Gosport is a town in Wayne Township, Owen County, in the

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 ...

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 ...

. The population was 826 at the 2010 census. It is part of the

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside the Indianapolis metropolitan area. According to the Mo ...

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or tow ...

History

Gosport was

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Surveys to show the distance and bea ...

ted in 1829, and named for Ephraim Goss, an early settler. A post office has been in operation at Gosport since 1843. The Gosport Historic District and Dr. H.G. Osgood House are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

Geography

According to the 2010 census, Gosport has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

2010 census

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 2010, there were 826 people, 325 households, and 202 families residing in the town. 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 . There were 380 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 98.5%

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 ...

, 0.7%

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 ...

, 0.1%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, and 0.6% from two or more races.

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 ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 1.0% of the population. There were 325 households, of which 35.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.1% were married couples living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 37.8% were non-families. 32.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 3.00. The median age in the town was 38.2 years. 25.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.9% were from 25 to 44; 23.8% were from 45 to 64; and 16.8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 46.0% male and 54.0% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 715 people, 273 households, and 190 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 301 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 98.60%

, 0.42%

, 0.42% Native American, 0.14%

, and 0.42% from two or more races.

of any race were 2.24% of the population. There were 273 households, out of which 34.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.7% were married couples living together, 12.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.4% were non-families. 27.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.94. In the town, the population was spread out, with 26.9% under the age of 18, 5.2% from 18 to 24, 27.3% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to 64, and 19.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 84.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.3 males. The median income for a household in the town was $31,833, and the median income for a family was $34,545. Males had a median income of $32,396 versus $18,667 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 town was $14,101. About 14.4% of families and 17.2% 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 30.4% of those under age 18 and 4.4% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

Colonel Benjamin F. Hays was born on 4 September 1826 in Greene County, Tennessee. He served as a Second Lieutenant in B Company, 4th Indiana Infantry during the Mexican War. During the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, he served in the 1st Indiana Heavy Artillery, promoted to colonel on 8 February 1865. He fought in the Battle of Baton Rouge and the

Battle of Mobile Bay The Battle of Mobile Bay of August 5, 1864, was a naval and land engagement of the American Civil War in which a Union fleet commanded by Rear Admiral David G. Farragut, assisted by a contingent of soldiers, attacked a smaller Confederate fle ...

. Following the war, he commanded the District of South Alabama, until he was mustered out on 10 January 1866. Then, he served in the Indiana House of Representatives in 1867. He resided in Gosport as a merchant until he died on 14 January 1872. *

Colonel James Ellis Burton was born on 23 September 1824 to John and Nancy Agnes (née Wishard) Burton in Mount Tabor, Indiana. He was married to Cynthia Ann (née Van Buskirk), and they had one son. He was promoted to colonel on 4 May 1865 and mustered out on 21 July 1865. Colonel Burton fought in the Atlanta Campaign, the

Savannah Campaign Sherman's March to the Sea (also known as the Savannah campaign or simply Sherman's March) was a military campaign of the American Civil War conducted through Georgia from November 15 until December 21, 1864, by William Tecumseh Sherman, major ...

, and the

Carolinas Campaign The campaign of the Carolinas (January 1 – April 26, 1865), also known as the Carolinas campaign, was the final campaign conducted by the United States Army (Union Army) against the Confederate States Army in the Western Theater. On January ...

. He was a merchant before the war and a farmer in Gosport afterwards. He died on 28 September 1900. *

Child actress The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associated ...

Patsy Doris Dittemore was born in Gosport on March 20, 1934, to James and Gladys Elizabeth (May) Dittemore. Her mother died 19 days after her birth; and, she was sent to California to live with her maternal grandparents, taking their last name and being called ''"Patsy May."'' She played the baby sister of Spanky in the Our Gang series of short-subject comedies from 1935 to 1937, appearing for the first time in Little Papa and the last time in

Our Gang Follies of 1938 ''Our Gang Follies of 1938'' (later reissued as simply ''Follies of 1938'') is a 1937 American musical short subject, the 161st short subject entry in Hal Roach's ''Our Gang'' (''Little Rascals'') series. Directed by Gordon Douglas as a sequel to ...

. At age 11, her final film appearance was in an uncredited role in the ''Great Stagecoach Robbery (1945)''. She died on January 1, 2013, and is buried in the Gosport Cemetery. * Eugene M. Stoner, inventor of the M16 rifle, was born in Gosport on November 22, 1922, to Lloyd and Britannia Stoner. He joined the

U.S. Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

as an armorer and fought in the South Pacific during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, honorably discharged as a

Corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non- ...

. He held some 100 patents on his inventions, and was a co-founder of

Ares Incorporated Ares Incorporated is an American weapons manufacturer and firearms engineering company co-founded by the American weapons inventor and developer Eugene Stoner in 1971. The company is based in Port Clinton, Ohio, and produces fire control systems, t ...

, a weapons research and development company based in

Port Clinton, Ohio Port Clinton is a city in and the county seat of Ottawa County, located at the mouth of the Portage River on Lake Erie, about 44 miles east of Toledo. The population was 6,056 at the 2010 census. The city has been nicknamed the "Walleye Capit ...

. *

James Alexander Thom James Alexander Craig Thom (born May 26, 1933 in Gosport, Indiana) is an American author, best known for his works in the Western genre and colonial American history which are noted for their historical accuracy borne of his painstaking research ...

, author, was born in Gosport on May 26, 1933

References

{{authority control Towns in Owen County, Indiana Towns in Indiana Bloomington metropolitan area, Indiana