-Tudor facade dates from the ’20s.
Danville once was the home of Central Normal College, which focused on training teachers. It was briefly a private school called Canterbury College, until it closed in 1951 because of bankruptcy.
Downtown Danville has an “Andy Griffith Show”-themed restaurant called the Mayberry Cafe. The show runs on TVs inside.
Police car parked permanently outside
The town of Brownsburg (pop. 21,285) is the home of the Lucas Oil Raceway (1960), which has a seating capacity of 30,000. The facility has a 4,400-foot dragstrip, a .68-mile oval, and a 2.5-mile road course.
Formerly Indianapolis Raceway Park
The town of Plainfield (pop. 27,631) got its name from the early Quakers (“plain people”) who settled in the area.
Plainfield Interurban Depot (1907)
Indiana had one of the country’s largest systems of interurban trains in the early 1900s; the 400-mile Terre Haute, Indianapolis, and Eastern Traction Company served Plainfield.
Marion County (pop. 903,393) is west of Hancock County. The largest county (by population) in Indiana, it’s had a consolidated city-county government with Indianapolis, called Unigov, since 1970.
Indianapolis (pop. 820,445) is both the state capital and the county seat. More interstate highways intersect in Indianapolis than in any other city.
Indiana State Capitol
The 284-foot Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument, in Monument Circle, was built in 1902. The observation level is 330 steps up.
Chase Tower (811 feet) in background
The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis is the world’s largest museum for children.
Dinosaurs breaking out of the building
Author Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007) was born in Indianapolis and grew up there. He attended Cornell University after graduating from high school.
Vonnegut mural in Indianapolis
Author Booth Tarkington (1869-1946) was also from Indianapolis. His 1918 novel “The Magnificent Ambersons” was largely set in the then-exclusive Woodruff Place neighborhood, just east of downtown.
The movie came out in 1942.
Indianapolis Union Station (1888) now contains a hotel, a charter school, several offices, and a small Amtrak station.
The Grand Hall is rented out for special events.
A downtown statue of Indiana-born basketball coach John Wooden has been informally called “The Coach of the Leg Lamps,” because of its disembodied legs of basketball players.
Unveiled in 2012
Indianapolis is not only the home of the Indianapolis 500 auto race; it’s also the home of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
Just west of downtown
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis belongs to the university systems of both Indiana University and Purdue.
About 30,000 students
Action Duckpin Bowl and Atomic Bowl Duckpin, both in the Fountain Square Theatre Building, are the only duckpin bowling alleys in the Midwest.
The balls are smaller.
The Pyramids are three 11-story pyramid-shaped office buildings, located north of downtown.
Built in 1967-72
The community of Acton, in Marion County’s southeastern corner, has a seasonal attraction called Veal’s Ice Tree – a structure covered in winter with colored water.
Hancock County (pop. 70,002) is west of Henry County. Its population has gone up steadily since the 1940s, thanks to its proximity to Indianapolis, just to the west.
It’s one of 10 Hancock counties, all named for American patriot John Hancock (1736-1793).
The county seat of Hancock County is the city of Greenfield (pop. 20,602).
Hancock County Courthouse (1897)
Poet James Whitcomb Riley (1849-1916) grew up in Greenfield. His childhood home is now a museum.
“The Hoosier Poet”
Greenfield has an annual Riley Festival.
The Lilly Biological Laboratories in Greenfield are on the National Register of Historic Places. They were built in 1914 for the Eli Lilly Company.
An 80-foot tower
The Ricks Centre for the Arts is in the former Weil Theater (1946).
Art Deco/Art Moderne style
Northwest of Greenfield, the town of Fortville (pop. 3,929) has a martini-drinking pink elephant statue outside a liquor store.
In the town of McCordsville (pop. 4,797), the McCordsville Barbershop is inside an old caboose.
Henry County (pop. 49,462) is west of Wayne County. It’s one of nine Henry counties, and one of the eight named for American patriot Patrick Henry (1736-1799) of Virginia.
Henry County was the setting of Ross Lockridge, Jr.’s 1,000-page 1948 novel “Raintree County,” which is often listed among the best American novels of the 20th century.
The 1957 movie is very different.
The Henry County town of Straughn (pop. 222) is called “Waycross” in the book.
Straughn students in 1893
The county seat of Henry County is the city of New Castle (pop. 18,114). New Castle reached its peak population of 21,215 in 1970.
