Depauw 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 Blue River Township and Spencer Township, Harrison 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 ...

. The population of Depauw is officially unknown but is estimated to be 120 as of 2020 and is slowly decreasing.

History

Depauw was

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 by Felician Henriott on April 8, 1884. According to one source, the community may be named for

Washington C. DePauw Washington Charles DePauw (January 4, 1822 – May 5, 1887) was an American businessman and philanthropist. DePauw University is named in his honor. Early life DePauw was born in Salem, Indiana, and was the grandson of Charles DePauw, who came ...

. Violent tornadoes that were recorded in Depauw include one on April 3, 1903, two on April 3, 1974, one on April 5, 1985, and one on June 2, 1990. On April 3, 1974, at around 3:20 PM, an F5 tornado hit Depauw, leaving some of the mobile homes and houses completely demolished. This tornado had formed near New Boston, IN. It kept heading east passing just west of Frenchtown, IN and then the tornado hit Depauw. Many of the Depauw locals who didn't have a basement quickly rushed to people's homes that did have one. The tornado went through Depauw and then it headed northeast towards Palmyra, IN after Depauw. The tornado killed 6 people and injured 76 people in the 68 miles (110 km) it was on the ground. The Depauw tornado was 1.6 miles (2.5 km) wide and was the first of many other F5 tornadoes that were to form on that same day in the midwest. The series of tornadoes that occurred on that day was part of what was known as the

1974 Super Outbreak The 1974 Super Outbreak was one of the most intense tornado outbreaks on record, occurring on April 3–4, 1974, across much of the United States. It was one of the deadliest tornado outbreaks in U.S. history. It was also the most violent t ...

Geography

Depauw is located in northwest Harrison County.

Demographics

The

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

first delineated Depauw as a

census designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

in the 2022

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...

References

Unincorporated communities in Harrison County, Indiana Unincorporated communities in Indiana Populated places established in 1884 1884 establishments in Indiana {{LouisvilleMSA-stub