Jefferson County, Indiana

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

County Seat:
Year Organized:
Square Miles:
MSA:

Court House:

Put address here

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Named for Thomas Jefferson who was the author of the Declaration of Independence, third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts:

History

Jefferson County was authorized by an act of the Legislature November 23, 1810, and went into effect February 1, 1811 It was named for Thomas Jefferson, principal draftsman of the Northwest Ordinance and President of the United States from 1801 through 1809.

Jefferson County was one of Indiana's first counties and many important early Hoosiers hailed from Madison, including William Hendricks. Throughout the early history of the state, Madison was one of the leading cities competing with Vincennes and later New Albany to be the largest city in the state. The county fell into economic decline after the American Civil War as industry began to shift from southern Indiana to the northern part of the state.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 363 square miles (940 km²), of which 361 square miles (936 km²) is land and 2 square miles (4 km²) (0.44%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Northeast: Ripley County
East: Switzerland County
Southeast: Carroll County, Ky.; Trimble County, Ky.
Southwest: Clark County; Scott County
Northwest: Jennings County

Cities and Towns:

Insert City Here

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

Custom Search