Earl Park is a town in Richland Township, Benton 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 ...

, United States. The population was 362 at the 2022 census. It is part of the

Lafayette, Indiana Lafayette ( ) is a city in and is the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, located northwest of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of Lafayette ...

Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Earl Park was laid out July 31, 1872, by Adams D. Raub and named for his uncle, Adams Earl, one of the promoters of the Big Four railway from Lafayette to Kankakee. It consisted of 217 lots, the public sale of which on August 8 attracted some 2,000 people. Free lunch and free transportation on a special train of freight cars from Lafayette was provided. The town's first building was a grain elevator, the second the railway station. Elias Wees opened the first general store, providing residents with groceries and provisions. Earl Park's first school, a one-story frame building, was erected around 1874 and expanded to a second story around 1878. The town gained a Catholic church in 1880, and a Methodist one in 1881, each costing about $2,500 to build and furnish. Every year, Earl Park holds the Earl Park Fall Festival, which attracts thousands of people from all over the United States. It features a carnival, tractor pull, flea market, demolition derby, and some of the finest Blue Grass bands in the United States. Earl Park is home to the Benton County Wind Farm, the first large

wind farm A wind farm, also called a wind park or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turbines covering an exten ...

in Indiana, established in 2008. Earl Park was the birthplace of Matilde E. Moisant, the second woman in the United States to receive a pilot's license.

Geography

Earl Park is located in Richland Township.

U.S. Route 52 U.S. Route 52 (US 52) is a major U.S. Highway in the Central United States that extends from the northern to southeastern region of the United States. Contrary to most other even-numbered U.S. Highways, US 52 primarily follows a north ...

skirts around the northeast edge of town, and the

Kankakee, Beaverville and Southern Railroad The Kankakee, Beaverville and Southern Railroad Company is a Class III railroad serving agricultural communities in east-central Illinois and west-central Indiana. History In December 1977, Conrail was set to abandon of their ex-New York Centr ...

along the southwest. The Upper Sugar Creek flows to the town's north and west. According to the 2010 census, Earl Park has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 348 people, 147 households, and 93 families living in the town. 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 179 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 98.3%

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 ...

, 1.4% from other races, and 0.3% 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 2.6% of the population. There were 147 households, of which 27.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.0% 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, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 36.7% were non-families. 26.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.86. The median age in the town was 42 years. 20.1% of residents were under the age of 18; 10.6% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 22.4% were from 25 to 44; 32.1% were from 45 to 64; and 14.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 53.2% male and 46.8% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 485 people, 168 households, and 111 families living in the town. The population density was . There were 177 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 98.97%

, 0.21%

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 ...

, 0.82% from other races.

or Latino of any race were 1.03% of the population. There were 168 households, out of which 40.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.2% were

living together, 12.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.9% were non-families. 27.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.17. In the town, the population was spread out, with 27.2% under the age of 18, 10.5% from 18 to 24, 26.2% from 25 to 44, 16.7% from 45 to 64, and 19.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.9 males. The median income for a household in the town was $32,981, and the median income for a family was $37,188. Males had a median income of $26,667 versus $22,875 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 town was $14,369. About 8.7% of families and 10.4% 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 15.2% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

Education

It is in the

Benton Community School Corporation The Benton Community School Corporation administers the one high school/middle school and two elementary schools in Benton County, Indiana. Its offices are located in the county seat of Fowler, Indiana. The superintendent is Dr. Annette Zupin. ...

. Its comprehensive high school is

Benton Central Junior-Senior High School Benton Central Junior-Senior High School is the only high school in Benton County, Indiana. It is located in Center Township, southeast of Fowler. In proximity to Atkinson, it is a part of the Benton Community School Corporation. The schoo ...

. There was formerly a high school in Earl Park. It was closed in 1961, with students moved to the Fowler high school. The town has a lending library, the Earl Park Public Library.

References

External links

Town of Earl Park, Indiana website
{{authority control Towns in Benton County, Indiana Towns in Indiana Lafayette metropolitan area, Indiana Populated places established in 1872 1872 establishments in Indiana