Boonville is a city in Boon Township, Warrick County, Indiana, United States. The population was 6,246 at the 2010 census. The city is the largest community in and 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 ...

of Warrick County.

History

Boonville was founded in 1818 and named for Jesse Boon, father of Ratliff Boon. A post office has been in operation at Boonville since 1820. Boonville was incorporated in 1858. President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

studied law in Boonville. When Abraham Lincoln and his family moved from Kentucky to present-day Spencer County in 1816, their homestead was then considered to be within Boonville's Warrick County boundaries. The future president frequently walked to Boonville to borrow books and watch local attorney John Brackenridge argue cases, thus earning Boonville the distinction of being "where Lincoln learned the law."

Points of interest

The Boonville post office contains a casein tempera-on-canvas mural titled ''Boonville Beginnings'', painted in 1941 by Ida Abelman. Murals were produced from 1934 to 1943 in the United States through the Section of Painting and Sculpture, later called the Section of Fine Arts, of the Treasury Department. The Boonville Public Square Historic District and Old Warrick County Jail are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. WBNL is an AM/FM (1540 AM, 99.9 FM) radio station operated in Boonville. Owned by Ralph Turpin, WBNL has been on air for decades. WBNL has broadcast sporting events for not only Boonville High School, but also Tecumseh High School. Most livestreams are hosted by BHS Teacher Jim Little, and he is usually accompanied by Rick Madden, Jay Miller, Allen Buck, or Tom Presley.

Geography

Boonville is located at (38.046231, -87.272544). According to the 2010 census, Boonville has a total area of , of which (or 99.57%) is land and (or 0.43%) is water.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Boonville has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 6,246 people, 2,549 households, and 1,647 families living in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...

was . There were 2,867 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.7%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.5%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.2% Native American, 0.1% Asian, 0.4% from other races, and 1.1% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.2% of the population. There were 2,549 households, of which 31.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.0% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 13.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 35.4% were non-families. 31.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.1% 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 2.97. The median age in the city was 39.4 years. 23.3% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.4% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 25.8% were from 25 to 44; 25.4% were from 45 to 64; and 18% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 46.3% male and 53.7% female.

2000 census

As of the 2000 census, there were 6,834 people, 2,688 households, and 1,854 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 2,910 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 98.51%

, 0.64%

, 0.20% Native American, 0.12% Asian, 0.01%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, 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 th ...

, 0.03% from other races, and 0.48% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.44% of the population. There were 2,688 households, out of which 32.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.2% were

living together, 12.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.0% were non-families. 27.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.98. In the city, the population was spread out, with 25.2% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 28.2% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 15.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.9 males. The median income for a household in the city was $34,913, and the median income for a family was $42,096. Males had a median income of $32,264 versus $22,227 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $15,869. About 6.5% of families and 9.2% 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 14.1% of those under age 18 and 7.3% of those age 65 or over.

Government

The government consists of a mayor and a city council. The mayor is elected in citywide vote. The city council consists of five members. Four are elected from individual districts. One is elected at-large.

Transportation

The Boonville Airport is located two

nautical mile A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude at t ...

s (2.3 mi, 3.7 km) west of the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

. Boonville also has the Warrick Area Transit System (WATS), a public bus line which connects with the nearby Metropolitan Evansville Transit System (METS).

Education

The town has a lending library, the Boonville-Warrick County Public Library. Additionally, within city limits there are two elementary schools: Oakdale Elementary and Loge Elementary. Boonville Middle School and Boonville High School also serve the residents.

Notable people

* Louis A. Arnold –

HVAC Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC ) is the use of various technologies to control the temperature, humidity, and purity of the air in an enclosed space. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. ...

worker and

Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of America ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

State Senator * Benoni S. Fuller – schoolteacher, sheriff, and Democratic state legislator and Congressman * Barbara Maier Gustern - singer and vocal coach * James A. Hemenway - lawyer, US Representative, US Senator * Monte M. Katterjohn –

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

for 68 films between 1912 and 1931 * Menz Lindsey – lawyer who was also a

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

in the early

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

for the Evansville Crimson Giants * Philip Lutz, Jr. – 27th Indiana Attorney General (1933–37) * W. Otto Miessner – composer and music educator * Ken Penner –

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

who played

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

for two seasons (1916 and 1929) between decades of a minor league career that lasted through 1943 * Dustin Ransom – musician, producer,

vocalist Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

, arranger, music transcriber, and film composer * Rachel Rockwell –

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

, choreographer,

dancer Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

and actor * Robert G. Roeder - Professor at The Rockefeller University, pioneer scientist in eukaryotic transcription * Jeremy Spencer – musician, songwriter and record producer, co-founder and drummer for heavy metal band

Five Finger Death Punch Five Finger Death Punch, also abbreviated as 5FDP or FFDP, is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Las Vegas, Nevada, formed in 2005. The band originally consisted of vocalist Ivan Moody, rhythm guitarist Zoltan Bathory, lead g ...

* Travis Williams – tailback in the National Football League's Evansville Crimson Giants * John Riley Tanner (1844-1901), served as the 21st

Governor of Illinois The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its we ...

from 1897-1901. He was born in Warrick County near Boonville. * Ratliff Boon (1781-1844), served as the 2nd Governor of Indiana and six terms in the US House of Representatives.

References

External links

City website
{{Authority control Cities in Indiana Cities in Warrick County, Indiana County seats in Indiana Evansville metropolitan area Communities of Southwestern Indiana