Floyd County, Indiana facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids Floyd County
U.S. county
Floyd County, Indiana
Location within the U.S. state of Indiana
Indiana's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Indiana
Founded	1819
Named for	Brigadier General John Floyd
Seat	New Albany
Largest city	New Albany
Area
• Total	148.96 sq mi (385.8 km²)
• Land	147.94 sq mi (383.2 km²)
• Water	1.02 sq mi (2.6 km²) 0.68%%
Population (2020)
• Total	78,522
• Density	504/sq mi (194.57/km²)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	9th
Indiana county number 22 Second smallest county in Indiana by area

Floyd County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. Its county seat is New Albany. Floyd County has the second-smallest land area in the entire state. It was formed in the year 1819 from neighboring Clark, and Harrison counties.

Floyd County is part of the Louisville/Jefferson County, KY–IN Metropolitan Statistical Area.

From Floyds Knobs, the view of the Sherman Minton Bridge that crosses the Ohio River and connecting Indiana and Kentucky and the Louisville International Airport in the distance.

History
Geography
Climate and weather
Demographics
Gallery
Education
Images for kids
See also

History

For more details, see History of the French in Louisville

Floyd County, originally the Shawnee Indians hunting ground, was conquered for the United States by George Rogers Clark during the American Revolutionary War from the British. He was awarded large tracts of land in Indiana, including almost all of present-day Floyd County. Clark sold land to the settlers who began arriving as soon as peace returned.

In 1818, New Albany was a large enough to become a county seat and form a new county. New Albany leaders sent Nathaniel Scribner and John K. Graham to the capital at Corydon to petition the General Assembly. Legislation was passed on January 2, 1819 by the General Assembly, and the county was established on February 1. The origin of the county's name is debated. According to the State Library, it was named for John Floyd, a leading Jefferson County, Kentucky pioneer and uncle of Davis Floyd. John Floyd was killed in 1783 when his party was attacked by Indians in Bullitt County, Kentucky. However, some maintain the county was actually named for Davis Floyd, who was convicted of aiding Aaron Burr in the treason of 1809. Davis Floyd had also been a leading local political figure and was the county's first circuit court judge.

In 1814, New Albany was platted and was established as the county seat on March 4, 1819. There was an attempt in 1823 to move the county seat, but the motion failed. New Albany would be the largest city in the state for much of the early 19th century, eventually being overtaken by Indianapolis during the Civil War.

House of Nathaniel Scribner

Between 1800 and 1860, Floyd County experienced a huge boom in population (doubling many times over). A survey in the 1850s found that over half of Indiana's population that made more than $100,000 per year lived in Floyd County, establishing it as having the richest population in the state.

The Duncan Tunnel, the longest tunnel in Indiana, was built in Floyd County in 1881 between New Albany and Edwardsville. Because no route over the Floyds Knobs was suitable for a railroad line, civil engineers decided to tunnel through them. The project was originally started by the Air Line but was completed by Southern Railway. It took five years to bore at a cost of $1 million. The Tunnel is 4,311 feet (1,314 m) long.

Floyd County, during the 19th century, attracted immigrants of Irish, German, French and African American origins. The French settlers located mostly in Floyds Knobs, Indiana. The Irish began arriving in 1817 and settled in large numbers between 1830 and 1850. German immigrants settled mostly in New Albany. By 1850, about one in six county residents had been born in other countries.

Geography

According to the 2010 census, the county has a total area of 148.96 square miles (385.8 km²), of which 147.94 square miles (383.2 km²) (or 99.32%) is land and 1.02 square miles (2.6 km²) (or 0.68%) is water. It is the second smallest county in area, behind only Ohio County.

City

New Albany

Towns

Census-designated place

Galena

Townships

Floyd County is divided into five townships:

Franklin
Georgetown
Greenville
Lafayette
New Albany

Geographical features

Floyds Knobs was named after the most prominent geographical feature of the county which are the knobs: many steep hills which dot the midsection of the county. The highest point is South Skyline Drive (+38° 21' 13.64", -85° 50' 50.64"), at just over 1,000 ft (300 m). The lowest point in the county is the shore of the Ohio River near New Albany at an elevation of 380 ft (120 m).

