Clay County, Indiana

Clay County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Brazil
Year Organized: 1825
Square Miles: 358

Court House:

609 E. National Avenue
County Courthouse
Brazil, IN 47834-2670

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Named for Senator Henry Clay who was three times a presidential hopeful. Known as "The Great Compromiser," he is most famous for the "Compromise of 1850" which delayed the Civil War.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Clay County was formed in 1825. Its name is in honor of Henry Clay, a famous antebellum American statesman.

The town of Bowling Green was the original county seat, with the first courthouse constructed in 1828. By the 1860s, with the construction of the National Road (the old Cumberland Road and presently US 40) and various railroads, the city of Brazil became a far more important and prosperous town. Efforts to relocate the county seat to Brazil began in 1871, and after much debate, the relocation was granted in 1876. The old court house in Bowling Green burned (by arson, according to county folklore) and a new one erected in Brazil. The fifth county courthouse was completed in 1914 and serves the residents of Clay County to this day.

Clay County is divided into 11 Civil Townships as follows: Brazil, Cass, Dick Johnson, Harrison, Jackson, Lewis, Perry, Posey, Sugar Ridge, Van Buren and Washington.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 360 square miles (933 km²), of which 358 square miles (926 km²) is land and 3 square miles (7 km²) (0.77%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

North: Parke County
Northeast: Putnam County
Southeast: Owen County; Greene County
Southwest: Sullivan County
West: Vigo County

Cities and Towns:

- Brazil (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Carbon	town	Incorporated Area
- Cass	township
- Center Point	town	Incorporated Area
- Clay City	town	Incorporated Area
- Dick Johnson	township
- Harmony	town	Incorporated Area
- Harrison	township
- Jackson	township
- Jordan	township
- Knightsville	town	Incorporated Area
- Perry	township
- Posey	township
- Staunton	town	Incorporated Area
- Sugar Ridge	township

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resource Guide

Counties: US Map

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."

Penn Foster High School

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