Metamora is an unincorporated town and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the count ...

in Metamora Township, Franklin County,

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 town was once a stop along the

Whitewater Canal The Whitewater Canal, which was built between and , spanned a distance of and stretched from Lawrenceburg, Indiana on the Ohio River to Hagerstown, Indiana near the West Fork of the White River. History Birth of a canal As with most transpor ...

and is now primarily dependent on tourism. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 188. Metamora, Indiana

Geography

Metamora is located at , in the valley of the Whitewater River in southeastern Indiana. It is situated on U.S. Route 52, northwest of

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 ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, and southeast of Indianapolis. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

History

Metamora was platted in 1838. The community derives its name from the play ''

Metamora; or, The Last of the Wampanoags ''Metamora; or, The Last of the Wampanoags'' is a play written in 1829 by John Augustus Stone. It was first performed December 15, 1829, at the Park Theater in New York City, starring Edwin Forrest. History On November 28, 1828, a contest was p ...

'' by

John Augustus Stone John Augustus Stone (December 15, 1801 – June 1, 1834) was an American actor, dramatist, and playwright, best known as the author of ''Metamora; or, The Last of the Wampanoags''. Biography He appeared on the New York stage beginning in 1822. He ...

. The Whitewater Canal only carried boats from 1839 to 1865, but the canal was maintained to supply hydraulic power until 1936. The canal was the center of industrial districts in Metamora and Brookville, to the east. At one time there were water-powered mills for processing cotton, grinding flour and making paper. Metamora is the location of Indiana's oldest and still operating water-powered

grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

. The state of Indiana provides canal boat rides pulled by horses, through the only existing wooden aqueduct in the United States (the Duck Creek Aqueduct), with a historical review of the canal history which fueled the southeastern Indiana economy until its displacement by the railroad. The canal is named after the nearby Whitewater River. The Metamora Historic District and Whitewater Canal Historic District 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 ...

Notable person

Tom Alley Tom Alley (21 May 1889 Metamora, Indiana – 26 March 1953 Indianapolis, Indiana) was an American racecar driver. Alley was also a riding mechanic, most notably winning the 1914 Vanderbilt Cup with Ralph DePalma Raffaele "Ralph" De P ...

, Indy car driver

References

External links

Metamora 1838 Canal Town
{{authority control Census-designated places in Franklin County, Indiana Census-designated places in Indiana