50-465: Canal House is a historic building located at Connersville , Fayette County, Indiana . It was built in 1842 by the Whitewater Valley Canal Co. , and is a two-story, temple form, Greek Revival style stone building. It features a pedimented front with Doric order fluted pillars. It was built as quarters for the canal custodian and canal company headquarters. It later housed a bank and
100-519: A few private and church cemeteries located in outlying unincorporated areas. Elmhurst , an estate south of town on State Road 121 and built in 1831, was the home of Caleb Blood Smith , who served in Abraham Lincoln 's cabinet. It also serves as the site of an annual re-enactment of the American Civil War . The estate was formerly known as Conners Elm Park. The Whitewater Valley Railroad
150-731: A general store and distillery in town. The influx of settlers was initially sparse – as late as 1815, there were only four cabins in the town. The boundary lines for Fayette County were established in December 1818, and Connersville was chosen as the county seat. Conner served briefly as sheriff of the newly organized Fayette County. In 1820, he helped plat the new capital of Indianapolis, and in 1822 relocated his fur trading business to Noblesville , north of Indianapolis. He also served as state senator and representative. He died in Indianapolis in April 1826 and
200-458: A key supporting role in three Indian campaigns: Harmar's Campaign 1790, St. Clair's Campaign 1791, and Gen. "Mad" Anthony Wayne's campaign in 1793-94. In 1790, Harmar used Fort Washington to launch an expedition against Native Americans in northwest Ohio, especially the Miami Indians , whose principal city was Kekionga (modern-day Fort Wayne, Indiana ). On October 22, 1790, Gen. Harmar's army
250-440: A number of Pentecostal (including Charismatic and Revival) churches and organizations. Fayette County Public Library is located in the city. A golf course west of town is known as Willowbrook Country Club. Connersville has an indoor movie theater, Showtime Cinemas. A football field at the high school on Ranch Road hosts high school events like gymnastics, track and field, etc. Overnight and long-term camping are available at
300-408: A skeleton staff of fewer than 100 full-time employees. Stant also remains with a little over 200 employees. There are still some furniture making, machine shops, and other local manufacturing establishments. In March 2014, the city declared a fiscal emergency when revenue fell short of expenses, and the city nearly fell into bankruptcy. Connersville is oriented roughly north-south. The center of town
350-678: A wedge of government land in southeastern Indiana known as the "Gore" (organized as Dearborn County in 1803) which included all of what became Fayette County. Conner obtained title to his plat in 1811. The exodus of the Delaware Indians from Indiana after the War of 1812 , completed by June 1813, deprived John Conner of his field for trading. After 1812, Indian resistance to settlement in the Indiana Territory became nearly non-existent, so Conner busied himself with another task. John Conner laid out
400-773: Is a 19-mile (31 km) long operating scenic railroad and museum between Connersville and Metamora . Fayette County Historical Museum is located in the city, as is the Canal House , built in 1842 as headquarters for the Whitewater Canal Company, In addition to the Canal House and Elmhurst, the Fayette County Courthouse and Roberts Park are listed on the National Register of Historic Places . Fort Washington (Cincinnati, Ohio) Fort Washington
450-513: Is a city in Fayette County, Indiana , United States, 66 miles (106 km) east by southeast of Indianapolis . The population was 13,324 at the 2020 census . The city is the county seat of and the largest and only incorporated town in Fayette County. The city is in the center of a large rural area of east central Indiana; the nearest significant city is Richmond , 26 miles (42 km) to
500-552: Is among the oldest cities in Indiana and the former Indiana Territory , having been established in 1813 by its namesake, John Conner. Connersville is named for settler John Conner, older brother of William Conner , an early Indiana settler and politician. There was also, at least through 1795, Connerstown, a small Shawnee village near Lancaster, Ohio , named for John's father, Richard Conner. The Whitewater River valley running north-south through eastern Indiana and southwestern Ohio
550-429: Is located about 5 miles (8.0 km) southwest of Connersville. Doc-O-Lake, a 50-acre (20 ha) lake and recreation area 7 miles (11 km) north of town, features camping, boating and limited fishing (not a stocked lake). Connersville City Cemetery in the middle of town, Dale Cemetery just west of downtown, and Tullis Chapel Cemetery 3 miles (4.8 km) southwest of town, are the only local cemeteries. There are
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#1732855036016600-633: Is located adjacent to 5,260-acre (2,130 ha) Brookville Lake about 10 miles (16 km) southeast by east of Connersville near Liberty, Indiana . Manlove Park, about 8 miles (13 km) northwest of downtown near Milton, is a recreation area around Manlove Lake. Shrader-Weaver Woods Nature Preserve, about 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of Connersville, is 108 acres (44 ha) of pristine old growth woodland offering hiking, sightseeing and bird watching. The Mary Gray Bird Sanctuary, over 700 acres (280 ha) of forest, meadow, prairie, and ponds, provides hiking, picnicking, camping. and bird watching. It
