Hamlet, Indiana facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Hamlet, Indiana
Town
Depot in Hamlet, circa 1910
Location of Hamlet in Starke County, Indiana.
Country	United States
State	Indiana
County	Starke
Township	Davis, Oregon
Area
• Total	0.97 sq mi (2.53 km2)
• Land	0.96 sq mi (2.50 km2)
• Water	0.01 sq mi (0.03 km2)
Elevation	699 ft (213 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	773
• Density	801.04/sq mi (309.21/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code	46532
Area code(s)	574 and 219
FIPS code	18-30708
GNIS feature ID	2396983

Hamlet is a town in Davis and Oregon Townships, Starke County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 800 as of the 2010 census.

History

Hamlet was named after John Hamlet, who established the town in 1863.

Two railroad lines once existed in Hamlet, one being a division of the former mainline of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), running from Chicago, Illinois to Fort Wayne, Indiana, with the other line being the New York Central's (NYC) Kankakee Belt, running from Elkhart, Indiana to Kankakee, Illinois. In 1968, these two railroads merged to become the Penn Central Railroad. In 1976, Penn Central, along with several other languishing eastern railroads, were in bankruptcy, and was part of the Federal Government's takeover, creating Conrail. Both rail lines continued to see heavy use until the late 1970s under Conrail. By the early 1980s, the Kankakee Belt had been abandoned and removed, and the former PRR mainline's traffic had dropped dramatically, due to redundant east/west Conrail lines. Today, what remains of the former PRR mainline is operated by the Chicago, Fort Wayne & Eastern Railroad (CF&E), which services Hamlet's large CO-OP grain elevator during the fall harvest rush.

Hamlet was requested a Dollar General in 2020 and construction was completed in 2021. The Hamlet post office is in operation since 1864.

Geography

The Town of Hamlet was originally on both sides of US 30. In 1926 US 30 was realigned with the Indiana Realignment. U.S. Route 30 bypasses Hamlet, about a half mile to the north. It is about 2 mi (3.2 km) east of highway U.S. 35.

According to the 2010 census, Hamlet has a total area of 0.98 square miles (2.54 km²), of which 0.97 square miles (2.51 km²) (or 98.98%) is land and 0.01 square miles (0.03 km²) (or 1.02%) is water.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 800 people, 299 households, and 225 families living in the town. The population density was 824.7 inhabitants per square mile (318.4/km²). There were 332 housing units at an average density of 342.3 per square mile (132.2/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.6% White, 1.0% Native American, 0.1% Asian, 0.6% from other races, and 1.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.6% of the population.

There were 299 households, of which 37.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.8% were married couples living together, 18.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 7.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 24.7% were non-families. 19.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.01.

The median age in the town was 35 years. 27.6% of residents were under the age of 18; 11.4% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 25.1% were from 25 to 44; 23.6% were from 45 to 64; and 12.6% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 49.5% male and 50.5% female.

Education

Hamlet has a public library, a branch of the Starke County Public Library System.

See also

In Spanish: Hamlet (Indiana) para niños