Rushville is a city in Rushville Township, Rush 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 sover ...

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 6,341 at the 2010 census. The city is 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 ...

of Rush County. It, like the county, was named in honor of Dr.

Benjamin Rush Benjamin Rush (April 19, 1813) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father of the United States who signed the United States Declaration of Independence, and a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, ...

, who signed the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...

History

Rush County was formed from the unorganized Delaware County April 1, 1822. On July 29 town lots were sold and the town started to form. A school had already been started in 1821 by Dr. W.B. Laughlin, who was a member of the Legislature when the county was formed, and is considered the founding father of the town. A jail was built, Charles Veeder, was the first postmaster in 1822, and a courthouse was built in 1823. The ''Dog Fennel Gazette'' was published in 1823. The railroad was built in 1850 and after that a bank, factories, mills, and grain elevators sprang up. The Rushville post office has been in operation since 1822. Rushville was the campaign headquarters for

Wendell Willkie Wendell Lewis Willkie (born Lewis Wendell Willkie; February 18, 1892 – October 8, 1944) was an American lawyer, corporate executive and the 1940 Republican nominee for President. Willkie appealed to many convention delegates as the Republican ...

's 1940 presidential campaign against

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

. Willkie is buried in the city's East Hill Cemetery. The

Durbin Hotel Durbin Hotel is a historic hotel building located at Rushville, Rush County, Indiana. It was built about 1855, and is a three-story, brick building with a two-story rear addition constructed in 1885. It measures . It features the original cent ...

, John K. Gowdy House, Melodeon Hall, Rush County Courthouse, Rushville Commercial Historic District, St. Paul Methodist Episcopal Church, St. Prendergast Catholic church, Booker T. Washington School, and Wendell Lewis Willkie 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 v ...

Geography

Rushville is located at (39.614482, -85.448657), along the

Flatrock River The Flatrock River, also known as Flatrock Creek and other variants of the two names, is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 19, 2011 tributary of the East Fork of th ...

DeLorme DeLorme is the producer of personal satellite tracking, messaging, and navigation technology. The company’s main product, ''inReach'', integrates GPS and satellite technologies. ''inReach'' provides the ability to send and receive text messages ...

(1998). ''Indiana Atlas & Gazetteer''. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. According to the 2010 census, Rushville has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

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 incl ...

of 2000, there were 5,995 people, 2,434 households, and 1,552 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 2,597 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 96.45%

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 on ...

, 1.58%

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 ...

, 0.20% Native American, 0.85%

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 ...

, 0.05%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, 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 0.73% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, 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 Vic ...

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 0.40% of the population. There were 2,434 households, out of which 31.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.9% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.2% were non-families. 31.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.99. In the city, the population was spread out, with 25.2% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 28.6% from 25 to 44, 20.2% from 45 to 64, and 17.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.0 males. The median income for a household in the city was $30,233, and the median income for a family was $36,646. Males had a median income of $30,127 versus $22,440 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 city was $17,072. About 8.1% of families and 11.0% 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 12.3% of those under age 18 and 12.0% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The town has a lending library, the Rushville Public Library.

Notable people

Samuel Bigger Samuel Bigger (March 20, 1802 – September 9, 1846) was the seventh governor of the U.S. state of Indiana from December 9, 1840 to December 6, 1843. Bigger was nominated to run for governor because he had no connection to the failed public work ...

, Governor of Indiana * Carmelita Geraghty, silent film actress *

Gerald Geraghty Gerald Geraghty (August 10, 1906 – July 8, 1954) was an American screenwriter, mostly of Westerns. Early life and family Geraghty was born in Rushville, Indiana. His father was screenwriter Thomas J. Geraghty, Tom Geraghty. His brother Maurice ...

, screenwriter *

Maurice Geraghty Maurice Geraghty (September 29, 1908 – June 30, 1987) was an American screenwriter, film director and producer. Early life Geraghty was the son of Tom Geraghty. His brother Gerald was also a screenwriter; and his sister was silent film ...

, screenwriter * Thomas J. Geraghty, screenwriter *

Joe Hogsett Joseph Hadden Hogsett (born November 2, 1956) is an American attorney, prosecutor, and politician who is the 49th mayor of Indianapolis, Indiana. Prior to being elected, Hogsett served as the Secretary of State of Indiana from 1989 to 1994 and as ...

, politician and lawyer * Leonidas Sexton, 19th Century politician *

Knowles Shaw Knowles Shaw (October 13, 1834 – June 7, 1878) was an American author and composer of gospel hymns. Biography Shaw was born in Butler County in southwestern Ohio. His family moved to Rushville, Indiana when he was just a few weeks old. He w ...

, author and composer *

Frazier Thomas William Frazier Thomas (June 13, 1918 – April 3, 1985) was a Chicago television personality. Although Thomas wrote nine children's books, he was best known for creating, hosting, writing and producing the long-running children's television pro ...

, television personality *

Philip Willkie Philip Herman Willkie (December 7, 1919 – April 10, 1974) was an American lawyer and a Republican politician from Indiana. He was the only child of Wendell Willkie, the Republican candidate for President of the United States in the election o ...

, politician and businessman *

, Presidential candidate, lawyer, businessman *

Edward H. Wolfe Edward H. Wolfe (September 26, 1834 – August 17, 1916) was a Union Army officer during the American Civil War Edward H. Wolfe was born April 26, 1834 at Rushville, Indiana.Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher, ''Civil War High Commands.'' ...

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

general *

Janet Gray Hayes Janet Gray Hayes (July 12, 1926 – April 21, 2014) was the 60th Mayor#United States, mayor of San Jose, California, elected to two consecutive, four-year terms from 1975 to 1983. She was both the first woman to be elected mayor San Jose, and ...

, 60th mayor of San Jose, California

References

External links

City of Rushville website

"Wendell Willkie, Presidential Contender"
from

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

's ''

The Contenders ''The Contenders'' is a 14-program series that was produced and aired by C-SPAN in the fall of 2011. It looked at the lives and careers of 14 candidates for the presidency of the United States who were determined to have made significant impacts ...

'', broadcast from Rushville {{authority control Cities in Indiana Cities in Rush County, Indiana County seats in Indiana 1822 establishments in Indiana