Henry County Courthouse (1869)
New Castle is the home of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame, founded in 1962 in Indianapolis.
Moved to New Castle in 1990
The Fieldhouse at New Castle High School is the world’s largest high school gym, seating 9,325.
Built in 1955
Indiana basketball legend Steve Alford was born in New Castle in 1964 and starred at New Castle High School before playing his college ball at Indiana University. He’s now the head coach at UCLA.
1987 NCAA champions
The Steve Alford All-American Inn in New Castle has a giant sneaker in front.
Artist Robert Indiana was born (as Robert Clark) in New Castle in 1928. He was a leader in the pop art movement.
Eat/Die, 1962
In 1907, the Maxwell Auto Company built what was then the largest automobile factory in the world, in New Castle.
Later a Chrysler plant
Southwest of New Castle, the then-empty high school gymnasium in Knightstown (pop. 2,182) was used for many of the basketball scenes in the movie “Hoosiers” (1986). It’s now called Hoosier Gym.
Now available for tours
Wilbur Wright (1867-1912) was born in the unincorporated community of Millville. His brother Orville (1871-1948) was born in Dayton, Ohio.
Wayne County (pop. 68,917) is south of Randolph County, on the border with Ohio. It reached its peak population of 79,109 in 1970.
It’s one of 16 Wayne counties in the U.S., all named (directly or indirectly) for Gen. “Mad” Anthony Wayne (1745-1796), hero of the Revolutionary War.
Hoosier Hill (elev. 1,257 feet), the highest point in Indiana, is in the northeastern part of Wayne County. It is on private property, but there is a trail to the “top.”
About 30 feet above surrounding farmland
The county seat of Wayne County is the city of Richmond (pop. 36,812), home of the Indiana Football Hall of Fame.
Wayne County Courthouse (1893)
At various times in its history, Richmond was known nationwide for lawn-mower manufacturing, school-bus manufacturing, and rose-growing.
Richmond was known as “Rose City.”
Richmond has also been called the “Cradle of Recorded Jazz.” Gennett Records was the first to record Louis Armstrong, in 1923, and Hoagy Carmichael first recorded “Stardust” there, in 1927.
Richmond has a Glen Miller Park. Located in a narrow valley (or glen), it was named for Col. John Miller, the land’s original owner.
Not for the bandleader
Richmond is the home of Earlham College, a liberal arts college associated with the Quakers (established 1847, 1,000 students) and Indiana University East (established 1971, 4,500 students), part of the Indiana University system.
Professors are called by their first names.
A natural gas explosion in downtown Richmond in 1968 killed 41 people and injured more than 150. Fourteen square blocks were destroyed or damaged.
Main Street through downtown was closed to traffic.
Richmond built a five-block pedestrian mall on Main Street a few years later, but it was reopened to vehicle traffic in 1997 in an effort to revitalize downtown.
“The Promenade”
The Richmond School was a group of Impressionist artists who worked in the Richmond area in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Richmond Art Museum has a variety of American Impressionist works.
“Christmas Eve in Washington Square” by Guy Wiggins
The museum is located at Richmond High School, and so is the fourth-largest high school gym in the U.S. (and in Indiana), which holds 8,100.
Richmond has two of Indiana’s three Egyptian mummies. They’re located at the Wayne County Historical Museum and at Earlham College’s Joseph Moore Museum.
“Mummy Capital of Indiana”
The nearby town of Centerville is the home of “The World’s Largest Candle.”
Outside a candle outlet store
The town of Greens Fork, northwest of Richmond, was the birthplace, in 1850, of Old West outlaw Johnny Ringo . He died in 1882, somewhere in the vicinity of Tombstone, Arizona, possibly shot by Wyatt Earp.
Randolph County (pop. 26,171) is east of Delaware County, on the border with Ohio.
The eight Randolph counties in the U.S. were named for three different Randolphs: John, Edmund, and Peyton. This one was named for Peyton Randolph (1721-1775) of Virginia.
The county seat of Randolph County is the city of Winchester (pop. 4,935). Winchester reached its peak population of 5,742 in 1960.
Randolph County Courthouse (1876)
Winchester Speedway is a half-mile paved, oval racetrack, seating about 4,000 spectators. It opened in 1916.
“World’s Fastest Half-Mile”
The 1995 movie “Now and Then” was written by I. Marlene King, about her childhood in Winchester. It was actually filmed in Georgia, and the town’s name was changed to “Shelby.”
