Ossian is a town in Jefferson Township, Wells 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 town was named after Ossian, the narrator of a cycle of epic poems by the Scottish poet

James Macpherson James Macpherson (Gaelic: ''Seumas MacMhuirich'' or ''Seumas Mac a' Phearsain''; 27 October 1736 – 17 February 1796) was a Scottish writer, poet, literary collector and politician, known as the "translator" of the Ossian cycle of epic poem ...

. The population was 3,289 at the 2010 census.

History

The Ossian post office has been in operation since 1850. In 1843,

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 ...

was made serviceable from Fort Wayne to Bluffton. On January 25, 1850, the Fort Wayne and Bluffton Plank Road Company was then organized. The plank road was a toll road; any horse or horse-drawn vehicle had to pay a toll. The Fort Wayne, Cincinnati, & Louisville Railroad was built through Ossian in 1869, though it was not in complete operation until the following year. Today, the railroad is a significant north–south route for the

Norfolk Southern Corporation The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31, ...

. Ossian is still served by

, while four miles north is

Interstate 469 Interstate 469 (I-469) is an Interstate Highway in northeastern Indiana. It is an auxiliary route of parent I-69 that also carries portions of US Highway 24 (US 24), US 30, and US 33 around the urban parts of Fort W ...

, the beltway around Fort Wayne, and also just seven miles south of

Fort Wayne International Airport Fort Wayne International Airport is eight miles southwest of Fort Wayne, in Allen County, Indiana, United States. It is owned by the Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport Authority. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 ...

. A 25-foot tall grain silo was painted to look like a

minion Places *Minions, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom People * Frank Minion (born 1929), American jazz and bop singer * Fred Minion, English professional footballer * Joseph Minion (born 1957), American film director and screenwriter *Marcus ...

from the Despicable Me movie on a nearby rural farm in 2016. A

Vietnam War veteran A Vietnam veteran is a person who served in the armed forces of participating countries during the Vietnam War. The term has been used to describe veterans who served in the armed forces of South Vietnam, the United States Armed Forces, and ot ...

mentioned the idea to his family and when he died at 73, family and friends painted it as a way to honor his memory. The grain silo soon became popular with people stopping by to view it from the road and was picked up by national news.

Geography

Ossian is located at (40.880447, -85.168369). According to the 2010 census, Ossian has a total area of , of which (or 99.31%) is land and (or 0.69%) is water.

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 3,289 people, 1,287 households, and 909 families living 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 1,385 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 97.4%

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 ...

, 0.2%

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% Native American, 0.5%

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 ...

, 0.8% 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 1.1% 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 1.4% of the population. There were 1,287 households, of which 37.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.1% were married couples living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.9% had a male householder with no wife present, and 29.4% were non-families. 25.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 2.98. The median age in the town was 37.4 years. 26% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.8% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 25.7% were from 25 to 44; 25.2% were from 45 to 64; and 15.2% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 47.6% male and 52.4% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 2,943 people, 1,130 households, and 807 families living in the town. The population density was . There were 1,168 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 98.44%

, 0.14%

, 0.10% Native American, 0.14%

, 0.44% from

, and 0.75% from two or more races.

of any race were 1.16% of the population. There were 1,130 households, out of which 38.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.9% were married couples living together, 10.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.5% were non-families. 25.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.04. In the town, the population was spread out, with 28.4% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 18.9% from 45 to 64, and 14.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.4 males. The median income for a household in the town was $45,449, and the median income for a family was $54,188. Males had a median income of $36,875 versus $25,682 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 $18,925. About 3.0% of families and 4.4% 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 4.2% of those under age 18 and 11.0% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Northern Wells Community Schools serves northern Wells County, including the town of Ossian. The district operates four schools; Ossian Elementary, Lancaster Elementary, Norwell Middle School, and Norwell High School. Ossian has a public library, a branch of the Wells County Public Library.

References

External links

Town of Ossian, Indiana website
* Ossian News http://www.news-banner.com/ * School District Website http://www.nwcs.k12.in.us/ {{authority control Towns in Wells County, Indiana Towns in Indiana Fort Wayne, IN Metropolitan Statistical Area