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Gibson County, Indiana

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Gibson County is a county located at the Southwestern part of the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2000, the population was 32,500. Gibson County's Alphanumeric County Number is 26. The county seat is Princeton.6

Gibson County, Indiana
Map
File:Map of Indiana highlighting Gibson County.png
Location in the state of Indiana
Map of the USA highlighting Indiana
Indiana's location in the USA
Statistics
Founded 1813 from Knox County
Seat Princeton
Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water
 sq mi ( km²)
 sq mi ( km²)
 sq mi ( km²), 1.68%
wikipedia:Population
 - (2000)
 - Density
32500
Time zone Central : UTC{{{UTC offset}}}/{{{DST offset}}}
Named for: John Gibson

Contents

[edit] History

The first white settler of Gibson County was John Severns. He was a native of Wales and came with his parents to America several years before the Revolutionary War. He settled in Gibson County in 1789-90 on the south bank of the Patoka river at a place now known as Severns bridge. One of the first settlers of Gibson County was William Hargrove, who came from Kentucky by pack mule in 1803. Capt. William Hargrove commanded a company of militia from Gibson County at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811.

The Rev. Joseph Milburn, along with his son, Robert Milburn, also arrived in 1803. They settled near Princeton, between the Patoka and White Rivers. The Milburns were from around Washington County. Rev. Milburn, a Baptist, established the first church, while his son, Robert, established the first distillery in Indiana.


In 1805, Jacob Warrick arrived, along with his father-in-law, Thomas Montgomery. They burned out the last Indian village in 1807, chasing the inhabitants into the Illinois Territory. Capt. Jacob Warrick was killed at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811.

Gibson County was organized in 1813 out of Knox County. The County was named for John Gibson, an officer in the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. Gibson was Secretary of the Indiana Territory, serving as acting Governor on two occasions. Warrick County was organized out of Gibson County almost a month later, the two counties separated by Rector's Base Line. When organized on April 1, 1813, Gibson County occupied everything from the Paoli Base Line to the Wabash River and from the White River to the Ohio River. Rector's Base Line separated the southern half of the county to form Warrick County which was organized on April 30, 1813. Warrick, Perry, Spencer, Posey, Pike, Dubois, Crawford, and Vanderburgh Counties all came from the roughly 2000-square-mile area occupied the the original Gibson County.

The current Gibson County Courthouse in Princeton, built in 1884
Indiana Map of Counties on April 1, 1813.
In 2005, a serious flood of a Wabash River tributary endangered the small settlement of East Mount Carmel.
Indiana State Road 168 between Owensville and Fort Branch.

There is debate on the location of the original county seat. Princeton contends that it was the only county seat, while county records may indicate that Owensville was the first county seat, as the town was laid out with the express purpose of being a county seat.

[edit] Recent Weather Disasters

[edit] Late 2004 Snowstorm

In the Holiday Season of 2004, a crippling snowstorm struck. The event was well forecasted, but was not forecasted to be as heavy. The storm dumped over twice the usual annual snowfall in only three days. The total accumulations from this storm were appromately 20 inches in Gibson County. [1] This resulted in a very chaotic situation as towns were literally cut off form one another and even basic public services were unable to function. The snowstorm was so intense that Interstate 64 was closed down. The Indiana National Guard was dispatched and many local farmers who knew the area and had vehicles that were not hampered by the snow were also recruited to assist in emergency services for the stranded motorists. This snow storm was so intense that it apparently snowed in Galveston.

[edit] Flood of Early January 2005

The snowstorm ended just about as fast as it started. By the end of December, 2004, temperatures were above 50 to 60 degrees and the snow that fell began to melt very quickly. The White River at Hazelton got as high as 31 feet (almost high enough to overtake US 41)[2], while the Wabash River at Mount Carmel got as high as 33.95 feet.[3] Extreme flooding occurred throughout the county and hundreds of local high school students from many counties assisted the Indiana National Guard in shoring up levees and sandbagging towns. Hazelton was evacuated because its levee was showing signs of fatigue. The effort given by those who participated was enough to for all of the levees to hold. By the end of January, 2005 the rivers had receeded enough to allow people to return to their homes. Overall, over 100 homes were lost in the flood, considered the second-worst flood in the area's history after the Flood of 1913.[4]

