Dearborn County, Indiana facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Dearborn County
U.S. county
Dearborn County Courthouse
Location within the U.S. state of Indiana
Indiana's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Indiana
Founded	1803
Named for	Dr. Henry Dearborn
Seat	Lawrenceburg
Largest city	Lawrenceburg
Area
• Total	307.42 sq mi (796.2 km2)
• Land	305.03 sq mi (790.0 km2)
• Water	2.38 sq mi (6.2 km2)  0.77%%
Population  (2020)
• Total	50,679
• Estimate  (2023)	51,215
• Density	164.853/sq mi (63.6500/km2)
Demonym(s)	Dearbornian
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	6th
Indiana county number 15

Lawrenceburg on the Ohio River, from the air. AEP's Tanner's Creek Generating Station at lower-left.

Dearborn County is one of 92 counties of the U.S. state of Indiana. Located on the Ohio border near the southeast corner of the state, Dearborn County was formed in 1803 from a portion of Hamilton County, Ohio. In 2020, the population was 50,679. The county seat and largest city is Lawrenceburg. Dearborn County is part of the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

In 1803, following Ohio's admission to the Union, a wedge, or pie shaped, remnant of the former Northwest Territory along Ohio's southwestern border was ceded to Indiana Territory and organized as Dearborn County. It was named after Henry Dearborn who was U.S. Secretary of War at that time. Lawrenceburg was then designated as the county seat.

All or part of seven other present day counties were carved from the original county with the present boundaries being established in 1845. The region, nicknamed the "Gore", slices through the present-day counties of Dearborn, Franklin, Ohio, Randolph, Switzerland, Union, Wayne and Fayette. Subdivision of Dearborn County began in 1811 with the formation of Franklin and Wayne Counties, followed by Switzerland in 1814.

Early growth in the region was centered on Lawrenceburg which became an important railroad junction connecting two of the regions major rail lines. A contention existed between the towns of Lawrenceburg and the mostly German-speaking immigrants that dominated Rising Sun over the favored status of Lawrenceburg as the county seat. The rivalry between the two towns was resolved in 1844 when the Indiana State legislature separated the portion of Dearborn County south of Laughery Creek and created the last and smallest Indiana county, county of Ohio on March 1, 1844, with Rising Sun designated as its county seat.

Geography

According to the 2010 census, the county has a total area of 307.42 square miles (796.2 km²), of which 305.03 square miles (790.0 km²) (or 99.22%) is land and 2.38 square miles (6.2 km²) (or 0.77%) is water. Part of the southeastern county line is formed by the Ohio River.

Cities

• Aurora
• Lawrenceburg
• Greendale

Towns

• Dillsboro
• Moores Hill
• Saint Leon
• West Harrison

Census-designated places

• Bright
• Hidden Valley

Other unincorporated communities

Townships

Adjacent counties

• Franklin County (north)
• Butler County, Ohio (northeast)
• Hamilton County, Ohio (east)
• Boone County, Kentucky (southeast)
• Ohio County (south)
• Ripley County (west)

Climate

In recent years, average temperatures in Lawrenceburg have ranged from a low of 21 °F (−6 °C) in January to a high of 86 °F (30 °C) in July, although a record low of −27 °F (−33 °C) was recorded in January 1994 and a record high of 107 °F (42 °C) was recorded in July 1988. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 2.94 inches (75 mm) in September to 5.53 inches (140 mm) in May.

Demographics

At the 2010 United States Census, there were 50,047 people, 18,743 households and 13,773 families residing in the county. The population density was 164.1 inhabitants per square mile (63.4/km²). There were 20,171 housing units at an average density of 66.1 per square mile (25.5/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 97.5% white, 0.6% black or African American, 0.4% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 0.1% Pacific islander, 0.3% from other races, and 1.0% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.0% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 46.5% were German, 19.2% were Irish, 11.4% were English, and 7.8% were American.

Of the 18,743 households, 35.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.5% were married couples living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 26.5% were non-families, and 22.0% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.07. The median age was 40.0 years.

The median household income was $47,697 and the median family income was $66,561. Males had a median income of $45,270 and females $33,353. The per capita income was $25,023. About 4.5% of families and 7.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.5% of those under age 18 and 6.3% of those age 65 or over.

2020 census

Infrastructure

Major highways

• Interstate 74
• Interstate 275
• U.S. Route 50
• U.S. Route 52
• State Road 1
• State Road 46
• State Road 48
• State Road 56
• State Road 62
• State Road 148
• State Road 262
• State Road 350

Notable people

• Nick Goepper professional slopestyle skier, three-time winter Olympic medalist
• Erwin "Cannonball" Baker, motorcycle and auto racer, 1989 inductee in Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
• John Whiteaker, first state Governor of Oregon from 1859 until 1862 and Oregon's Congressman from 1879 to 1881
• Jim Lyttle, professional baseball player
• Lonnie Mack, influential guitar soloist of early rock 'n' roll
• Louis Skidmore, architect that co-founded Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Dearborn para niños