Wabash County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

located in the northern central part of the U.S. state of

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. As of 2020, the population was 30,976. 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 ...

is Wabash.

History

The area was inhabited for thousands of years by cultures of

indigenous peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

. French explorers and traders encountered the historical

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Native Americans beginning in the 17th century. Wabash County, along with Delaware County, was originally formed Jan. 1820 out of the 1818 New Purchase resulting from the Treaty of St. Mary's. Wabash County was the Wabash River drainage area, and Delaware County, the White River drainage area. Numerous counties were carved out of the Wabash New Purchase. Wabash County as it exists today was organized out of a remnant portion of the original county in 1835. The name "Wabash" is an English spelling of the earlier French name for the river, ''Ouabache''. French traders derived the French version from the Indian name for the river, ''Wabashike'' (pronounced "Wah-bah-she-keh") (meaning "pure white".) Much of the river bottom is white

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

, now obscured by mud.

Geography

According to the 2010 census, the county has a total area of , of which (or 97.97%) is land and (or 2.03%) is water.

Adjacent counties

* Kosciusko County (north) * Whitley County (northeast) * Huntington County (east) * Grant County (south) * Miami County (west) * Fulton County (northwest)

Cities

* Wabash

Towns

* LaFontaine * Lagro * North Manchester * Roann

Census-designated places

* Laketon *

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

Other unincorporated places

* America * Bolivar * College Corner * Disko * Ijamsville * Liberty Mills * Lincolnville * Mount Vernon * Newton * Pioneer * Richvalley * Servia * South Haven * Speicherville * Stockdale * Sunnymede *

Treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...

* Urbana * Valley Brook

Extinct

* Dora * Rose Hill

Townships

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

* Lagro *

Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

* Noble * Paw Paw * Pleasant *

Waltz The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the ...

Major highways

* U.S. Route 24 * Indiana State Road 13 * Indiana State Road 15 * Indiana State Road 16 * Indiana State Road 114 * Indiana State Road 115 * Indiana State Road 124 * Indiana State Road 218 * Indiana State Road 524

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in Wabash have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1985 and a record high of was recorded in June 1988. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in February to in June.

Government

The county government is a constitutional body, and is granted specific powers by the Constitution of Indiana, and by the Indiana Code. County Council: The county council is the legislative branch of the county government and controls all the spending and revenue collection in the county. Representatives are elected from county districts. The council members serve four-year terms. They are responsible for setting salaries, the annual budget, and special spending. The council also has limited authority to impose local taxes, in the form of an income and property tax that is subject to state level approval, excise taxes, and service taxes. Board of Commissioners: The executive body of the county is made of a board of commissioners. The commissioners are elected county-wide, in staggered terms, and each serves a four-year term. One of the commissioners, typically the most senior, serves as president. The commissioners are charged with executing the acts legislated by the council, collecting revenue, and managing the day-to-day functions of the county government. Court: The county maintains a small claims court that can handle some civil cases. The judge on the court is elected to a term of four years and must be a member of the Indiana Bar Association. The judge is assisted by a constable who is also elected to a four-year term. In some cases, court decisions can be appealed to the state level circuit court. County Officials: The county has several other elected offices, including

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

, assessor,

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...

, coroner,

auditor An auditor is a person or a firm appointed by a company to execute an audit.Practical Auditing, Kul Narsingh Shrestha, 2012, Nabin Prakashan, Nepal To act as an auditor, a person should be certified by the regulatory authority of accounting an ...

treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

, recorder, surveyor, and circuit court clerk. Each of these elected officers serves a term of four years and oversees a different part of county government. Members elected to county government positions are required to declare

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

affiliations and to be residents of the county. Wabash County is a Republican stronghold in presidential elections. Since 1888, only two Republican Party candidates have lost the county,

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...

in 1912 &

Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and major general in the United States Air Force, Air Force Reserve who served as a United States senator from 1953 to 1965 and 1969 to 1987, and was the Re ...

in 1964.

Demographics

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 32,888 people, 12,777 households, and 8,733 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 14,171 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 96.6% white, 0.7% American Indian, 0.5% black or African American, 0.4% Asian, 0.7% from other races, and 1.1% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 2.1% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 31.3% were German, 18.1% were American, 10.1% were English, and 10.0% were Irish. Of the 12,777 households, 29.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.4% were married couples living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 31.7% were non-families, and 27.3% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.92. The median age was 41.2 years. The median income for a household in the county was $47,697 and the median income for a family was $52,758. Males had a median income of $41,965 versus $26,944 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,475. About 8.8% of families and 11.6% 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 ...

, including 15.5% of those under age 18 and 8.1% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

Wabash County Website
* https://web.archive.org/web/20120621233635/http://www.wabasharea.net/ {{Authority control 1835 establishments in Indiana Indiana counties Indiana placenames of Native American origin Populated places established in 1835