Major highways

Interstate 64
Interstate 265
U.S. Route 150
Indiana State Road 62
Indiana State Road 64
Indiana State Road 111
Indiana State Road 311

Adjacent counties

Clark County (northeast)
Jefferson County, Kentucky (south, across the Ohio River)
Harrison County (west)
Washington County (northwest)

Climate and weather

Weather chart for New Albany, Indiana

3.3

4.4

3.9

4.9

3.8

4.3

3.4

3.1

2.8

3.8

3.7

temperatures in °F
precipitation totals in inches
source: The Weather Channel

Metric conversion

J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
83 5 -4	83 8 -2	112 14 3	99 19 8	124 24 13	96 28 18	109 31 21	87 30 20	77 26 16	71 20 9	97 13 4	94 7 -1
temperatures in °C • precipitation totals in mm

In recent years, average temperatures in New Albany have ranged from a low of 25 °F (−4 °C) in January to a high of 87 °F (31 °C) in July. The record low temperature was −22 °F (−30 °C), recorded in January, 1994, and a record high was 107 °F (42 °C), recorded in July, 1936. On July 4, 2012, the record for highest temperature in the county was almost broken; the temperature reached 106 °F (41 °C). Average monthly precipitation ranged from 2.79 inches (71 mm) in October of last year to 4.88 inches (124 mm) in May of last year.

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1820	2,776	—
1830	6,361	129.1%
1840	9,454	48.6%
1850	14,875	57.3%
1860	20,183	35.7%
1870	23,300	15.4%
1880	24,590	5.5%
1890	29,458	19.8%
1900	30,118	2.2%
1910	30,293	0.6%
1920	30,661	1.2%
1930	34,655	13.0%
1940	35,061	1.2%
1950	43,955	25.4%
1960	51,397	16.9%
1970	55,622	8.2%
1980	61,169	10.0%
1990	64,404	5.3%
2000	70,823	10.0%
2010	74,578	5.3%
2020	80,484	7.9%
U.S. Decennial Census 1790–1960 1900–1990 1990–2000 2010–2013

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 74,578 people, 29,479 households, and 20,264 families residing in the county. The population density was 504.1 inhabitants per square mile (194.6/km²). There were 31,968 housing units at an average density of 216.1 per square mile (83.4/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 90.4% white, 5.2% black or African American, 0.9% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 1.2% from other races, and 2.1% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 2.6% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 29.4% were German, 15.0% were Irish, 11.0% were English, and 10.6% were American.

Of the 29,479 households, 33.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.4% were married couples living together, 13.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 31.3% were non-families, and 25.6% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 2.98. The median age was 39.1 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $47,697 and the median income for a family was $63,139. Males had a median income of $45,699 versus $33,749 for females. The per capita income for the county was $25,971. About 8.2% of families and 10.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.6% of those under age 18 and 7.7% of those age 65 or over.

Gallery

Floyd Memorial Hospital
New Albany YMCA building
Riverview Towers, tallest building in the county

Education

New Albany-Floyd County Consolidated School Corporation serves the county. New Albany High School was the first public high school in the state, opening its doors in 1853. The school system has two high schools, New Albany High School and Floyd Central High School, nine elementary schools and three middle schools. The district's enrollment totals approximately 12,000 students in pre-kindergarten through high school programs. The district employs more than 1,200 full-time personnel, which includes approximately 750 teachers, and 375 part-time personnel, according to the 2017 NA-FC website.

All Floyd County residents are eligible to obtain a library card at the New Albany-Floyd County Public Library in New Albany.

Images for kids

Pearl Street in downtown New Albany. The Knobs can be seen in the distance.
The woods of Mount Saint Francis in Floyds Knobs, Indiana.
The New Albany National Cemetery was one of the original seven first established in 1862 by Congress. More than 5,000 are buried here, from the Civil War to the Vietnam War.
A pasture scene in Greenville, off Georgetown-Greenville Road.
The rolling land of Georgetown features farmland, fields and woods that are dotted with homes and a few subdivisions.