Walkerton is a town in Lincoln Township, St. Joseph 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 2,144 at the 2010 Census. It is part of the

South Bend South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. It is the List of cities in ...

–

Mishawaka Mishawaka () is a city on the St. Joseph River, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States. The population was 51,063 as of the 2020 census. Its nickname is "the Princess City". Mishawaka is a principal city of the South Bend-Mishawaka, Indi ...

, IN- MI, Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Walkerton was

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

ted in 1856. It was named for John Walker, a railroad promoter. The town was laid out by the railroad surveyors and the first lot was taken by C.W.N. Stephens, Walkerton's first postmaster. Stephens relocated his general store from nearby West York. The Walkerton post office has been in operation since 1860. During World War II Walkerton housed some of the workers for the nearby Kingsbury Ordnance Plant. The plant initially sought 10,000 workers, and the entire population of LaPorte numbered only 16,000 in 1940. In August 1941 Kingsbury's first shells were loaded and en route to the front lines. In July 2006, Walkerton celebrated its

sesquicentennial An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded. Most countries celebrate national anniversaries, typically called national days. These could be the date of independence of the nation or the adoption o ...

(150-year anniversary). In April 2015, Walkerton gained national attention after the owners of the town's local pizza parlor, Memories Pizza, became the first known Indiana business to advertise that it would not cater to a gay wedding after the passing of Indiana's

Religious Freedom Restoration Act The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, Pub. L. No. 103-141, 107 Stat. 1488 (November 16, 1993), codified at through (also known as RFRA, pronounced "rifra"), is a 1993 United States federal law that "ensures that interests in religio ...

Geography

According to the 2010 census, Walkerton has a total area of , all land.

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 2,144 people, 763 households, and 546 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 850 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 95.0%

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 ...

, 0.4%

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 ...

, 0.7% Native American, 0.3% Asian, 2.1% from other races, and 1.5% 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 5.0% of the population. There were 763 households, of which 38.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.1% 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, 15.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 28.4% were non-families. 24.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.70 and the average family size was 3.18. The median age in the town was 37.2 years. 26.5% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.7% were from 25 to 44; 25.4% were from 45 to 64; and 14.4% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 46.9% male and 53.1% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 2,274 people, 810 households, and 562 families living in the town. The population density was . There were 860 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 94.24%

, 0.48%

, 0.44% Native American, 0.35% Asian, 3.65% from other races, and 0.84% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 5.85% of the population. There were 810 households, out of which 37.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.4% were

living together, 14.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.5% were non-families. 26.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.23. In the town, the population was spread out, with 29.2% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 18.0% from 45 to 64, and 15.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.0 males. The median income for a household in the town was $36,481, and the median income for a family was $42,407. Males had a median income of $31,895 versus $24,583 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 $15,122. About 11.3% of families and 14.5% 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 19.9% of those under age 18 and 14.4% of those age 65 or over.

Arts and culture

Libraries include Walkerton-Lincoln Township Public Library; Fish Lake Branch library, operated by the La Porte County Public Library; and Koontz Lake Branch library, operated by Starke County Public Library System.

Education

John Glenn School Corporation operates Walkerton Elementary School, Urey Middle School, and John Glenn High School. The district

Notable people

* Chad Blount,

NASCAR Nationwide Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

driver *

Walter LaFeber Walter Fredrick LaFeber (August 30, 1933March 9, 2021) was an American academic who served as the Andrew H. and James S. Tisch Distinguished University Professor in the Department of History at Cornell University. Previous to that he served as t ...

(b. 1933), historian of American foreign relations; born in Walkerton * Harold C. Urey (1893–1981), recipient of 1934

Nobel Prize in Chemistry The Nobel Prize in Chemistry () is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outst ...

for discovery of

deuterium Deuterium (hydrogen-2, symbol H or D, also known as heavy hydrogen) is one of two stable isotopes of hydrogen; the other is protium, or hydrogen-1, H. The deuterium nucleus (deuteron) contains one proton and one neutron, whereas the far more c ...

; born in Walkerton

References

External links

Town of Walkerton, Indiana website
{{authority control Towns in St. Joseph County, Indiana Towns in Indiana South Bend – Mishawaka metropolitan area 1856 establishments in Indiana Populated places established in 1856