East of Winchester, the city of Union City (pop. 3,584) is just across the border from Union City, Ohio.
The rock group The McCoys got their start in Union City. They had a #1 hit with “Hang on Sloopy” in 1965.
Jim Jones (1931-1978), founder and leader of the Peoples Temple cult, grew up in rural Randolph County. He and more than 900 followers died in Jonestown, Guyana, in a mass murder-suicide.
In the early 20th century, Randolph County and its school superintendent, Lee L. Driver, were known nationwide as leaders in the movement to consolidate rural schools. A middle school in Winchester is named for Driver.
Delaware County (pop. 117,671) is east of Madison County. It’s one of six Delaware counties, none of them in the state of Delaware.
The county seat of Delaware County is the city of Muncie (pop. 70,085).
The citizens of Muncie have probably been studied more than the citizens of any comparable city, thanks to the “Middletown” studies, which began in the 1920s. Muncie has often been presented as a typical, small American city.
Muncie has a long history as an industrial city, with iron and steel mills and the Ball Brothers Glass Manufacturing Company. The five Ball brothers were George, Lucius, Frank, Edmund, and William.
The Ball Brothers’ many philanthropies in Muncie included the purchase of the Indiana Normal Institute from foreclosure, in 1917. After the school was donated to the state, it eventually became known as Ball Teachers College.
Ball State University now has 21,000 students.
The Cincinnati, Richmond, & Muncie Depot (1901) is now a visitor center and office for the Cardinal Greenway, a 60-mile rail trail on the old right-of-way.
The “Cardinal” was the last passenger train on the route.
The Masonic Temple (1920) in downtown Muncie is now the home of the Cornerstone Center for the Arts.
On the National Register of Historic Places
The six-story Roberts Hotel (1921) has recently reopened as the Lofts at Roberts apartments.
The National Model Aviation Museum in Muncie features a recreated 1950s-era hobby shop.
Muncie has a 25-foot Paul Bunyan statue, outside the Timbers Lounge, southwest of downtown.
The town of Albany, northeast of Muncie, is known for its shoe tree.
Madison County (pop. 131,636) is east of Hamilton County. It is one of the 19 Madison counties (and one Madison Parish) named for James Madison, fourth president of the U.S.
Hamilton and Madison, along with John Jay, wrote “The Federalist Papers,” which promoted the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.
The county seat of Madison County is the city of Anderson (pop. 56,129).
Paramount Theatre, Anderson (1929)
In 1970, Anderson had 20 General Motors plants and a population of 70,787. All the GM plants are now closed.
Delco Remy Division in 1973
The first interurban railroad in the U.S. was between Anderson and Alexandria, starting in 1898.
Nestle USA opened a plant in Anderson in 2009. It produces Coffee-Mate and Nesquik, among other items.
Anderson is the home of Anderson University, a liberal arts school affiliated with the Church of God (Anderson, Indiana). It has about 2,500 students.
The Indianapolis Colts train there.
Hoosier Park, on the south side of Anderson, has thoroughbred racing and a casino. The track opened in 1994, and the casino opened in 2008.
The city of Alexandria (pop. 5,145) is the hometown of Christian singer and songwriter Bill Gaither. He was born there in 1936.
“The World’s Largest Ball of Paint” is in Alexandria.
Camp Chesterfield, in the town of Chesterfield (pop. 2,547), is the home of the Indiana Association of Spiritualists. Appointments are available with mediums, clairvoyants and healers.
Wendell Wilkie (1892-1944), Republican nominee for president in 1940, was a native of the city of Elwood (pop. 8,614).
Hamilton County (pop. 274,569) is south of Tipton County and just north of Indianapolis. It’s one of the fastest-growing counties in the U.S., and is Indiana’s fourth-largest county in population.
It is one of 10 Hamilton counties in the U.S., and one of the eight named for Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.
The county seat of Hamilton County is the city of Noblesville. Its population grew from 7,548 in 1970 to 51,969 in 2010.
Hamilton County Courthouse (1879)
The former First Christian Church (1896) in Noblesville contains law offices. It is now known as the Adler Building.
The Klipsch Music Center (1989) is an outdoor amphitheater in Noblesville, with a seating capacity of 24,000. It’s the largest outdoor music venue in the Indianapolis area.
View from the lawn
The Indiana Transportation Museum, in Noblesville, has excursion trains on 34 miles of former Nickel Plate Line track.
