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 ...
, named for William Otterbein Brown who donated land for the town. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,144.
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 ...
Originally a site known as Pond Grove, Otterbein's first 60 lots were laid out by John Levering and his wife on October 25, 1872, with an addition by Mary A. Clancey on April 24, 1883. The first home was built by Dr. John K. Thompson and the first business, a general store, by Henry H. Moore. William Otterbein Brown, the farmer and stock-dealer for whom the town was named, held the office of postmaster until his death on February 18, 1879. Otterbein High School ran from 1910 to 1966, when the consolidated Benton Community School Corporation came into existence. The gym and most of the building burned in a fire in 1975.
As of 2023, Otterbein has two churches, Catholic and United Methodist, 4 restaurants, 2 sporting goods stores, a thrift shop, an elementary school, and a public library.
At one time, two sets of Nickel Plate Railroad tracks ran through the town. One set of tracks has since been removed, and the other is used by Kankakee, Beaverville and Southern Railroad. Since the end of 2008, the railroad right-of-way has been used for the placement of poles that carry electric power from the wind turbines in western Benton County to the substation at Montmorenci.
Kerkhoff Truss Plant and Rowe Trucking Inc occupy the industrial park at the east edge of town, which is actually in Tippecanoe County. The Otterbein post office has been in operation since 1872.
Geography
Otterbein occupies mostly flat, open farm land on the eastern border of Benton County in Bolivar Township, with eastern sections of the community extending into Tippecanoe County.
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 ...
passes along its north side and the Kankakee, Beaverville and Southern Railroad cuts through town to the south.
According to the 2020 census, Otterbein has a total area of , of which is land and is water.
Oxford Street, old US 52, is the central east-west street and the only blinking traffic light in town is located at its junction with Main Street. Otterbein is known for its extremely wide, block-long Main Street that accommodates two rows of parallel parking in the middle of the street.
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 1,262 people, 502 households, and 335 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 550 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 96.8%
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 ...
(1211), 0.7%
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 ...
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 ...
, 0.8% from other races, and 1.2% from two or more races (13).
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 3.1% of the population (38).
There were 502 households, of which 38.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.4% 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, 12.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 7.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 33.3% were non-families. 27.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.04.
The median age in the town was 32.4 years. 28% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 28.8% were from 25 to 44; 23.1% were from 45 to 64; and 11.1% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 49.2% male and 50.8% female.
2000 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 2000, there were 1,312 people, 498 households, and 359 families living in the town. The population density was . There were 518 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 98.02%
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 ...
, 0.23%
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 ...
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 1.07% of the population.
There were 498 households, out of which 42.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.2% 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, 12.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.9% were non-families. 24.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.11.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 30.8% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 31.6% from 25 to 44, 17.1% from 45 to 64, and 11.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.8 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $40,524, and the median income for a family was $45,341. Males had a median income of $31,000 versus $20,944 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 $17,128. About 4.8% of families and 6.9% 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 6.8% of those under age 18 and 9.9% of those age 65 or over.
painter
Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
kindergarten
Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...
* Mossman, Ed (1883), "History of Benton County: Past Events -- Present Condition" in ''Counties of Warren, Benton, Jasper and Newton, Indiana: Historical and Biographical'', Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co.