West Lebanon is a town in Pike Township, Warren County, in the

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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 ...

. The population was 678 at the 2020 census.

History

West Lebanon was laid out and

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

ted in the fall of 1830 by Ebenezer Purviance, John G. Jemison and Andrew Fleming, and consisted of 64 lots. Originally named Lebanon, the name was changed to West Lebanon in 1869 when the town was incorporated, possibly in deference to the Boone County community of the same name which established its post office on December 15, 1832, just eleven days before their own. Not being close to any waterways, West Lebanon's early growth was relatively slow and for many years had no more than 20 families. However, with the completion of the

Wabash Railroad The Wabash Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. It served a large area, including track in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Missouri and the province of Ontario. Its primary con ...

line one mile north of town in 1856, the community's fortunes improved and led to most of the town relocating closer to the station. The original settlement area became known as Old Town. A Carnegie library was built at the corner of High Street and North Street in 1916 and continues to operate as the West Lebanon-Pike Township Public Library. Fire destroyed part of West Lebanon's business district the evening of January 26, 2011, destroying a row of buildings along the west side of High Street between First and North streets.

Geography

West Lebanon is located just south of State Road 28 about east of the Illinois border and about west of Williamsport. State Road 263 is concurrent with High Street and intersects State Road 28 at the north edge of town. A line of the

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

also passes through the north edge of the town. Rock Creek, east of town, flows south toward the

Wabash River The Wabash River () is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 river that drains most of the state of Indiana, and a significant part of Illinois, in the United ...

and forms the township's eastern border; it is fed by the small Johnson Branch which crosses the north edge of town. According to the 2010 census, West Lebanon has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 723 people, 287 households, and 192 families residing here. The population density was . There were 327 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup was 99.2% white, 0.3% Asian, 0.1% American Indian, 0.1% from other races, and 0.3% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 0.1% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 19.8% were

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, 8.4% were Irish, and 6.6% were American. Of the 287 households, 34.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.3% were married couples living together, 13.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 33.1% were non-families, and 25.8% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 2.98. The median age was 37.4 years. The median income for a household was $49,226 and the median income for a family was $53,708. Males had a median income of $42,500 versus $34,063 for females. The per capita income for was $19,388. About 1.4% of families and 4.1% 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 3.3% of those under age 18 and 16.3% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

There are more than 25 businesses in West Lebanon. Industry includes Tru-Flex Metal Hose, which has made stripwound and corrugated flexible metal hose since 1962, and Dyna-Fab, which specializes in metal stampings and weldments.

Education

It is in the

Metropolitan School District of Warren County The Metropolitan School District of Warren County administers the one high school/middle school and three elementary schools in Warren County, Indiana Warren County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana. It lies in the western part of ...

. Warren Central Elementary School and Seeger Memorial Junior-Senior High School are both located about a mile-and-a-half north of town. The town is served by the West Lebanon-Pike Township Public Library, one of two

public libraries ''Public Libraries'' is the official publication of the Public Library Association (PLA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). It is devoted exclusively to public libraries. The print edition is published six times a year and i ...

in Warren County.

Arts and culture

Each year on the last weekend of September the town holds the West Lebanon Patriot Festival, an event named for the Patriot mascot of nearby Seeger High School. The festival features flea market vendors, a parade, cake walks, live music, fireman's water ball competition, outhouse races and other attractions. The festival was previously known as West Lebanon Fun Days.

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Towns in Warren County, Indiana Towns in Indiana Populated places established in 1830 1830 establishments in Indiana