Leviathan #63
Noblesville was long known as a center of flour-milling. The sports teams at Noblesville High School are still known as the Millers.
The Hamilton County Museum of History is in the Old Sheriff’s Residence and Jail (1876).
Second Empire style
The city of Westfield (pop. 30,068) is the home of the 400-acre Grand Park sports complex, with 31 soccer/football fields and 26 baseball/softball diamonds.
Mainly for travel teams
Carmel (pop. 79,732) is the fifth-largest city in Indiana. Its population in 1960 was 1,442. Carmel is the home of the Museum of Miniature Houses.
Since 1993
Carmel is the unofficial “Roundabout Capital of the United States,” with about 80 roundabouts that have replaced traffic signals.
Fewer accidents
Carmel is also the home of the Great American Songbook Foundation, founded by Michael Feinstein in 2007. The Songbook Exhibit Gallery is open to the public.
The Foundation is located within Carmel’s 1,600-seat Palladium concert hall, which opened in 2011.
A home of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra
Carmel and the neighboring city of Fishers are often rated among the best places to live in the U.S.A., in magazines such as “Money” and “Forbes.” The population of Fishers grew from 628 in 1970 to 76,794 in 2010.
Tipton County (pop. 15,931) is east of Clinton County. The only other Tipton County is in Tennessee.
The county seat of Tipton County is the city of Tipton (pop. 5,106).
Sherrill’s is now closed.
Tipton was the first town in Indiana to have brick paved streets, in 1890. Its J.J. McIntosh Broom Factory was the largest broom factory in the state.
The Tipton County Courthouse (1894) is on the National Register of Historic Places. Its clock tower is 206 feet tall.
Romanesque style
The Diana Theatre in Tipton dates from 1926. It was rebuilt in 1948, after a fire.
Still showing movies
Charles Benjamin “Babe” Adams (1882-1968), a Tipton native, was a longtime pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He had a career win-lost record of 194-140.
Clinton County (pop. 33,224) is north of Boone County.
Clinton County in 1908
It is one of the seven counties named for DeWitt Clinton (1769-1828), the governor of New York who was largely responsible for construction of the Erie Canal. Two other Clinton counties were named for his uncle George (1739-1812).
Pouring Lake Erie water into the Atlantic Ocean
The county seat of Clinton County is the city of Frankfort (pop. 16,422).
Clinton County Courthouse (1884)
Frankfort’s founders, three brothers named Pence, named it for Frankfurt am Main, Germany, which was the home of their great-grandparents.
Old Frankfort Stone High School (1892), known as “Old Stoney,” is the home of the Clinton County Historical Society and Museum.
Richardsonian Romanesque style
Actor Will Geer (1902-1978) was born in Frankfort.
On “The Waltons”
Skydive Indianapolis is located at the Frankfort Municipal Airport.
Boone County (pop. 56,640) is east of Montgomery County. Its population has been growing steadily since 1940.
Boone County in 1908
It’s one of eight Boone counties, and one of the six named for frontiersman Daniel Boone (1734-1820).
The county seat of Boone County is the city of Lebanon (pop. 15,792).
Downtown Lebanon
Lebanon got its name because a stand of hickory trees in the area reminded an early settler of the Biblical cedars of Lebanon.
The Boone County Courthouse, built in 1911 in Classical Revival style, is known for its glass dome.
The Strange Nathaniel Cragun House is an historic house and museum in Lebanon, operated by the Boone County Historical Society.
“Strange” was his first name.
Rick Mount of Lebanon was one of the greatest basketball players in Indiana high school history, and a star at Purdue from 1967 to 1970. He was the first high school athlete to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
The town of Zionsville (pop. 14,127), in the southeastern corner of the county near Indianapolis, is known for the brick streets in its downtown area.
Zionsville is the home of the Antique Fan Museum, operated by the Antique Fan Collectors Association.
Montgomery County (pop. 38,124) is east of Fountain County.
It’s one of 18 Montgomery counties, and one of the 14 named for Richard Montgomery (1738-1775), a major general in the Continental Army, who led the failed 1775 invasion of Canada.
The county seat of Montgomery County is the city of Crawfordsville (pop. 15,915).
Montgomery County Courthouse
Crawfordsville had the first Carnegie Library in Indiana, in 1902. The building is now the Carnegie Museum of Montgomery County.
The boys’ basketball team from Crawfordsville High School won the first Indiana High School Basketball Tournament, in 1911.
