Metamora 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 ...

and

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 Metamora Township, Franklin 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 town was once a stop along the Whitewater Canal and is now primarily dependent on tourism. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 188.

History

Metamora was platted in 1838. The community derives its name from the play '' Metamora; or, The Last of the Wampanoags'' by John Augustus Stone. The Whitewater Canal only carried boats from 1839 to 1865, but the canal was maintained to supply hydraulic power until 1936. The canal was the center of industrial districts in Metamora and Brookville, to the east. At one time there were water-powered mills for processing cotton, grinding flour and making paper. Metamora is the location of Indiana's oldest and still operating

grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

. Metamora is also home to the only existing wooden aqueduct in the United States (the Duck Creek Aqueduct), with a historical review of the canal history which fueled the southeastern Indiana economy until its displacement by the railroad. The canal is named after the nearby Whitewater River. The Metamora Historic District and Whitewater Canal Historic District are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

Geography

Metamora is located in the valley of the Whitewater River in southeastern Indiana. It is situated on

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 ...

, northwest of

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, and southeast of

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

Notable people

* Tom Alley (1889–1953), racing driver

References

External links

Metamora 1838 Canal Town
{{authority control 1838 establishments in Indiana Populated places established in 1838 Towns in Franklin County, Indiana Towns in Indiana