Francisco is the fifth largest town and seventh largest community in Gibson County,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, United States. A town in Center Township, the population was 469 at the 2010 census and was founded in 1851. Local tradition says the town was named for its first settler, a Spanish laborer working on the

Wabash and Erie Canal The Wabash and Erie Canal was a shipping canal that linked the Great Lakes to the Ohio River via an artificial waterway. The canal provided traders with access from the Great Lakes all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. Over 460 miles long, it was th ...

who built a shack in the area. It is part of the

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...

Metropolitan Area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...

Geography

Francisco is located at (38.333360, -87.447314). According to the 2010 census, Francisco has a total area of , all land. Francisco is located on State Highway 64 between

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

and Oakland City. As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2010, there were 469 people, 189 households, and 119 families residing in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was . There were 226 housing units at an average density of . The racial make-up of the town was 97.0%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 0.2%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.2% Native American, 0.2%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, and 2.3% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 0.9% of the population. There were 189 households, of which 30.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.4% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 5.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 37.0% were non-families. 31.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.18. The median age in the town was 39.6 years. 25.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 5.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26.8% were from 25 to 44; 26% were from 45 to 64; and 16.2% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 47.8% male and 52.2% female.

Demographics

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 543 people, 233 households, and 150 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 249 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 99.26%

, 0.55%

and 0.18% Native American.

of any race were 0.37% of the population. There were 233 households, out of which 29.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.2% were

living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.2% were non-families. 30.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.90. In the town, the population was spread out, with 22.3% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 30.2% from 25 to 44, 24.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.2 males. The median income for a household in the town was $28,750, and the median income for a family was $39,250. Males had a median income of $32,500 versus $18,125 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the town was $15,499. About 10.6% of families and 9.5% 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 t ...

, including 17.1% of those under age 18 and 2.9% of those age 65 or over.

History

The town was platted and laid out on the east side of the

by John Perkins in 1851. Francisco was incorporated in 1907 and the Francisco State Bank chartered a year later. Its heydey was in the mid-1850s during use of the ill-fated canal to ship goods and produce south to Evansville. Mills, grain warehouses and packing establishments thrived during the decade. Remnants of the old canal are still visible just south of Highway 64 and west of town.Tartt's History of Gibson County, p. 207
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Town Hall

Francisco Town Hall is located at 203 West Main St/SR64 with the Fire Department. Meetings are held the second Tuesday of every month. Wastewater meetings begin at 5:30p followed by Water & Town Business.

Highways and rail lines

State Road 64

Interstate 69 Interstate 69 (I-69) is an Interstate Highway in the United States currently consisting of 10 unconnected segments with an original continuous segment from Indianapolis, Indiana, northeast to the Canadian border in Port Huron, Michigan, at ...

(Located 2 miles east of town)

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...

Schools

Francisco Elementary School is part of the East Gibson School Corp.. F.E.S. is located on SR 64/Main St. in Francisco Indiana. The home of the Mighty Owls is grades K-6. At least 3 schools have stood on these grounds, with the prior 2 falling to fire. The Last Francisco High School Burnt in the 1970s after being hit by lightning. The Lions Club pictured in the Gallery at the bottom of this page was built to serve as grades 5-8 during construction of a new school. Also used for classroom space was the Methodist, Baptist and Nazarene churches. A small one-room school house once stood near the intersection of Green and School Streets and is why today the current school is not even located on the same side of town as School Street.

Other points of interest

Wabash & Erie Canal Francisco was a town built on the East Banks of the Wabash and Erie Canal. The Manmade Canal ran from Lake Erie in Ohio to the Ohio River at Evansville. Francisco was home to many Rowdy Irishmen who came to help build the canal. The Heyday for the Wabash & Erie Canal was mid-1850s and the canal was closed to traffic around 1870. A large outbreak of cholera broke out among canal workers near Francisco around 1852; as many as 100 workers died and many more fled from the area. Those who stayed and survived were assigned the task of burying the dead. Many were buried along the banks in long trenches, while others were burnt in piles on the floor of small shanties along the canal. Drinking establishments or Doggeries were popular among canal workers and in that day were very prominent around Francisco. Whiskey was supplied by "Jigger Bosses" to workers four times a day and caused many fights among the Irish and Americans. The Irish were generally assigned to digging with shovels, while Americans built culverts and bridges.

Gallery

File:Francisco Indiana school.jpg, Francisco Elem. School 2010 File:FranciscoIndianaCanal.jpg, Wabash Erie Canal near Francisco File:Main st Francisco.jpg, Look up Main St./SR64 File:Francisco State Bank Building.jpg, Old Francisco State Bank File:Francisco IOOF.jpg, IOOF building Main & 4th st. File:FranciscoLionsClub.jpg, Lions Club Building on South 1st Street File:Ws mcconnell.jpg, WS McConnell Building File:BlacksmithShop.jpg, Blacksmith Shop still stands on South 3rd St. File:Francisco Indiana Town Hall.jpg, Fire Department prior to 2011 addition File:wheeling covered bridge.jpg, Covered bridge North of Francisco at Patoka River

References

{{authority control Towns in Gibson County, Indiana Towns in Indiana Evansville metropolitan area Communities of Southwestern Indiana Populated places established in 1851 1851 establishments in Indiana