650-402: Is roughly Central Ave and 5th street in the southern portion. According to the 2010 census, Connersville has a total area of 7.755 square miles (20.09 km ), of which 7.74 square miles (20.05 km ) (or 99.81%) is land and 0.015 square miles (0.04 km ) (or 0.19%) is water. As of 2019, the population is estimated to be 12,796 people. About 55% of Fayette county's population lives in
700-511: The Cincinnati, Hamilton and Indianapolis Railroad , reached Connersville in 1862. It extended from Rushville through Connersville and Oxford to Hamilton, Ohio . For many years prior to the Civil War, and even for some time after, the main industries of the town were milling, pork packing, and woolen manufacturing. In 1857, a separate village, East Connersville, was platted on the south bank of
750-718: The Ohio River in Newport, Kentucky . James Taylor Jr. , an influential resident of Newport, Kentucky , had lobbied his cousin James Madison to place the post in Newport. On February 28, 1806, Congress directed the Secretary of the Treasury to cause the site of the abandoned fort to be surveyed and laid off into lots, streets and avenues conforming to the plan of the city, and to sell the lots to
800-574: The Ohio River , and settlers from Kentucky to northern and central Indiana Territory. Squatters engaged in agriculture and trading were occupying federal lands well before land sales in Indiana Territory began in 1801. An Indian trail paralleled the river from the Ohio Valley northward to the forks, then went along the East Fork to Eli Creek, thence taking a northwesterly direction passing through what
850-647: The 1795 Greenville treaty line that ran from the midpoint of the Indiana/Ohio border southwest to the Ohio River, cutting off a thin wedge of southeastern Indiana. The strip included most of Fayette County except the extreme northern portion (part of the later " New Purchase "). Sales of public land by the United States government in Indiana began in 1801. In that year the Cincinnati, Ohio, Land Office began selling land in
900-530: The Bell telephone exchange. The Connersville Electric Light Company commenced operations in August 1890 as the first supplier of electric power in the city. Central Avenue was paved with brick in 1902, and became the first paved street in the city. Prior to the advent of automotive manufacturing, Connersville for decades was colloquially known as the "furniture and buggy town" because of the dominance of those two industries in
950-548: The Whitewater River Campground south of town. The Heritage MusicFest takes place every year in June at the campground. Local bands ranging in style from bluegrass to rock perform. Roberts Park , located in the northeast corner of town, contains a public pool, community center, grandstand, and racetrack. It hosts the annual Fayette County Free Fair, a week-long event held late in the summer. Whitewater Memorial State Park
1000-675: The Whitewater River Valley contributed to early settlement after defeat of the Delaware Indians by General Anthony Wayne at Fallen Timbers in 1794, followed on August 3, 1795, by the Treaty of Greenville ceding most of Ohio and a sliver of southeastern Indiana to the United States. The valley, running south and southeasterly from east central Indiana to the Ohio River Valley, provided a convenient conduit for migration through Fort Washington (Cincinnati) from points east, settlements on
1050-399: The acquisition of Wainwright Engineering, a privately held local company manufacturing automotive engines. In 1969, it was acquired by Eaton, Yale & Towne, and closed its Connersville and Indianapolis plants in 1983. Design & Manufacturing (D&M) company got its start when Rex Regenstrief purchased American Kitchens in 1958 and renamed the company. By 1972, D&M controlled 25% of
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#17328550360161100-482: The beginning of the end for Connersville automotive manufacturing, which had been on the wane for more than a decade. Due to high cost of local union labor and economies of scale elsewhere, most industry departed in the 1980s and 1990s. Connersville union labor decreased from a high of 10,000 to about 600 workers in 2012. Connersville’s role in automobile manufacturing ceased when the Visteon factory shut down in 2007. Part of
1150-451: The city. About 44% of the population is affiliated with a religious congregation. 25% are Roman Catholic , followed by United Methodist , Southern Baptist , and non-denominational Christian. In town, there are churches representing Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran , Presbyterian , Reformed Episcopal and Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saint faiths, as well as about a dozen non-denominational Christian churches. There are also
1200-447: The decline may be logistical – with the construction of the interstate highway system in the 1950s, Connersville found itself not directly in line with routes between major cities: Interstate 70 from Indianapolis to Columbus, Ohio , Interstate 74 from Indianapolis to Cincinnati, and U.S. Route 40 from Indianapolis to Richmond, none intersecting Connersville. The former Roots Blower/Dresser Industries, now GE Energy , remains, but with
1250-625: The federal government for a fort. In summer 1789, Fort Washington was built to protect early settlements located in the Symmes Purchase area, including Losantiville, Columbia and Northbend. Gen. Arthur St. Clair was appointed governor of the Northwest Territory by vote of Congress on October 5, 1787. When Governor St. Clair arrived at Losantiville [Cincinnati] the settlement consisted of two small hewed log houses and several cabins. Maj. John Doughty , under orders from Gen. Josiah Harmar ,
