Fayette County is one of 92
counties
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
in
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
of
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
located in the east central portion of the state. As of 2020, the population was 23,398.
Most of the county is rural; land use is farms, pasture and unincorporated woodland. The
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...
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
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, suffered recession and post-war industrial revival 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. In 1841, Connersville became the first, and remains the only, incorporated town (chartered as a city in 1869) in the county.
Native American cultures
The oldest civilizations in the Fayette County area, known as
Mound Builders
A number of pre-Columbian cultures are collectively termed "Mound Builders". The term does not refer to a specific people or archaeological culture, but refers to the characteristic mound earthworks erected for an extended period of more than 5 ...
, occupied the area between 2,000 and 3,000 years ago. They are known for their distinctive earthen mounds which can be found throughout the area, as well as a variety of metal and pottery artifacts left behind in those mounds across Indiana and Ohio.
Nomadic Miami, Shawnee, and Potawatomi peoples inhabited the area when European explorers arrived and began to form settlements, between the 1670s and early 1800s, and were in the area for at least two hundred years prior to the earliest European explorers. The Delaware Indians, displaced from their ancestral homelands in the east, would later migrate to the Whitewater Valley.
Indiana Territory
At the organization of the
Indiana Territory
The Indiana Territory, officially the Territory of Indiana, was created by a congressional act that President John Adams signed into law on May 7, 1800, to form an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, ...
from the Northwest Territory in 1800, the Northwest Territory including present day Indiana was divided between
Knox County (seat
Vincennes
Vincennes (, ) is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is next to but does not include the Château de Vincennes and Bois de Vincennes, which are attache ...
) 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 the 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
William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was an American military officer and politician who served as the ninth president of the United States. Harrison died just 31 days after his inauguration in 1841, and had the shortest pres ...
, 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" parallel to and west of "The Gore", enclosing the Whitewater 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 southeastern Indiana, a part of the Northwest Territory nicknamed "The Gore" was ceded from Ohio to Indiana in 1803 and became Dearborn County.
Wayne and
Franklin counties were carved from
Dearborn 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
The Indiana General Assembly is the state legislature, or legislative branch, of the state of Indiana. It is a bicameral legislature that consists of a lower house, the Indiana House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Indiana Senate. Th ...
in December 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
Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revolutio ...
, 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 five townships (
Harrison
Harrison may refer to:
People
* Harrison (name)
* Harrison family of Virginia, United States
Places
In Australia:
* Harrison, Australian Capital Territory, suburb in the Canberra district of Gungahlin
In Canada:
* Inukjuak, Quebec, or " ...
,
Connersville,
Jennings,
Columbia, and Brownsville) in February 1819, Connersville Township 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
The Treaty of Greenville, formally titled Treaty with the Wyandots, etc., was a 1795 treaty between the United States and indigenous nations of the Northwest Territory (now Midwestern United States), including the Wyandot and Delaware peoples ...
treaty line of 1795 and the present eastern boundary line of Waterloo and Jennings townships 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.
Four additional townships were created in later years: Posey (1823), Orange (1822), Jackson (1820) and Fairview (1851), corresponding to settlement of the area.
Settlement of the Whitewater Valley
At the time of its organization in 1819, the county had approximately 3,000 residents. Two major events spurred early growth: the completion of the Whitewater Canal in 1847, and the arrival of the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Indianapolis Railroad through Connersville in 1862.
Automotive manufacturing
Economic productivity in the county, except for farming, has been centered almost exclusively in the one town of Connersville.
The automotive era of Connersville began in 1909, when the McFarlan first went into production. The following year, Lexington moved its plant to Connersville from its namesake city in Kentucky. Next came Empire, which built the Little Aristocrat. After Lexington went bankrupt in 1926, Auburn production moved to a factory complex known as Auburn Central. The “Baby Duesenberg” designed in Connersville eventually became the Cord 810 and 812. Connersville also was home to suppliers, including Central Manufacturing, which made bodywork for the 1940 Packard Darrin, along with some 500,000 Jeep bodies during World War II.
Recession
Industrial Revival 1950s & 1960s
Economic decline: labor and industry in the 1980s
Geography
According to the 2010 census, the county has a total area of , of which (or 99.93%) is land and (or 0.07%) is water.
