Parke County, Indiana


Parke County lies in the western part of the U.S. state of Indiana along the Wabash River. The county was formed in 1821 out of a portion of Vigo County. According to the 2020 census, the population was 16,156. The county seat is Rockville. It has a population density of about. The county contains six incorporated towns and many unincorporated communities. It is divided into 13 townships which provide local services.
Two U.S. Routes and five state highways pass through or into the county, along with one major railroad line.
Parke County has 31 covered bridges and is widely referred to as the 'Covered Bridge Capital of the World'. It is the site for the Parke County Covered Bridge Festival which has been held in October each year.
Parke County is included in the Terre Haute, Indiana, Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

This area had been occupied for thousands of years by cultures of indigenous peoples. The first European settlement of the western area of Indiana along the Wabash River was by French-Canadian colonists, who founded Vincennes in 1703.
After the Seven Years' War, France ceded its territory in North America to Great Britain. In turn, after the American Revolutionary War, the Crown ceded this territory east of the Mississippi River to the new United States, including land it did not control, which was occupied by Native American nations.
In 1811 the Shawnee chief Tecumseh rallied several tribes to try to expel the European-American settlers from the area. When General William Henry Harrison took an army from Vincennes to the Battle of Tippecanoe in late 1811 to fight with the Indians, Zachariah Cicott served as a scout. Cicott had traded with Indians up and down the Wabash River, starting around 1801. The trail taken by Harrison's army, on its way to and from the battle site in Tippecanoe County, passed through the area that later became Parke County. The settlement of Armiesburg in Wabash Township was so named because Harrison and his army crossed the Raccoon Creek and camped near there on their way to the battle.
Formed on January 9, 1821, from a portion of Vigo County, Parke County was formed by an act approved by the state legislature. It was named for Captain Benjamin Parke, who commanded a troop of light Dragoons at the Battle of Tippecanoe.
Parke was elected as a delegate of Indiana Territory to the U.S. Congress. In 1821, he was appointed as U.S. District Judge for Indiana.
First located at Roseville, the county seat was relocated to Armiesburg. In 1822, the county settled on Rockville as the permanent location. The state act had called for construction of county buildings to start within one year of the county's formation; but in the event, it did not start until 1824. The first courthouse was completed on the Rockville town square in 1826. The log structure doubled as a church.
Image:Parke County Courthouse 1832 to 1879.jpg|thumb|left|200px|The old Parke County courthouse
In 1832 the log building was replaced by a brick structure, which served for more than 40 years until 1879, when it was demolished for replacement by a new stone courthouse. The architects for this building were Thomas J. Tolan and his son Brentwood of Fort Wayne; they designed seven Indiana courthouses, as well as two in Ohio, and one each in Iowa and Illinois..
Construction of the courthouse at Rockville was completed in 1882 at a cost of about $79,000. Items deposited in the cornerstone included documents of the town's history, postage stamps, several varieties of grain grown in the county, coins, and photographs. A dedication ceremony took place on February 22, 1882, the anniversary of George Washington's birthday. The clock and bell were added later at a cost of about $1,500.
The Wabash and Erie Canal was completed through the area around 1850 and ran through Parke County on the east side of the Wabash River. It served several communities along the banks of the river until it was discontinued in the 1870s.

Geography

Parke County lies in western Indiana about halfway between the state's north and south borders. It is bordered by Fountain County to the north; Montgomery County to the northeast; Putnam County to the east; Clay County to the south; and Vigo County to the southwest. The county's western border is defined by the Wabash River; on the west side of the river lies Vermillion County, beyond which is the state of Illinois, less than from Parke County's northwestern corner. The state capital of Indianapolis lies about to the east.
The entire county is within the drainage area of the Wabash River. North of Rockville, the gently undulating land is glacial till resulting from Wisconsinan glaciation. The Shelbyville moraine divides this from the nearly level Illinoisan till plain in the south part of the county.
Turkey Run State Park is located in northern Parke County. It was set aside as one of Indiana's first state parks and consists of of land. The county also contains a portion of Shades State Park, a park about northeast of Turkey Run; the majority of Shades is located in Montgomery County.
According to the 2010 census, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water.

Cities and towns

Parke County contains six incorporated settlements. The largest is Rockville with a population of about 2,600; located near the center of the county at the intersections of U.S. Routes 36 and 41, it is also the county seat. Bloomingdale is about to the north-northwest of Rockville and has a population of 335. To the north-northeast of Rockville lies Marshall, on Indiana State Road 236; its population is 324. To the southwest of Rockville, Mecca has a population of 335. Montezuma is at the far western edge of the county on U.S. Route 36; its population is 1,022. Finally, Rosedale is near the southern border of the county and has a population of 636.

Census-designated places

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 16,156. The median age was 41.1 years. 23.4% of residents were under the age of 18 and 19.5% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 91.0 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 85.0 males age 18 and over.
The racial makeup of the county was 95.4% White, 1.2% Black or African American, 0.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 0.6% from some other race, and 2.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 1.4% of the population.
0.6% of residents lived in urban areas, while 99.4% lived in rural areas.
There were 6,052 households in the county, of which 28.8% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 53.4% were married-couple households, 18.5% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 21.2% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 27.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 7,536 housing units, of which 19.7% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 79.1% were owner-occupied and 20.9% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.2% and the rental vacancy rate was 8.5%.

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 17,339 people, 6,222 households, and 4,389 families residing in the county. The population density was. There were 8,085 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the county was 96.1% white, 2.3% black or African American, 0.4% American Indian, 0.2% Asian, 0.4% from other races, and 0.6% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.2% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 27.7% were American, 23.7% were German, 10.7% were Irish, and 10.1% were English.
Of the 6,222 households, 29.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.4% were married couples living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 29.5% were non-families, and 24.8% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 2.97. The median age was 41.3 years.
The median income for a household in the county was $47,697 and the median income for a family was $51,581. Males had a median income of $40,395 versus $27,618 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,494. About 8.8% of families and 15.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.9% of those under age 18 and 9.3% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

Two United States highways pass through the county. U.S. Route 36 passes east–west through the middle of the county, entering from Putnam County to the east, through Rockville and Montezuma, then into Vermillion County to the west. U.S. Route 41 enters from Fountain County to the north and intersects U.S. Route 36 in Rockville; it goes southwest toward Clinton before continuing south to Vigo County and Terre Haute, Indiana.
Indiana State Road 47 begins at U.S. Route 41 in the northern part of the county and goes east into Montgomery County, veering north to Crawfordsville. Indiana State Road 59 enters from Clay County to the south and runs north through the eastern part of the county until it terminates at Indiana State Road 236, which runs east from U.S. Route 41. Indiana State Road 163 runs for less than a mile in Parke County, crossing the river at Clinton and terminating at U.S. Route 41 in the far southwest corner of the county. In the far northwestern corner, Indiana State Road 234 enters from Cayuga and runs for less than a mile to Lodi before going north and leaving the county.
A small portion of a major CSX Transportation railroad line passes through the southwest corner of the county, entering from Clinton to the west, then going south toward Terre Haute. Another CSX line enters the far southeastern corner of the county on its way from Terre Haute to Indianapolis.