Marengo is a town in Liberty Township,

Crawford County Crawford County is the name of eleven counties in the United States: * Crawford County, Arkansas * Crawford County, Georgia * Crawford County, Illinois * Crawford County, Indiana * Crawford County, Iowa * Crawford County, Kansas * Crawford 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 829 at the 2020 census. One of the tourist attractions and sources of revenue for the town is

Marengo Cave Marengo Cave is a privately owned cave located in Marengo, Indiana. One of only four show caves in Indiana, public tours of the cave have been given since 1883. Tours commenced just days after the cave's discovery by two school children. The ca ...

, a U.S. National Landmark.

History

Marengo was originally called Big Springs, and under the latter name 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 in 1839. The name Marengo commemorates the

Battle of Marengo The Battle of Marengo was fought on 14 June 1800 between French forces under the First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte and Austrian forces near the city of Alessandria, in Piedmont, Italy. Near the end of the day, the French overcame General ...

. Marengo was devastated by an F3 tornado in 2004, resulting in damage to nearly 75 percent of the town and the death of one resident.Small Indiana town rallies to surmount a tornado's wrath, by Patrik Jonsson, ''The Christian Science Monitor''
Retrieved on June 28, 2008. Marengo High School was located in Marengo until the consolidation of the schools into Crawford County High School.

Geography

According to the 2010 census, Marengo 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 828 people, 354 households, and 213 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 408 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 95.4%

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 ...

, 0.1%

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 ...

, 0.8% Native American, 0.5%

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 ...

, 0.5% from other races, and 2.7% 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 2.1% of the population. There were 354 households, of which 34.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.8% 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, 15.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 39.8% were non-families. 36.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 3.02. The median age in the town was 36.2 years. 26.7% of residents were under the age of 18; 10.5% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24% were from 25 to 44; 24% were from 45 to 64; and 14.5% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 47.8% male and 52.2% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 829 people, 363 households, and 218 families living in the town. The population density was . There were 403 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 98.31%

, 0.24% Native American, 0.12% Asian, 0.12%

, 0.60% from other races, and 0.60% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 1.09% of the population. There were 363 households, out of which 28.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.2% were

living together, 11.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.9% were non-families. 35.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 3.00. In the town, the population was spread out, with 24.7% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 28.6% from 25 to 44, 22.1% from 45 to 64, and 17.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.0 males. The median income for a household in the town was $23,542, and the median income for a family was $32,019. Males had a median income of $27,109 versus $19,211 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 $11,194. About 13.6% of families and 23.9% 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 29.9% of those under age 18 and 26.1% of those age 65 or over.

Trivia

*The movie ''

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States * Madison (footballer), Brazilian footballer Places in the United States Populated places * Madi ...

'' (2001), starring

Jim Caviezel James Patrick Caviezel Jr. ( ; born September 26, 1968) is an American actor. He played Jesus in ''The Passion of the Christ'' (2004), Tim Ballard in Sound of Freedom (film), ''Sound of Freedom'' (2023), and starred as John Reese (Person of Inte ...

and

Jake Lloyd Jacob Matthew Lloyd (born March 5, 1989) is an American former actor who portrayed young Anakin Skywalker in the film '' Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'' (1999) and Jamie Langston in '' Jingle All the Way'' (1996). Early life Jake ...

, shot a scene in downtown Marengo.''Courier Press''
Retrieved on June 9, 2008 *The movie ''Fire from Below'' (2008), starring

Kevin Sorbo Kevin David Sorbo (born September 24, 1958) is an American actor. He has had starring roles in two television series: as Hercules in '' Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'' (1995–1999) and as Captain Dylan Hunt in '' Andromeda'' (2000–2005). ...

, filmed at Marengo Cave. *The Marengo Warehouse and Distribution Center, an underground facility, has space leased by the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...

as well as the

Centers for Disease Control The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and is headquartered in Atlanta, ...

, whose contract specified that the contents of their space did not have to be revealed to the warehouse management.

Points of interest

Patoka Lake Patoka Lake is the second largest reservoir in the U.S. state of Indiana (after Monroe Lake) and is spread across Dubois County, Indiana, Dubois, Crawford County, Indiana, Crawford, and Orange County, Indiana, Orange counties in Southern Indiana. ...

* Sycamore Springs *

Hoosier National Forest The Hoosier National Forest is a property managed by the United States Forest Service in the hills of Southern Indiana, southern Indiana. Composed of four separate sections, it has a total area of . Hoosier National Forest's headquarters are loc ...

* Hemlock Cliffs *

Wyandotte Caves The Wyandotte Caves is a pair of limestone caves located on the Ohio River in Harrison–Crawford State Forest in Crawford County, Indiana, northeast of Leavenworth and from Corydon. Wyandotte Caves were designated a National Natural Landma ...

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Towns in Crawford County, Indiana Towns in Indiana 1839 establishments in Indiana Populated places established in 1839