Palmyra is a town in Morgan Township, Harrison 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 930 at the 2010 census.

History

Palmyra was originally called Carthage, and under the latter name was laid out in 1836. Because there was already another Carthage in Indiana, the town was renamed Palmyra in 1839 to avoid repetition. The present name most likely is a transfer from the ancient city of

Palmyra Palmyra ( ; Palmyrene dialect, Palmyrene: (), romanized: ''Tadmor''; ) is an ancient city in central Syria. It is located in the eastern part of the Levant, and archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first menti ...

. A Confederate force led by Brigadier General

John Hunt Morgan John Hunt Morgan (June 1, 1825September 4, 1864) was a Confederate general in the American Civil War. In April 1862, he raised the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry Regiment, fought at Shiloh, and then launched a costly raid in Kentucky, which encouraged Br ...

camped in Palmyra on the night of July 9, 1863, after the

Battle of Corydon The Battle of Corydon was a minor engagement that took place July 9, 1863, just south of Corydon, which had been the original capital of Indiana until 1825, and was the county seat of Harrison County. The attack occurred during Morgan's Raid i ...

. The army took ransoms from the businesses and commandeered all the town's horses for the Confederate cavalry. The army left the town on the morning of July 10, riding north towards Salem. The town had two previous names: McClellan's Crossroad and Carthage.

Geography

Palmyra is located at (38.407458, -86.110636). According to the 2010 census, Palmyra has a total area of , of which (or 96.88%) is land and (or 3.13%) is water.

Government

Palmrya has a three-member Town Council and a Clerk Treasurer. In 2011 the town board consisted Alvin Brown, Paul Eveslage, and Virginia Kirkham. The Clerk-Treasurer is Tiffany Cardwell. The President of the Town Board was Alvin Brown from 2008 to 2010, who previously served as a Harrison County Councilman for 16 years. Alvin Brown lost his re-election but in 2015 and died in 2018 at the age of 76. Paul Eveslage retired and did not run for reelection in 2015, he passed in December 2015 at the age of 86. Virginia Kirkham was elected Board President for 2011. In 2015 the town reelected Virginia Kirkam for another term, the new members elected were Mike Shireman and Kerry Ingle. The New Clerk treasurer was Debra Jones.

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 930 people, 388 households, and 261 families residing 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 423 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 96.1%

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 ...

, 0.2% Native American, 1.6% Asian, and 1.9% 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 1.0% of the population. There were 388 households, of which 35.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.7% 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, 12.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.9% had a male householder with no wife present, and 32.7% were non-families. 28.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 2.90. The median age in the town was 37.4 years. 24.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.4% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 27.2% were from 25 to 44; 24.7% were from 45 to 64; and 14.4% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 48.0% male and 52.0% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 633 people, 238 households, and 169 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 253 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 98.42%

, 0.16% Asian, and 1.42% from two or more races. There were 238 households, out of which 36.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.2% were

living together, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.6% were non-families. 23.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.5% 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 3.12. In the town, the population was spread out, with 26.9% under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 31.6% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 13.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.2 males. The median income for a household in the town was $36,964, and the median income for a family was $42,083. Males had a median income of $30,000 versus $22,321 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 $15,114. About 4.7% of families and 7.8% 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 4.5% of those under age 18 and 6.7% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Palmyra has a public library, a branch of the Harrison County Public Library. The public school district serving the area is the North Harrison Community Schools Corporation. Residents feed into Morgan Elementary school, North Harrison Middle School, and North Harrison High School. Morgan Elementary is located just south of the town and houses grades

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 ...

through 5th grades; North Harrison Middle and High are located in nearby Ramsey.

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Towns in Harrison County, Indiana Towns in Indiana Louisville metropolitan area Populated places established in 1836 1836 establishments in Indiana