Fayette County, Indiana facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Fayette County
U.S. county
Fayette County Courthouse in Connersville
Location within the U.S. state of Indiana
Indiana's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Indiana
Founded	1819
Named for	Marquis de la Fayette
Seat	Connersville
Largest city	Connersville
Area
• Total	215.16 sq mi (557.3 km2)
• Land	215.01 sq mi (556.9 km2)
• Water	0.15 sq mi (0.4 km2)  0.07%%
Population
• Estimate  (2018)	23,047
• Density	113/sq mi (43.61/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	6th
Website	Fayette County/ Connersville Website
Indiana county number 21

A round barn in Fayette County

Fayette County is one of 92 counties in U.S. state of Indiana located in the east central portion of the state. As of 2010, the population was 24,277. Most of the county is rural; land use is farms, pasture and unincorporated woodland. The county seat and only incorporated town is Connersville, which holds a majority of the county's population.

The county was historically significant early in the 19th century as a conduit for settlement of the Northwest Territory, and again in the early 20th century as an automotive manufacturing center, but has been in economic decline since the 1960s and is now among the poorest counties in the state. Most employment is retail, schools and healthcare.

The county lacks a commercial airport and bus service, and has no major (U.S. or Interstate) highways.

The county was created in 1818 from portions of Wayne and Franklin counties and unincorporated ("New Purchase") territory.

Fayette County comprises the Connersville, IN Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Predecessor counties

At the organization of the Indiana Territory from the Northwest Territory in 1800, present day Indiana was divided between Knox county (seat Vincinnes) in the south, and Wayne county including northern Ohio (seat Detroit) north of Fort Wayne in the north. By the Ohio Enabling Act of 1802 settlers in the Whitewater valley became citizens of Indiana Territory and residents of Clark county, which had been organized from the eastern part of Knox in 1801, with the county seat at Falls of the Ohio, later called Clarksville.

On Sept. 30, 1809, the United States, on behalf of the Northwest Territory and Governor William Henry Harrison, concluded the Treaty of Fort Wayne, part of whose terms included the purchase from the Indians of a strip of land locally called "The 12 Mile Purchase" enclosing the White Water Valley and comprising the largest portion of the future county. Conclusion of the Treaty essentially ended Indian occupation of the county and cleared the way for settlement.

In the territory of Indiana, Wayne and Franklin counties were carved from Dearborn (est. 1803) and Clark counties in 1811. At that time much of southeastern Indiana was divided between the two latter counties.

The County

Fayette County was created by act of the Indiana General Assembly in Dec. 1818 from portions of Wayne and Franklin counties and unincorporated ("New Purchase") territory in the northern portion of the county. It was named for the Marquis de la Fayette, a French hero of the Revolutionary War. Connersville, then a small village of less than a hundred inhabitants, was designated the county seat. The county was divided into 5 townships (Harrison, Connersville, Jennings, Columbia and Brownsville) in Feb. 1819, "Connersville" containing the namesake town. In 1821, the organization of Waterloo Township subsumed the portion of Brownsville Township remaining in Fayette County, along with a portion of Harrison Township west of the Whitewater River.

The far eastern part of Fayette lying between the Treaty of Greenville treaty line of 1795 and the present eastern boundary line of Waterloo and Jennings townships remained a part of Fayette county until it was split off into the newly created Union county in 1821. In 1826, a small part in the southeastern portion of Jackson township not included in the limits of the county in 1818, being left a part of Franklin county was attached to Fayette County.

In 1841, Connersville became the first, and remains the only, incorporated town (chartered as a city in 1869) in the county.

Settlement, growth and decline

The county and its seat Connersville rose from unincorporated territory surrounding an isolated trading post on the Whitewater River to the principal conduit for settlement of northern and central Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois during the early 19th century, to an automotive manufacturing powerhouse in the first half of the 20th century, before declining to one of the poorest counties in Indiana and the central midwest. After early settlement, during industrial growth, the county's population concentrated in the town of Connersville.

At the time of its organization in 1819, the county had approximately 3000 residents.

