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Indiana Counties

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Indiana Counties

Indiana is divided into 92 counties. The oldest and newest Counties in Indiana are Knox County (created 1790) and Newton County (created 1857).

The largest county is Allen (657 sq. mi.) and the smallest is Ohio (87 sq. mi.). According to the Indiana Constitution, no county may be created of less than 400 square miles, nor may any county smaller than this be further reduced in size.

Many Indiana Counties are named for the US Founding Fathers and personalities of the American Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 and Battle of Tippecanoe; early leaders of Indiana Territory and Indiana, as well as surrounding states like Michigan and Kentucky; plus Native American tribes and geographical features.

Parke County, Indiana

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

County Seat: Rockville
Year Organized: 1821
Square Miles: 445

Court House:

116 West High Street
County Courthouse
Rockville, IN 47872-1716

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Named for Benjamin Parke, Attorney General for four years and the first Territorial Delegate to the United States Congress.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Parke County was organized January 9, 1821 becoming effective April 2, 1821, and is divided into 13 Civil Townships as follows: Adams, Florida, Greene, Howard, Jackson, Liberty, Penn, Raccoon, Reserve, Sugar Creek, Union, Wabash and Washington.

Formation of Parke County -- at one time, all of Indiana was considered "Knox" County ... in 1817 Sullivan County was formed from Knox sealing its northern boarder making all land north, which had previously been known as Knox, simply non-county area. In 1818 the northern portion of Sullivan County was ceded to Vigo County and in 1821 the southwestern corner of Parke County was formed from Vigo while the northeastern was taken from the New Wabash Purchase; a small portion of the northwest corner was actually part of the non-county area. In 1824 all Parke County land west of the Wabash River was ceded to Vermillion County, however, land that had belonged to Putnam and Montgomery was added to the county giving it the area we are familiar with today. It was named for Capt. Benjamin Parke, who commanded a troop of light Dragoons at the Battle of Tippecanoe. Parke was a delegate of Indiana Territory to the U.S. Congress. In 1821, he was U.S. District Judge for Indiana.

Parke County is the birthplace of baseball great Mordecai Brown. The following article from the 8-28-1908 Rockville Republican provides a sample of his prowess:

Mordecai Brown Pitches Great Game

“Mordecai Brown, our Mordecai, whose career in the national league is watched with the closest interest by every fan in Parke county, pitched his greatest game of the year in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, shutting out the leaders in the National league race, 3 to 0. A telegram from Pittsburgh describing the game, says:

‘The game was Brown’s best of the year. The longer he pitched, the better he got, until towards the finish he actually had the Pirates throwing away their bats or hitting after the ball was in Kling’s hands. His speed was terrific, his command perfect, and his curve ball broke almost at right angles. No team on earth could have beaten him and the pitching feat fills out a record. Brown has now shut out Pittsburgh three straight times. 3 to 0, 2 to 0 and 3 to 0, and the Pirates have beaten him only once in three years, then 1 to 0 when Slagle dropped a fly ball last season and let the winning run score. After the game umpire Johnstone declared he never in his life saw such pitching and that Brown’s curve was so sharp and so fast that it fooled him repeatedly, causing him to call perfect strikes balls.’”

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 450 square miles (1,166 km²), of which 445 square miles (1,152 km²) is land and 5 square miles (14 km²) (1.18%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

North: Fountain County
Northeast: Montgomery County
Southeast: Putnam County
South: Clay County
Southwest: Vigo County
Northwest: Vermillion County

Cities and Towns:

- Bloomingdale	town	Incorporated Area
- Florida	township
- Howard	township
- Jackson	township
- Marshall	town	Incorporated Area
- Mecca	town	Incorporated Area
- Montezuma	town	Incorporated Area
- Penn	township
- Raccoon	township
- Reserve	township
- Rockville (County Seat)	town	Incorporated Area
- Rosedale	town	Incorporated Area
- Sugar Creek	township
- Union	township

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resources

The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of this 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."