Gen. Lew Wallace (1827-1905), author of “Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ” (the best-selling American novel of the 19th century), lived much of his life in Crawfordsville. His study is now open to the public as a museum.
Formerly known as the Ben-Hur Museum
The Rotary Jail Museum, dating from 1882, has a unique, two-story rotary jail. The cells are shaped like pieces of pie.
It still spins!
Wabash College, in Crawfordsville, is one of the country’s three remaining men-only liberal arts colleges.
Established in 1832
Crawfordsville native Joseph Stephen Crane (1916-1985) became an actor and restaurateur in Los Angeles. He and actress Lana Turner were married twice and divorced twice between 1942 and 1944.
Voted “Most Attractive” at Crawfordsville High School
The Crawfordsville Monster was a flying creature that was reportedly seen by Crawfordsville residents in 1891. It was later identified as a flock of birds.
Exteriors for the 1986 film “Hoosiers” were filmed in the town of New Richmond (pop. 333). It was called “Hickory” in the movie.
The town of Wingate (pop. 263) was the site of the first electric basketball scoreboard, in 1935.
Fountain County (pop. 17,240) is east of Vermillion County. It’s the only Fountain County in the U.S.
The county was named for James Fontaine (1757-1790), whose name was also spelled “Fountaine.” He died in a Northwest Indian War battle named either Harmar’s Defeat, Battle of the Maumee, Battle of Kekionga, or Battle of the Miami Towns.
Also “Battle of the Pumpkin Fields”
The county seat of Fountain County is the city of Covington (pop. 2,645).
Fountain County Courthouse (1937)
The Carnegie Library in Covington is on the National Register of Historic Places
Built in 1914
The largest city in Fountain County is Attica (pop. 3,245).
Devon Theater (1932), Attica
Indiana’s state song, “On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away,” was written (by Paul Dresser) near Attica, which is on the banks of the Wabash River. Paul Dresser was the brother of novelist Theodore Dreiser.
Portland Arch Nature Preserve is near the Wabash River, between Covington and Attica.
Vermillion County (pop. 16,212), long and narrow, is south of Warren County, between Illinois and the Wabash River. It reached its peak population of 27,625 in 1920.
It is the only Vermillion County in the U.S. Across the border in Illinois is a Vermilion County (with one “l”), and Louisiana has a Vermilion Parish.
Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona
The county seat of Vermillion County is the town of Newport (pop. 515), second-smallest county seat in Indiana.
Vermillion County Courthouse (1925)
The Newport Antique Auto Hill Climb dates from 1909 (with interruptions).
The largest city in Vermillion County is Clinton (pop. 4,893). Many of its early citizens were immigrants from Italy, Austria, and Scotland who worked in the local coal mines.
Its population in 1920 was 10,962.
Actor Ken Kercheval grew up in Clinton. He played the role of Cliff Barnes on the TV show “Dallas.”
Punched by J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman)
Journalist Ernie Pyle (1900-1945) was born on a farm near the town of Dana (pop. 608). He died in the Battle of Okinawa.
Warren County (pop. 8,508) is west of Tippecanoe County. It borders Illinois on the west; the Wabash River separates it from Fountain County on southeast.
Indiana’s third-smallest county in population, it reached its peak of population (11,497) in 1880. The county had a famous resort hotel called the Mudlavia, from 1890 to 1920.
It’s one of 14 Warren counties in the U.S., all named for Gen. Joseph Warren (1741-1775), who died in the Battle of Bunker Hill.
The county seat of Warren County is the town of Williamsport (pop. 1,898).
Warren County Courthouse (1908)
The 90-foot Williamsport Falls, the highest waterfall in Indiana, is in Williamsport.
Fall Creek goes over a sandstone ledge.
James Franklin Hanly (1863-1920), governor of Indiana from 1905 to 1909, practiced law in Williamsport for many years. He ran for president on the Prohibition Party in 1916.
Buried in Williamsport
The town of State Line City (pop. 143) is adjacent to the community of Illiana, Illinois. Abraham Lincoln gave a speech in State Line City in 1861, on his way from Springfield, Illinois, to Washington, D.C.
Tippecanoe County (pop. 172,780) is southwest of Carroll County.
It’s the only Tippecanoe County. The name apparently came from the anglicization of “Kethtippecanoogi,” a Miami Indian term meaning “place of the succor fish people.”