Whitewater Canal

Automotive Manufacturing

Economic Decline: Labor and Industry in the 1980's

Geography

According to the 2010 census, the county has a total area of 215.16 square miles (557.3 km²), of which 215.01 square miles (556.9 km²) (or 99.93%) is land and 0.15 square miles (0.39 km²) (or 0.07%) is water. The county is located in the northern portion of the Whitewater River Valley running south and southeasterly from Wayne County to Cincinnati on the Ohio River. The only major waterway in the county is the West Fork of the Whitewater River running north to south through the center of the county. There is only a single tiny lake in the county, Manlove's lake in Posey Township. The county is mostly flat with low, rolling hills. The county (and all of Indiana) is part of the Eastern (U.S.) Broadleaf Forest biome dominated by deciduous trees including over 175 native species of oak. Most of the land use is farms (>80%), vacant woodland and pasture. The most common crops are corn and soybeans.

Adjacent counties

• Henry County (north)
• Wayne County (northeast)
• Union County (east)
• Franklin County (south)
• Rush County (west)

Political subdivisions

Townships

• Columbia
• Connersville
• Fairview
• Harrison
• Jackson
• Jennings
• Orange
• Posey
• Waterloo

Cities and towns

• Connersville

Unincorporated towns

• Alquina
• Alpine
• Bentonville
• Columbia
• Everton
• Glenwood
• Falmouth
• Harrisburg
• Huber
• Longwood Crossing
• Lyonsville
• Nulltown
• Orange
• Springersville
• Tyner Crossing
• Waterloo

Transportation

Major markets are remote; the nearest large cities are Cincinnati 58 miles (93 km) to the southeast, Indianapolis 66 miles (106 km) to the west, Louisville 127 miles (204 km) to the south, and Columbus, Ohio, 135 miles (217 km) to the northeast.

Major highways

The accessible state roads are all 2-lane roads. The nearest major highways are U.S. 40 12 miles (19 km) to the north, and Interstate 70 14 miles (23 km) to the north, both in Henry and Wayne Counties. Three major state roads all pass through Connersville:

• Indiana State Road 1
• Indiana State Road 44
• Indiana State Road 121

Airport, rail and bus

There is no commercial airport or bus service in the county. Amtrak passenger trains serve Connersville. Fayette County has CSX freight service in Connersville.

Waterways

Whitewater River, the only significant waterway in the county, is not commercially navigable.

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in Connersville have ranged from a low of 15 °F (−9 °C) in January to a high of 83 °F (28 °C) in July, although a record low of −31 °F (−35 °C) was recorded in January 1994 and a record high of 102 °F (39 °C) was recorded in July 1952. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 2.33 inches (59 mm) in February to 4.89 inches (124 mm) in May.

Demographics

2010 Census Data

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 24,277 people, 9,719 households, and 6,669 families residing in the county. The population density was 112.9 inhabitants per square mile (43.6/km²). There were 10,898 housing units at an average density of 50.7 per square mile (19.6/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 96.9% white, 1.3% black or African American, 0.3% Asian, 0.1% American Indian, 0.3% from other races, and 1.0% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 0.9% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 20.4% were German, 15.2% were American, 11.8% were Irish, and 8.2% were English.

Of the 9,719 households, 31.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.6% were married couples living together, 12.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 31.4% were non-families, and 26.6% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.93. The median age was 40.8 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $47,697 and the median income for a family was $46,601. Males had a median income of $41,211 versus $29,388 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,928. About 11.9% of families and 19.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.0% of those under age 18 and 9.9% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

In 2010, the county ranked 92nd out of 92 Indiana counties in median household income. Most of the economic activity is local manufacturing, retail trade and healthcare services, concentrated in Connersville.

Notable people

• Howard Garns, born in Connersville in 1905 and known as the inventor of Number Place, which would become later known as Sudoku.
• William Grose, Civil War general and Indiana State Senator grew up here.
• George Washington Steele, first Governor of Oklahoma Territory.
• Robert Wise, a movie producer and director who grew up in Connersville, became president of the Directors Guild of America (1971–1975) and president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (1984–1987).

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Fayette (Indiana) para niños