Monrovia is a town in Monroe Township, Morgan County, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

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 was 1,643 at the 2020 census, up from 1,063 in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

History

Monrovia was laid out in 1834. The town's name is derived from Monroe Township, named for

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American Founding Father of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. He was the last Founding Father to serve as presiden ...

. A post office has been in operation at Monrovia since 1834. The

Lake Ditch Bridge Lake Ditch Bridge is a historic plate girder bridge located in Monroe Township, Morgan County, Indiana. It was built in 1895 by the Chicago Bridge and Iron Co. It is 58 feet, 6 inches, long and 24 feet, 9 inches wide. It is supported by timbe ...

was 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 ...

in 2001. The town is the subject of the well-regarded

Frederick Wiseman Frederick Wiseman (born January 1, 1930) is an American filmmaker, documentarian, and theater director. His work is primarily about exploring American institutions. In 2017, ''The New York Times'' called him "one of the most important and origina ...

documentary, ''

Monrovia, Indiana Monrovia is a town in Monroe Township, Morgan County, Indiana, Monroe Township, Morgan County, Indiana, Morgan County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 1,643 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 1,063 in 2010 Un ...

'', released in October 2018.

Geography

Monrovia is located in northern Morgan County at (39.579389, -86.480402).

Indiana State Road 42 State Road 42 (SR 42) is an east–west road in Central Indiana. Its western terminus is at US 40 in Terre Haute. Its eastern terminus is at State Road 67 and State Road 144 in Mooresville. Route description From the western te ...

passes through the center of town as Main Street, while State Road 39 passes through the center on Chestnut Street. SR 42 leads northeast to Mooresville and west to Little Point, while SR 39 leads north to Belleville and south to Martinsville, the Monroe

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

Interstate 70 Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from Interstate 15, I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to Interstate 695 (Maryland), I-695 and Maryland Route 570 (MD 570) in Woodlawn, Baltimo ...

passes north of Monrovia, with access from Exit 59 at SR 39. Downtown

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 ...

is to the northeast. According to the

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

, Monrovia has a total area of , of which , or 0.06%, are water. The town sits on a low ridge which drains east toward Sycamore Creek and north toward McCracken Creek, both of which flow toward the White River; to the west the town drains toward Mill Creek, a tributary of the Eel River, which in turn flows to the White River.

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 1,063 people, 365 households, and 288 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 402 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 97.3%

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%

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 ...

, 0.1% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 0.2% from other races, and 0.5% 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 1.2% of the population. There were 365 households, of which 47.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.5% 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, 13.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.9% had a male householder with no wife present, and 21.1% were non-families. 16.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.91 and the average family size was 3.27. The median age in the town was 31.2 years. 31.1% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 32.3% were from 25 to 44; 21% were from 45 to 64; and 6.9% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 49.3% male and 50.7% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 628 people, 234 households, and 187 families living in the town. The population density was . There were 245 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 99.20%

, 0.16% from other races, and 0.64% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.96% of the population. There were 234 households, out of which 36.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.1% were

living together, 13.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.7% were non-families. 16.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 2.97. In the town, the population was spread out, with 25.3% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 26.3% from 45 to 64, and 10.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.8 males. The median income for a household in the town was $49,583, and the median income for a family was $53,571. Males had a median income of $32,917 versus $21,111 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 $20,366. About 6.8% of families and 8.6% 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 14.4% of those under age 18 and 2.9% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The Monroe-Gregg School District which serves students in Monroe and Gregg townships in Morgan County operates three schools: * Monrovia Elementary School, recently constructed, houses grades K-5. It replaced Hall Elementary School. * Monrovia Middle School, houses grades 6–8. * Monrovia Junior-Senior High School houses grades 9-12. Hall Elementary School, which had previously housed grades 4-6 (with Monrovia Elementary School housing K-3 and Monrovia Junior-Senior High School housing 7-12), has recently closed. Monrovia has a

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...

, a branch of the Morgan County Public Library.

Notable people

Gary Bettenhausen Gary Bettenhausen (November 18, 1941 – March 16, 2014) was an American midget car, midget car driver. He was the winner the 1967 and 1970 Turkey Night Grand Prix, the 1972 Astro Grand Prix, and the 1976 Hut Hundred. Personal life Bettenhausen ...

IndyCar IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with the Indianapolis ...

driver * John Van Lindley, pomologist and early

nurseryman A nursery is a place where plants are propagated and grown to a desired size. Mostly the plants concerned are for gardening, forestry, or conservation biology, rather than agriculture. They include retail nurseries, which sell to the general ...

Branch McCracken Emmett B. "Branch" McCracken (June 9, 1908 – June 4, 1970) was an American basketball player and coach. He served as the head basketball coach at Ball State University from 1930 to 1938 and at Indiana University Bloomington from 1938 to 1943 ...

, NCAA championship basketball coach *

John Standeford John William Standeford (born April 15, 1982) is an American former professional football wide receiver. He played college football at Purdue, and signed with the Washington Redskins as an undrafted free agent in 2004. He was also a member of th ...

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

wide receiver

References

External links

* {{authority control Towns in Morgan County, Indiana Towns in Indiana Indianapolis metropolitan area