Indiana: Clay County

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.

NEXT: OWEN COUNTY

Indiana: Porter County

Porter County (pop. 164,343) is east of Lake County, on the shores of Lake Michigan. Its southern border is the 133-mile Kankakee River, a tributary of the Illinois River.

The only Porter County in the U.S.

The county was named for naval officer David Porter (1780-1843), who served in the War of 1812.

Portrayed by Jeff Chandler in this 1952 movie

The 15,000-acre Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore has 15 disconnected pieces of land along a 25-mile stretch of Lake Michigan. Indiana Dunes State Park is within the national lakeshore.

Indiana Dunes in the 1960s

The county seat of Porter County is the city of Valparaiso (pop. 31,730).

Porter County Courthouse (1883)

The city was originally named Portersville, but it was changed in 1837 to Valparaiso after Valparaiso, Chile, where David Porter captained U.S. ships against the English in the War of 1812 Battle of Valparaiso.

Valparaiso is the home of Valparaiso University, founded in 1859 as one of the first coeducational colleges in the U.S. It has about 4,500 students. It is now affiliated with the Lutheran church.

Chapel of the Resurrection (1959)

The old Porter County Jail and Sheriff’s House (1871) now contains the Porter County Museum of History.

The jail moved out in 1974.

Indiana-born businessman Orville Redenbacher had his popcorn business in Valparaiso. The city has had an annual Popcorn Festival since 1979.

Orvillle statue

The largest city in Porter County is Portage (pop. 36,828), along Lake Michigan.

Chicago skyline is visible across the lake.

Farther east, in the town of Beverly Shores (pop. 613), are five buildings that were moved from the “Homes of Tomorrow” exhibition at the 1933 Century of Progress World’s Fair in Chicago.

Florida Tropical House

NEXT: LA PORTE COUNTY