Springville was a small town that existed from 1798 to 1811 in Charlestown Township,

Clark County Clark County may refer to: *Clark County, Arkansas *Clark County, Idaho *Clark County, Illinois *Clark County, Indiana *Clark County, Kansas *Clark County, Kentucky *Clark County, Missouri *Clark County, Nevada, containing Las Vegas *Clark County, ...

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. It was named for the springs in the area that provided a good freshwater supply.

Origin

A Frenchman established a trading post at the site in 1799; Indians called it Tullytown due to the prominent trader Charles Tully (pronounced ''two-lay''). It was located at the intersection of four Indian trails, two of which went to what is now

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

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and

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

Features

At Springville's peak, it had 100 residents. A simple grid of streets, four north–south, and three east–west, named for trees, divided Springville. Among the trades represented in the village were blacksmithing, a distillery, a doctor, hattery, surveying, and a wheelwright.Kramer, Carl. ''This Place We Call Home'' (Indiana University Press, 2007) p. 40

Jonathan Jennings Jonathan Jennings (March 27, 1784 – July 26, 1834) was an American politician who was the first governor of the State of Indiana and a nine-term congressman from Indiana. Born in either Hunterdon County, New Jersey, or Rockbridge County, Vi ...

made whiskey and had a mill at Springville during his brief residence. When Clark County was established, Springville was named the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

on April 7, 1801, creating the first court in the county.

Decline

On June 9, 1802, the county seat was moved to Jeffersonville, starting the demise of Springville.Clark County, Indiana Genealogical Records Information
/ref> In 1808, Charlestown was established a mile northeast of Springville and was seen as a preferable town to live in as Springville was considered decadent, due to how Indians would become intoxicated after trading at Springville. Also, there were several disputes about ownership in the town that went for eight years and spawned several court trials. Springville could not handle the competition for residents with Charlestown and by 1812 the settlement had been abandoned.

Today

A historical marker denotes its former location today, and three separate farms contain the land which was once Springville. There are Springvilles still in existence in

LaPorte County, Indiana LaPorte County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2020, the population was 112,417. The county seat is the city of La Porte, and the largest city is Michigan City. This county is part of the Northwest Indiana and Michian ...

, and

Lawrence County, Indiana Lawrence County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2020, the population was 45,011. The county seat is Bedford. Lawrence County comprises the Bedford, IN Micropolitan Statistical Area. History Until the Battle of Tippe ...

, although both have fewer residents than the peak population in Clark County's Springville.

References

{{coord, 38, 25, 16, N, 85, 41, 00, W, source:enwiki-plaintext-parser, display=title Charlestown, Indiana Former populated places in Clark County, Indiana 1798 establishments in the Northwest Territory 1811 disestablishments in Indiana Territory