The Battle of Tippecanoe took place in 1811 near the confluence of the Tippecanoe and Wabash rivers. U.S. forces led by William Henry Harrison fought Native Americans associated with Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa (“The Prophet”).
The county seat of Tippecanoe County is the city of Lafayette (pop. 67,140).
Tippecanoe County Courthouse (1884)
Lafayette is served by two Amtrak trains: the “Cardinal,” between New York City and Chicago, and the “Hoosier State,” between Indianapolis and Chicago.
Big Four Depot (1902)
Axl Rose (William Bruce Rose, Jr.), lead singer of the rock band Guns N’ Roses, was born in Lafayette in 1962 and grew up there.
Lafayette participated in the first airmail delivery in U.S. history, in 1859. A hot-air balloon took off from Lafayette, bound for New York City. It only made it 30 miles – in the wrong direction.
The 123 letters eventually reached NYC.
The Lafayette Theater (1938) hosts concerts and a variety of other events.
West Lafayette (pop. 29,596) is across the Wabash River, to the west of Lafayette. It’s the home of Purdue, Indiana’s land-grant university, founded in 1869. Purdue has about 39,000 students.
Boilermaker statue (2005)
Neil Armstrong (1930-2012), the first man on the Moon, was a Purdue graduate, in aeronautical engineering.
John Wooden was a three-time All-American basketball player at Purdue. He graduated in 1932 with a degree in English.
Carroll County (pop. 20,155) is west of Howard County.
Carroll County in 1895
It’s one of 13 Carroll counties, and one of the 12 named for Charles Carroll (1737-1832) of Maryland, who was the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence.
He died at age 95.
The county seat of Carroll County is the city of Delphi (pop. 2,893).
Carroll County Courthouse (1917)
The Niewerth Building in Delphi is on the National Register of Historic Place.
Built in 1874
The Delphi Opera House (1865) was recently renovated. It now hosts a variety of concerts, plays, and other events.
On the second floor of a downtown building
The Wabash and Erie Canal, which connected the Great Lakes with the Ohio River, ran through Delhi. Today, Delhi has a Wabash and Erie Canal Park.
Howard County (pop. 82,752) is west of Grant County. It’s one of seven Howard counties in the U.S. Those seven counties are named for six different people named Howard.
Howard County in 1908
This Howard County (and Iowa’s) are named for Gen. Tilghman Howard (1797-1844), an attorney and U.S. congressman from Indiana.
Born in South Carolina
The county seat of Howard County is the city of Kokomo. Its population in 2010 was 45,468; after it annexed more than seven square miles in 2012, its population reached about 57,000.
Former City Building (1894)
Kokomo has long been known as the “City of Firsts.” Some of the firsts include the first automobile, first stainless steel flatware, first push-button car radio, first canned tomato juice, and first mechanical corn picker
Kokomo also had the first McDiner – a McDonald’s with a diner inside – in 2001. This experiment in table service at McDonald’s was soon discontinued.
Indiana University Kokomo was established in 1945. It has about 4,000 students.
The Seiberling Mansion (1889) is now part of the Howard County Historical Museum.
Decorated for Christmas
The Beach Boys’ song “Kokomo” is not about the real Kokomo. It’s about a fictional place “off the Florida Keys.”
The “Kokomantis” is a scrap-iron sculpture in downtown Kokomo. It’s 17 feet tall and 22 feet long.
Legs made of stoplight arms
Highland Park in Kokomo has “The World’s Largest Preserved Steer” – Old Ben, who died in 1910 – preserved in a glass box. The park also has “The World’s Largest Sycamore Stump.”
He weighed 2.5 tons.
Kokomo was the hometown of Norman Bridwell (1928-2014), author of the “Clifford the Big Red Dog” books.
Grant County (pop. 70,061) is west of Blackford County. It’s one of 14 Grant counties and one Grant Parish in the U.S.
This Grant County was named for Captains Samuel and Moses Grant – Kentuckians who died fighting Indians in 1789.
Most of the others were named for him.
The county seat of Grant County is the city of Marion (pop. 29,948). The courthouse in Marion dates from 1882. Its dome was removed in 1943.
The courthouse in 1930
Marion is the home of Indiana Wesleyan University, established in 1920 and affiliated with the Wesleyan Church.
About 3,000 students in Marion
Marion has been a worldwide leader in the paper plate industry. It is also known as “Christmas City USA” because of its mile-long “Walkway of Lights” during the holiday season.
