China is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Shelby Township, Jefferson County,

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 ...

. It spans Shelby and Madison Townships and was for years largely defined by the existence of a

general store A general merchant store (also known as general merchandise store, general dealer, village shop, or country store) is a rural or small-town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, someti ...

in Madison Township and the former St. Anthony's Catholic Church in Shelby township. Razor's Fork runs between the two sections. Indiana State Road 62 runs parallel to Razor's Fork in Madison Township, and then crosses the stream and heads north to Canaan. A post office called China was established in 1833, and remained in operation until 1902. The origin of the name China is disputed. Some say the community derives its name from Father Chine, while others believe the presence of chinaberries caused the name to be selected.

Geography

China sits on the western side of Razor's Fork, a small stream, just before it enters the West Fork of the Indian-Kentuck Creek.

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Jefferson County, Indiana Unincorporated communities in Indiana