1300-466: The highest bidders at a sale at the Cincinnati Land Office. The survey, certified July 8, 1807, shows the fort's boundaries to be Fourth Street to the north, Ludlow Street to the east, the Ohio River to the south, and Broadway to the west. In October 1952, excavators discovered the remnants of Fort Washington's gunpowder magazine under the northeast corner of Broadway and Third streets, at
1350-733: The lakes resulted in rivers and streams carving its hills and valleys. In the Northwest Territory during the latter half of the 18th century, the Miami Indians were dominant in the region, but the Potawatomi and Shawnee had a significant presence. Delaware Indians , displaced from their eastern homelands by European settlement, migrated west and settled along the forks of the Whitewater River. The Whitewater and Ohio River valleys had also been inhabited earlier by other Native Americans called mound builders for their characteristic large burial mounds still in evidence. The geological aspects of
1400-641: The nation’s dishwasher market. Design & Manufacturing’s assets were sold to White Consolidated Industries in 1987 and the firm was dissolved in 1990. Architectural Products Division of H. H. Robertson purchased land owned by the defunct Lexington Motor Car Company in February 1960. Robertson was a victim of hard times for the industry in the late 1980s and the Connersville plant was merged with operations in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , starting in 1986. The 1980s were
1450-413: The northeast by road. Connersville is home to the county's only high school. The local economy relies on manufacturing, retail, and healthcare to sustain itself. However, there has been a consistent decline in both employment and population since the 1960s, placing it among the least affluent areas in the state, as indicated by measures such as median household income and other economic indicators. The city
1500-442: The population. There were 5,582 households, of which 31.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.9% were married couples living together, 15.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 37.2% were non-families. 31.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size
1550-588: The settlement of the Northwest Territory . In 1803, the fort was moved to Newport, Kentucky, across the river and became the Newport Barracks . In 1806, the site of the abandoned fort was divided into lots and sold. When Judge John Cleves Symmes contracted with the Continental Congress to purchase 1,000,000 acres in southwestern Ohio known as the Symmes Purchase in 1788, it reserved 15 acres to
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1600-532: The site at which Western & Southern Life Insurance Company 's parking garage was to be constructed. Researchers with the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio first visited the site on October 13, 1952. The fort's name is retained in Fort Washington Way , a section of Interstate 71 and U.S. Route 50 that runs through downtown Cincinnati and passes just in front of the former fort. The highway
1650-759: The town during the Second World War . Automobile manufacturing in Connersville began as early as 1909 and included Auburn , Cord , Duesenberg , Ansted , Empire , Lexington , and McFarlan . The Willys MB Jeep body was manufactured in Connersville during the 1940s. Much of the western portion of town was occupied by light industry for the 150 years prior to 1990. Companies included Roots Blower (later Dresser Industries ), Stant, McQuay-Norris , Design & Manufacturing Co. (D&M), H. H. Robertson, Visteon , and Philco Ford . McQuay-Norris, manufacturer of auto parts based in St. Louis, got its start in Connersville in 1921 by
1700-507: The town on the north side of the west fork of the Whitewater River in March 1813, adjacent to the fur trading post. The original plat was for 62 lots bounded by what are today Central Avenue to the west and Water Street to the east, Third Street to the south, and Sixth Street to the north. The first constructions in the town were a saw mill and grist mill north of town utilizing water power, and
1750-512: The town. As of the census of 2010, there were 13,481 people, 5,582 households, and 3,506 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,739.5 inhabitants per square mile (671.6/km ). There were 6,450 housing units at an average density of 832.3 per square mile (321.4/km ). The racial makeup of the city was 95.7% White , 2.1% African American , 0.2% Native American , 0.3% Asian , 0.3% from other races , and 1.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.0% of
1800-433: The town. In 1898, Stant was founded in Connersville, and became the world's largest producer of piano tuning pins . During the school year 1906–07, Dr. W. Otto Miessner established the first public high school band in the U.S. at Connersville High School . In the early 20th century, the town became known as "Little Detroit" because of its importance to the automobile industry, with over 500,000 jeep bodies produced in
1850-464: The trading post was located in the middle of what is now Eastern Avenue, at the west end of Charles Street. At that time, the region was inhabited by Delaware Indians . In 1809, the Treaty of Fort Wayne was signed, by the terms of which the land locally known as the "Twelve Mile Purchase" was ceded by the Indians to the government. This tract included a strip twelve miles (19 km) in width lying west of