On the Mississinewa Riverwalk
The annual “Mississinewa 1812,” at the Mississinewa Battlefield near Marion, is the largest War of 1812 battle reenactment in the U.S.
Every October
Musician Lyle Lovett and actress Julia Roberts were married at St. James Lutheran Church in Marion in 1993. Lovett was on tour at the time.
Divorced in 1995
Actor James Dean (1931-1955) was born in Marion and spent much of his childhood and teen-age years at the farm home of his aunt and uncle, near the town of Fairmount (pop. 2,954).
Fairmount High School yearbook
The James Dean Gallery in Fairmount claims to have the world’s largest collection of James Dean memorabilia. Fairmount also has an annual James Dean Festival.
In a restored Victorian home
Dean is buried at the Park Cemetery in Fairmount.
Cartoonist Jim Davis, creator of “Garfield,” was also born in Marion (in 1945) and also grew up on a farm near Fairmount.
Davis still lives in Indiana.
The city of Gas City was a center of the Indiana Gas Boom of the late 1800s.
Oil derrick street sign
In the nearby town of Swayzee (pop. 981), the high school basketball team played a nine-overtime game (an Indiana record) in 1964.
Blackford County (pop. 12,766) is west of Jay County. Indiana’s fourth-smallest county in square miles, it reached its peak population of 17,213 in 1900.
Blackford County in 1908
Blackford County was named for Judge Isaac Blackford (1776-1859), longtime chief justice of the Indiana Supreme Court. It’s the only Blackford County in the U.S.
Blackford County was a center of the Indiana Gas Boom, in the late 1800s. Today, about 70% of the county’s land is planted in corn or soybeans.
The county seat of Blackford County is Hartford City (pop. 6,220).
Courthouse (1894)
In the nearby city of Montpelier (pop. 1,805), the 1908 Carnegie Library is still open.
On the National Register of Historic Places
Montpelier is the hometown of Astronaut Kevin A. Ford . He graduated from Blackford High School in Hartford City in 1978, and was the pilot of the Space Shuttle Discovery in 2009.
Now a retired USAF colonel
The Point restaurant, west of Montpelier, is known for its fiberglass giant holding an ice cream cone.
Jay County (pop. 21,253) is south of Wells and Adams counties, on the border with Ohio.
Jay County in 1908
Named for John Jay (1745-1829) of New York, first Chief Justice of the United States, it’s “The Only JAY in the USA,” according to the Jay County Visitors and Tourism Bureau.
The county seat of Jay County is the city of Portland (pop. 6,223).
Jay County Courthouse (1919)
Dancer and choreographer Twyla Tharp was born in Portland in 1941. She was named for Twila Thornburg, the “Princess” of the 89th annual Muncie Fair.
The Jay County Historical Museum is in Portland.
Open Tuesday to Friday
The Bowstring Truss Bridge (1914) in Portland is the only concrete bowstring truss bridge in Indiana.
Restored in 1997
The Museum of the Soldier is in the former Coca Cola bottling plant in Portland.
The city of Dunkirk (pop. 2,362) is the home of the Glass Museum, which has more than 8,000 pieces of glassware from 110 factories around the world.
It opened in 1981.
The Rebecca Rankin Round Barn (1908) is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Wells County (pop. 27,636) is west of Adams County. The only other Wells County is in North Dakota.
The county was named for Capt. William A. Wells (1770-1812), who was captured and adopted by the Miami Indians in Indiana. When he was killed in the War of 1812, Potawatomi Indians cut out his heart and ate it, in honor of his bravery.
He had three wives – 2 Native Americans and an Army officer’s daughter.
The county seat of Wells County is the city of Bluffton (pop. 9,897), on the bluffs of the Wabash River.
Wells County Courthouse
Bluffton was historically known as “The Parlor City” because its paved streets (at a time when many streets were not paved) made the city “as clean as your parlor.”
Binghamton has the same nickname.
The Wells County Historical Museum is in the historic Stewart-Studabaker House.
Built in 1882
U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1927-2003), from New York City, spent most of his childhood summers on his grandfather’s farm near Bluffton.
Former Northern Illinois quarterback Chandler Harnish was born in Bluffton. He was “Mr. Irrelevant” of the 2012 NFL draft – the last person picked, at 253rd overall.
Drafted by the Colts
Ouabache (pronounced “Wabash”) State Park, on the Wabash River, is east of Bluffton.
Every County 