Wells County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in the U.S. state 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 ...

. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 28,180. Its

seat of government The seat of government is (as defined by ''Brewer's Politics'') "the building, complex of buildings or the city from which a government exercises its authority". In most countries, the nation's Capital city, capital is also seat of its governmen ...

is Bluffton. Wells County is included in the Fort Wayne Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Fort Wayne—Huntington—Auburn Combined Statistical Area.

History

The Territory of Indiana was established in 1800 as legitimized by the

Northwest Ordinance The Northwest Ordinance (formally An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States, North-West of the River Ohio and also known as the Ordinance of 1787), enacted July 13, 1787, was an organic act of the Congress of the Co ...

of 1787. The governing structure established through this act began creating counties in the territory as it became increasingly populated. In December 1816, the

State 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 ...

was admitted to the Union. Wells was named after famous frontiersmen William A. Wells who played a central role in the Northwest Indian Wars and the activity surrounding Fort Miami and Kekionga. It was initially assigned to Allen County for legislative and administrative affairs. In the winter of 1835, Col. John Vowter of Jennings County, Chairman of the Committee on New Counties, introduced a bill proposing that the assembly "lay out all the unorganized territory to which the Indian title had been extinguished in the state into a suitable number of counties". This bill would be approved later that year on February 7, effectively creating thirteen Northern Indiana counties, one of which was Wells. On February 2, 1837, an act was passed by the state, authorizing Wells County to be organized independent of Allen County, and specifying May 1 for the date of the first meeting. However, that meeting did not take place, and so an act dated January 20, 1838, authorized the meeting of appointed commissioners to decide on a county seat. That vote was completed on March 5, 1838, selecting Bluffton.

Geography

The low rolling hills of Wells County have been deforested and are now completely devoted to agriculture and urban development. The

Wabash River The Wabash River () is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 river that drains most of the state of Indiana, and a significant part of Illinois, in the United ...

flows to the northwest, draining the central and upper part of the county, while the lower part is drained by the Salamonie River, also flowing to the northwest. The highest point on the terrain ( ASL) is an isolated rise on the county's south borderline with Jay County, one-half mile (0.8 km) east of the NE corner of Blackford County. According to the 2010 census, the county has a total area of , of which (or 99.42%) is land and (or 0.58%) is water.

Adjacent counties

* Allen County - north * Adams County - east * Jay County - southeast * Blackford County - south * Grant County - west * Huntington County - northwest

City and towns

* Bluffton (city/county seat) * Markle (town; partly in Huntington County) * Ossian (town) * Poneto (town - named Worthington from 1871 to 1881) * Uniondale (town) * Vera Cruz (town) * Zanesville (town; partly in Allen County)

Unincorporated communities

* Craigville * Curryville * Dillman * Domestic * Five Points * Greenville * Greenwood *

Jeff Jeff is a masculine name, often a short form (hypocorism) of the English given name Jefferson or Jeffrey, which comes from a medieval variant of Geoffrey. Music * DJ Jazzy Jeff, American DJ/turntablist record producer Jeffrey Allen Townes ...

* Keystone * Kingsland * Liberty Center * McNatts *

Mount Zion Mount Zion (, ''Har Ṣīyyōn''; , ''Jabal Sahyoun'') is a hill in Jerusalem, located just outside the walls of the Old City (Jerusalem), Old City to the south. The term Mount Zion has been used in the Hebrew Bible first for the City of David ( ...

* Murray * North Oaks *

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

Petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

* Phenix * Reiffsburg * Riverside * Rockford * Tocsin * Toll Gate Heights * Travisville * Wellsburg

Townships

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

* Harrison * Jackson * Jefferson * Lancaster *

Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

* Rockcreek * Union

Major highways

Interstate 69 * US 224

U.S. Route 224 * State Road 1 * State Road 3 * State Road 116 * State Road 124 * State Road 201 * State Road 218 * State Road 301

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in Bluffton have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1985 and a record high of was recorded in July 1980. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in February to in May.

Government

The county government is a constitutional body, and is granted specific powers by the Constitution of Indiana, and by the Indiana Code. County Council: The legislative branch of the county government; controls spending and revenue collection in the county. Representatives are elected to four-year terms from county districts. They set salaries, the annual budget, and special spending. The council has limited authority to impose local taxes, in the form of an income and property tax that is subject to state level approval, excise taxes, and service taxes. Board of Commissioners: The executive body of the county; commissioners are elected county-wide to staggered four-year terms. One commissioner serves as president. The commissioners execute acts legislated by the council, collect revenue, and manage the county government. Court: The county maintains a

small claims court Small-claims courts have limited jurisdiction to hear civil cases between private litigants. Courts authorized to try small claims may also have other judicial functions, and go by different names in different jurisdictions. For example, it ma ...

that handles civil cases. The judge on the court is elected to a term of four years. The judge is assisted by a constable who is also elected to a four-year term. In some cases, court decisions can be appealed to the state level circuit court. County Officials: The county has other elected offices, including

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

, coroner,

auditor An auditor is a person or a firm appointed by a company to execute an audit.Practical Auditing, Kul Narsingh Shrestha, 2012, Nabin Prakashan, Nepal To act as an auditor, a person should be certified by the regulatory authority of accounting an ...

treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

, recorder, surveyor, and circuit court clerk. The officers are elected to four-year terms. Members elected to county government positions are required to declare

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

affiliations and to be residents of the county.

Demographics

2010 Census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 27,636 people, 10,780 households, and 7,684 families in the county. The population density was . There were 11,659 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 97.3% white, 0.4% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 0.3% black or African American, 0.8% from other races, and 0.9% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 2.0% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 38.4% were German, 12.3% were English, 10.8% were Irish, and 10.3% were American. Of the 10,780 households, 33.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.1% were married couples living together, 8.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 28.7% were non-families, and 24.8% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.00. The median age was 40.2 years. The median income for a household in the county was $47,697 and the median income for a family was $56,885. Males had a median income of $41,871 versus $30,031 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,169. About 6.2% of families and 8.0% 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 10.8% of those under age 18 and 3.6% of those age 65 or over.

Education

School districts include: Bluffton-Harrison Metropolitan School District, Northern Wells Community Schools, and Southern Wells Community Schools.
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