Petersburg, Indiana
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Petersburg is a city within Washington Township and the
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 ...
of Pike 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 ...
of
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 2,304 at the 2020 census. Petersburg is part of the
Jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases, is an opaque, impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color; and rarely blue. The common red color is due to ...
Micropolitan Statistical Area.


History

Petersburg was laid out in 1817. The city was named for Peter Brenton, an original owner of the town site. A post office has been in operation at Petersburg since 1823. In 1925, Petersburg was spared being the next victim of the deadly
Tri-State Tornado In the midday and afternoon hours of Wednesday, March 18, 1925, the deadliest tornado in United States history and second-deadliest worldwide moved through Eastern Missouri, Southern Illinois and Southern Indiana, killing 695 people and inj ...
as the tornado dissipated a few miles southwest of the city before it could reach Petersburg and unleash the wrath it had delivered to many other towns in Missouri, Illinois, and in Indiana itself. On the evening of June 2, 1990, a violent F4 tornado impacted the city, killing multiple people and causing major damage to the community.


Geography

According to the 2010 census, Petersburg has a total area of , of which (or 99.73%) is land and (or 0.27%) is water. The lower portion of the White River runs through the city.


Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the
Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
system, Petersburg has a
humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...
, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.


Demographics


2010 census

As the 2010
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 ...
, there were 2,383 people, 1,025 households and 592 families living in the city. 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 1,134 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.7%
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 ...
, 0.5%
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 ...
, 0.3% Native American, 0.5% Asian, 0.2% from other races, and 0.8% 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 0.9% of the population. There were 1,025 households, of which 25.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.5% 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, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 42.2% were non-families. 37.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.18 and the average family size was 2.89. The median age was 43.8 years. 20% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.4% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 22.9% were from 25 to 44; 27.6% were from 45 to 64; and 21.1% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup was 48.6% male and 51.4% female.


2000 census

At the 2000 census, there were 2,570 people, 1,092 households and 670 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 1,228 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup was 99.07%
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 ...
, 0.19%
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 ...
, 0.04% Native American, 0.04%
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 ...
, 0.08% from other races, and 0.58% 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 0.39% of the population. There were 1,092 households, of which 24.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.1% 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, 11.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.6% were non-families. 35.5% 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 2.24 and the average family size was 2.88. 21.6% of the population were under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 26.7% from 25 to 44, 23.4% from 45 to 64, and 20.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.4 males. The
median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of und ...
was $27,054 and the median family income was $37,460. Males had a median income of $31,510 and females $21,042. 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 ...
was $15,158. About 6.7% of families and 11.6% 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 9.9% of those under age 18 and 16.7% of those age 65 or over.


Industry

One coal-fired power-plant: Indianapolis Power & Light (IPL)'s
Petersburg Generating Station Petersburg Generating Station is a major coal-fired power plant in Indiana, rated at 2.146- GW nameplate capacity. It is located on the White River near Petersburg in Pike County, Indiana, just upstream from a much smaller coal-fired Frank E. ...
, is within two miles of Petersburg. There are also two coal mines within ten miles of Petersburg. Hoosier Energy's Frank E. Ratts Generating Station was torn down during late 2016 and early 2017 and the site has been graded and seeded.


Education

There is one school district in the county, Pike County School Corporation. Prior to 1974, Petersburg had its own high school. The school colors were red and white, and the mascot was the Indians (meaning Native Americans). The school absorbed students from Union High School in 1937. In 1974, it merged into Pike Central High School. Petersburg 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 Pike County Public Library.


Notable people

* Jody Davis, guitarist for Newsboys * Samuel Hugh Dillin, judge *
John W. Foster John Watson Foster (March 2, 1836 – November 15, 1917) was an American diplomat, military officer, lawyer and journalist who was U.S. secretary of state from 1892 to 1893, under President Benjamin Harrison. He was influential as a lawyer in t ...
, journalist and diplomat, U.S. Secretary of State * Thomas L. Hisgen, nominee for President of the United States of the Independence Party in 1908 *
Gil Hodges Gilbert Raymond Hodges (born Hodge; April 4, 1924 – April 2, 1972) was an American first baseman and manager (baseball), manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played most of his 18-year career for the History of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Broo ...
, Hall of Fame baseball player and manager *
Clyde Lovellette Clyde Edward Lovellette ( ; September 7, 1929 – March 9, 2016) was an American professional basketball player. Lovellette was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1988. He was the first basketball player in history to ...
, professional basketball player *
Melba Phillips Melba Newell Phillips (February 1, 1907 – November 8, 2004) was an American physicist and a pioneer science educator. One of the first doctoral students of J. Robert Oppenheimer at the University of California, Berkeley, Phillips completed her ...
, physicist and science educator * John Wesley Posey, abolitionist * Joe Wyatt, professional baseball player * Derek Lunsford, bodybuilder (2023 Mr. Olympia)


References


External links


City of Petersburg, Indiana website
{{authority control Cities in Indiana Communities of Southwestern Indiana Cities in Pike County, Indiana County seats in Indiana Jasper, Indiana micropolitan area