1900-480: The very fringe of the European penetration into the wilderness of Indiana. By 1808, as a result of reduction of Indian hunting grounds by treaty, the trading post, known as "Conner's Post", had been relocated 20 miles (32 km) north at the Whitewater River junction with an Indian trail between the Ohio River 70 miles (110 km) to the southeast and hunting grounds to the north. According to research by J. L. Heineman,
1950-553: The west fork of the Whitewater River, and had its own government. It was annexed by Connersville some time in the 1920s. The Roots blower , a type of air turbine, was invented by the Roots brothers in Connersville in the 1850s, patented in 1859, and manufactured in Connersville for over 150 years. The town of Connersville became a chartered city in June 1869, and William H. Beck was chosen as its first mayor. The first high school opened in 1875. In 1882, James H. Fearis of Connersville started
2000-439: Was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.95. The median age in the city was 39.4 years. 24.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.3% were from 25 to 44; 25.6% were from 45 to 64; and 17.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.7% male and 52.3% female. As of the census of 2000, there were 15,411 people, 6,382 households, and 4,135 families residing in
2050-498: Was a fortified stockade with blockhouses built by order of Gen. Josiah Harmar starting in summer 1789 in what is now downtown Cincinnati , Ohio, near the Ohio River. The physical location of the fort was facing the mouth of the Licking River , above present day Fort Washington Way . The fort was named in honor of President George Washington . The fort was the major staging place and conduit for settlers, troops and supplies during
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2100-480: Was ambushed and massacred by Indians led by Chief Little Turtle . The Indians of the Northwest Territory were in open revolt aided by the British . Indian raids came close to Cincinnati, despite the presence of the nearby Fort Washington. In the spring of 1793, Major General Anthony Wayne moved his forces from the training center at Legionville , PA, down the Ohio River by barge to a camp outside Fort Washington that
2150-537: Was buried there. No trace remains of his grave. The first post office in Connersville opened in January, 1818. The first courthouse was started in 1819 and finished in 1822. The first newspaper, the Indiana Statesman , was started in 1824. The first church in the village was Presbyterian, constructed in 1824. A seminary building was constructed in 1828, later razed, and the first regular school building in Connersville
2200-458: Was called Hobson's Choice . In the fall, Wayne departed Fort Washington and moved his army northward, past Fort Jefferson , to build Fort Greene Ville. By 1802, Fort Washington had fallen into disuse and disrepair, and was manned by only half a company (about 35 men). In 1803 it was replaced by the larger Newport Barracks established to house the Kentucky Militia. It was opened just across
2250-479: Was constructed on the site in 1858. The Indiana Gazetteer in 1833 stated the population of Connersville as 500. The village was incorporated as a town in 1841. Connersville served as an important link on the Whitewater Canal that opened in1847and connected the Whitewater River and the Ohio River. The canal ceased to be used for through traffic in 1849, though limited local commerce continued. The first railroad,
2300-472: Was created by the Late Wisconsin Glaciation ending 13,600 years ago. Fayette County was at the southern fringe of the glaciation at that time. The Ice Age was punctuated by several prolonged warm periods during which the glaciers disappeared entirely from the temperate latitudes and a climate similar to modern times or even warmer prevailed. The flood waters produced resulted in lakes; breaching of
2350-475: Was distinguished by its large size: it was larger than a modern city block and designed to house up to 1500 men. Gen. Josiah Harmar described it as "one of the most solid substantial wooden fortresses. . .of any in the Western Territory." The stockade's walls were two stories high with blockhouses located at each corner. The fort was used as a staging point and to supply all the northern forts. It played
2400-403: Was engaged with a small military force in finishing the construction of Fort Washington. The population of the crude village, exclusive of the military, probably did not exceed one hundred and fifty. Three days after Gen. Harmar took up his quarters at Fort Washington, on January 1, 1790, Governor St. Clair was received with due ceremony by the troops and citizens of Losantiville. Fort Washington
2450-619: Was later Connersville, and then on to the Delaware villages strung along the White River from north of modern-day Indianapolis to modern Muncie . John Conner, his brother William, and others arrived in the Whitewater Valley from south central Ohio in 1802, establishing a fur trading post in an unpopulated area near what was later to become Cedar Grove on the Whitewater River (Franklin County) at
2500-603: Was restored by Congressman Finly Hutchinson Gray and his wife, who resided there from 1936 to 1947. It later housed the local chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and is now a local history museum. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. This article about a property in Fayette County, Indiana on the National Register of Historic Places is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Connersville, Indiana Connersville
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