It is almost 14 mi. wide at its widest east–west span, and 19 mi. long (through Posey township). 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 (15 acre) 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
Harrison may refer to:
People
* Harrison (name)
* Harrison family of Virginia, United States
Places
In Australia:
* Harrison, Australian Capital Territory, suburb in the Canberra district of Gungahlin
In Canada:
* Inukjuak, Quebec, or " ...
*
Jackson
Jackson may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name
Places
Australia
* Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region
* Jackson North, Qu ...
*
Jennings
*
Orange
Orange most often refers to:
*Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis''
** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower
*Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum
* ...
*
Posey
*
Waterloo
Cities and towns
*
Connersville
Unincorporated towns
*
Alquina
*
Alpine
*
Bentonville
*
Columbia
*
Everton
*
Glenwood
*
Falmouth in Fayette and Rush counties
*
Fairview in Fayette and Rush counties
*
Harrisburg
Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...
*
Huber
Huber is a German-language surname. It derives from the German word ''Hube'' meaning hide, a unit of land a farmer might possess, granting them the status of a free tenant. It is in the top ten most common surnames in the German-speaking world, ...
*
Longwood Crossing
*
Lyonsville
*
Nulltown
*
Orange
Orange most often refers to:
*Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis''
** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower
*Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum
* ...
*
Springersville
*
Tyner Crossing, NW of Connersville near Harrisburg
*
Waterloo
Transportation
Major markets are remote; the nearest large cities are
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
to the southeast,
Indianapolis to the west,
Louisville
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border.
...
to the south, and
Columbus, Ohio, to the northeast.
Major highways
The accessible state roads are all 2-lane roads. The nearest major highways are U.S. 40 to the north, and Interstate 70 to the north, both in Henry and Wayne Counties. Three major state roads all pass through Connersville:
*
Indiana State Road 1
State Road 1 (SR 1) is a north–south state highway in eastern Indiana, consisting of two segments. Its southern segment begins at U.S. Highway 50 and Interstate 275 in east-central Dearborn County, just east of Lawrenceburg, and end ...
*
Indiana State Road 44
Indiana State Road 44 (SR 44) in the State of Indiana begins in the west at Interstate 69 and State Road 37 (SR 37) in Martinsville and runs eastward to the Ohio state line in Union County in two broken sections. It is broken in Frank ...
*
Indiana State Road 121
State Road 121 (SR 121) is a part of the Indiana State Road that exists in two sections. The first runs between Metamora and Connersville and the second from Richmond to the Ohio state line in US state of Indiana. The of SR 121 that ...
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.
Recreation
Robert's Park is a city park in Connersville providing pool, clubhouse, field, and grandstand facilities. The
Whitewater Valley Railroad is a heritage railroad providing sightseeing tours between Connersville and
Metamora. Manlove Lake near Milton, is a small lake and recreation area providing limited fishing and boating.
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.
Climate and weather
In recent years, average temperatures in Connersville have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1994 and a record high of was recorded in July 1952. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in February to in May.
Schools and colleges
The county is served by the Fayette County School system including elementary, middle and high schools. There are also a few parochial elementary schools in Connersville. Both
Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana
Ivy Tech Community College (Ivy Tech) is a public community college system in the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the state's public community college system and it has more than 40 locations. It is also the state's largest public postsecondary in ...
and
Indiana University East offer classes in Connersville.
Government
The county government is a constitutional body, and is granted specific powers by the
Constitution of Indiana, and by the
Indiana Code
The Indiana Code is the code of laws for the U.S. state of Indiana. The contents are the codification of all the laws currently in effect within Indiana. With roots going all the way back to the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, the laws of Indiana h ...
.
County Council: The county council is the legislative branch of the county government and controls all the spending and revenue collection in the county. Representatives are elected from county districts. The council members serve four-year terms. They are responsible for setting salaries, the annual budget, and special spending. The council also has limited authority to impose local taxes, in the form of an income and property tax that is subject to state level approval, excise taxes, and service taxes.
Board of Commissioners: The executive body of the county is made of a board of commissioners. The commissioners are elected county-wide, in staggered terms, and each serves a four-year term. One of the commissioners, typically the most senior, serves as president. The commissioners are charged with executing the acts legislated by the council, collecting revenue, and managing the day-to-day functions of the county government.