[edit] Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 32,500 people, 12,847 households, and 9,095 families residing in the county. The population density was 26/km² (66/sq mi). There were 14,125 housing units at an average density of 11/km² (29/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 96.46% White, 1.91% Black or African American, 0.19% Native American, 0.52% Asian, 0.22% from other races, and 0.69% from two or more races. 0.70% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 35.4% were of German, 21.9% American, 11.9% English and 10.2% Irish ancestry according to Census 2000.

There were 12,847 households out of which 32.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.10% were married couples living together, 9.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.20% were non-families. 25.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 2.98.

In the county the population was spread out with 24.80% under the age of 18, 8.40% from 18 to 24, 28.20% from 25 to 44, 23.10% from 45 to 64, and 15.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 95.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.40 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $37,515, and the median income for a family was $44,839. Males had a median income of $35,511 versus $21,284 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,169. About 6.60% of families and 8.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.40% of those under age 18 and 7.20% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Transportation

[edit] County roads

Gibson County has over 1,700 miles of county roads, one of the largest amount of county-maintained roads outside of an urban county. Like most Indiana counties, Gibson County uses the Indiana county road system to identify its roads. U.S. Route 41 (a north-south road) and State Road 64 (an east-west road) are near the meridian and division lines for the county, respectively.

[edit] Major highways

In addition to its county roads, Gibson County is intersected by these highways:

*(Construction is set to begin in the Spring of 2008, adding 25 extra miles and a second Interstate Highway to Gibson County.)

[edit] Railroads

Two railroad lines pass through the county: a north-south line operated by CSX Transportation, and an east-west line operated by Norfolk Southern Railway. They intersect in Princeton.[5]

[edit] Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,326 km² (526 sq mi). 1,266 km² (489 sq mi) of it is land and 27 km² (10 sq mi) of it (2.06%) is water.

[edit] Cities and towns

ZIP codes are in parentheses.

The Townships of Gibson County

[edit] Townships

[edit] Adjacent counties

[edit] Education

Gibson County's three school districts in their HS primary colors. East Gibson in Green, North Gibson in Red, and South Gibson in Maroon

[edit] Gibson County's three municipal school districts

East Gibson School Corporation - Oakland City :

North Gibson School Corporation - Princeton :

  • Princeton Community High School - Princeton
  • Princeton Community Middle School - Princeton
  • Lowell Elementary School - Princeton
  • Brumfield Elementary School - Princeton

South Gibson School Corporation - Fort Branch :

The eastern wall of Gibson Southern High School, near Fort Branch which services several nearby towns.
  • Haubstadt Community School (K-8) - Haubstadt
  • Owensville Community School (K-8) - Owensville

[edit] Higher education

[edit] Businesses

Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana is Princeton's largest employer as well as the Largest employer in the Evansville Area.
Duke Energy's Gibson Generating Station. Although it is the largest coal power plant in the USA, GGS is often still referred to by locals as PSI, in reference to its original owner, Public Service Indiana.

Industry

Broadcast media

Newspapers

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.crh.noaa.gov/pah/storm/christmas04/pns.php
  2. ^ http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=ind&gage=hazi3&view=1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1
  3. ^ http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=ind&gage=mcri2
  4. ^ http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=ind&gage=mcri2
  5. ^ Indiana Railroad Map. Indiana Department of Transportation (2006). Retrieved on 2007-10-14.
  • Stormont, Gil R. (1914). History of Gibson County, Indiana. 
  • Forstall, Richard L. (editor) (1996). Population of states and counties of the United States: 1790 to 1990 : from the twenty-one decennial censuses. United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Population Division. ISBN 0-934213-48-8. 


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Coordinates: 38°19′N 87°35′W / 38.31, -87.58Catagory:Southwestern Indiana


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Facts about Gibson County, IndianaRDF feed
County of countryUnited States  +
County of subdivision1Indiana  +
Short nameGibson County  +