Indiana State...
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Indiana Counties
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La Porte County, Indiana
La Porte County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education
County Seat:
Year Organized:
Square Miles:
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Court House: Put address here
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Etymology - Origin of County Name
From the French term meaning "The Door" this county's name reflects her natural access to the Great
Lakes. Demographics:
County QuickFacts:
History
LaPorte County was established by an act of the Legislature on the 9th of January 1832 and formally organized April
1, that year. La porte means "the door" in French. French travelers or explorers so-named the area after discovering a
natural opening in the dense forests that used to exist in this region, providing a gateway to lands further west.
Before white settlement, all of the land that forms modern-day La Porte County, and adjacent Starke County to the south
belonged to the Potawatami Indian nation. These Indians were forcibly removed to Kansas by the United States government
in 1838, and many died on what survivors called the Trail of Death.
When the county was initially proposed and organized, its boundaries did not extend as far south or east as they do
today. A section of land north of the Kankakee River originally belonged to Starke County. However, residents living in
that area had difficulty crossing the river, often traversing difficult, swampy terrain in order to arrive at the seat
of their county to pay taxes or conduct other business with county officials. It was necessary to travel some distance
east to the nearest bridge, before making the journey south. These residents asked that their land be annexed to La
Porte County, which was completed on January 28 1842. Thereafter, the Kankakee River formed the southern boundary of the
county. Finally, on January 10 1850, some twenty sections of land were annexed from St. Joseph County to the east,
giving La Porte County the boundaries that exist to this day
LaPorte is divided into 21 Civil Townships as follows: Cass, Center, Clinton, Cool Spring, Dewey, Galena, Hanna,
Hudson, Johnson, Kankakee, Lincoln, Michigan, New Durham, Noble, Pleasant, Prairie, Scipio, Springfield, Union,
Washington and Wills. Washington Township was once part of Union Township while Prairie Township was part of Hanna
Township.
Geography
The county has a total area of 613 square miles (1,588 kmē), of which 598 square miles (1,549 kmē) is land and 15
square miles (38 kmē) (2.41%) is water.
Neighboring Counties:
- Northeast: Berrien County, Mich.
- East: St. Joseph County
- Southeast: Starke County
- West: Porter County
- Northwest: Lake Michigan
Cities and Towns:
County Resources:
Enter County Resources and Information Here
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County Resource Guide
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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." |
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Penn Foster High School
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