Knox County, Indiana

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

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Etymology - Origin of County Name

Named for Gen. Henry Knox, first Secretary of War (first county)

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History

Knox County was organized by Secretary of the Northwest Territory Winthrop Sargent June 20, 1790, when Michigan and Illinois were withdrawn from the Northwest Territory making it the oldest Indiana county. It was named for Major General Henry Knox, U.S. Secretary of War.

Knox County was one of the original counties of the Northwest Territory and was created prior to the formation of the Indiana Territory. When it was created, Knox County extended to Canada and encompassed all or part of the present states of Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Ohio. When the Illinois Territory was formed in 1809, the portions of Knox County beyond the Wabash River became a part of Illinois.

Many of Knox Country townships and lots were surveyed with the French system, which goes towards non-cardinal compass points. Knox is the only other Indiana county besides Clark County that was laid out in this fashion

Knox County is divided into 10 Civil Townships as follows: Busseron, Decker, Harrison, Johnson, Palmyra, Steen, Vigo, Vincennes, Washington and Widner.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 524 square miles (1,357 km²), of which 516 square miles (1,336 km²) is land and 8 square miles (21 km²) (1.57%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

North: Sullivan County
Northeast: Greene County
East: Daviess County
Southeast: Pike County
Southwest: Gibson County; Wabash County, Ill.
West: Lawrence County, Ill.
Northwest: Crawford County, Ill.

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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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