[
Court: The county maintains a ]small claims court
Small-claims courts have limited jurisdiction to hear civil cases between private litigants. Courts authorized to try small claims may also have other judicial functions, and go by different names in different jurisdictions. For example, it may ...
that can handle some civil cases. The judge on the court is elected to a term of four years and must be a member of the Indiana Bar Association. The judge is assisted by a constable who is also elected to a four-year term. In some cases, court decisions can be appealed to the state level circuit court.[
County Officials: The county has several other elected offices, including sheriff, coroner, ]auditor
An auditor is a person or a firm appointed by a company to execute an audit.Practical Auditing, Kul Narsingh Shrestha, 2012, Nabin Prakashan, Nepal To act as an auditor, a person should be certified by the regulatory authority of accounting and a ...
, treasurer
A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance.
Government
The treasury ...
, recorder, surveyor, and circuit court clerk. Each of these elected officers serves a term of four years and oversees a different part of county government. Members elected to county government positions are required to declare party
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often featur ...
affiliations and to be residents of the county.[
Fayette County is part of ]Indiana's 6th congressional district
Indiana's 6th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Indiana. The district takes in a portion of eastern and central Indiana as of the 2020 census, including Columbus and Richmond, as well as a few suburbs of bot ...
; Indiana Senate
The Indiana Senate is the upper house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The Senate is composed of 50 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. Senators serve four-year term ...
district 42 and Indiana House of Representatives district 55.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 United States Census
The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...
there were 23,398 people in Fayette County.
2010 Census Data
As of the 2010 United States Census
The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servi ...
, there were 24,277 people, 9,719 households, and 6,669 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 10,898 housing units at an average density of . 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
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
, 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
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 26.0% of those under age 18 and 9.9% of those age 65 or over.
2000 Census Data
As of the census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...
of 2000, there were 25,588 people, 10,199 households, and 7,149 families residing in the county. The population density
Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...
was 119 people per square mile (46/km2). There were 10,981 housing units at an average density of 51 per square mile (20/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 97.16% White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...
, 1.67% Black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...
or African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.09% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...
, 0.13% from other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 0.66% from two or more races. 0.52% of the population were Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...
or Latino of any race. 39.2% were of American, 18.9% German, 10.6% English and 9.7% Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
ancestry according to Census 2000
The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 ce ...
.
There were 10,199 households, out of which 30.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.60% were married couples living together, 10.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.90% were non-families. 25.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.94.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.30% under the age of 18, 8.60% from 18 to 24, 27.10% from 25 to 44, 24.50% from 45 to 64, and 15.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 94.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.70 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $38,840, and the median income for a family was $46,111. Males had a median income of $34,493 versus $23,082 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the county was $18,624. About 6.00% of families and 7.90% of the population were below the poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 8.40% of those under age 18 and 7.70% of those age 65 or over.
Notable people
* Howard Garns
Howard Garns (March 2, 1905 – October 6, 1989) was an American architect who gained fame only after his death as the creator of Number Place, the number puzzle that became a worldwide phenomenon under the name Sudoku.Zivan, David, ''Indianapol ...
, born in Connersville in 1905 and known as the inventor of Number Place, which would become later known as Sudoku
Sudoku (; ja, 数独, sūdoku, digit-single; originally called Number Place) is a logic-based, combinatorial number-placement puzzle. In classic Sudoku, the objective is to fill a 9 × 9 grid with digits so that each column, each row ...
.
* William Grose, Civil War general and Indiana State Senator grew up here.
* George Washington Steele, first Governor of Oklahoma Territory.
* Robert Wise
Robert Earl Wise (September 10, 1914 – September 14, 2005) was an American film director, producer, and editor. He won the Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture for his musical films ''West Side Story'' (1961) and ''The Sound of ...
, 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
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...
(1984–1987).[ Also: ]
See also
* McFarlan Automobile
*
* Thomas Ranck Round Barn
* Edward E. Moore, Indiana state senator and Los Angeles City Council member
Further reading
* History of Fayette County, Indiana, Warner, Beers & Co. 1885
References
{{Authority control
Indiana counties
1819 establishments in Indiana
Populated places established in 1819