Lafayette, Indiana
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Lafayette | |
 | |
| Nickname: "Star City" | |
| Coordinates: | |
|---|---|
| Incorporated | 1853 |
| Mayor | Tony Roswarski |
| Area | |
| - City | km² (20.1 sq mi) |
| Population | |
| - City (2000) | 56,397 |
| - Metro | 182,821 |
| Time zone | EST (UTC-5) |
| - Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| Website: www.city.lafayette.in.us | |
Lafayette (IPA: [ˈla.fi.ˌɛt]) is a city in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, 63 miles (101 km) northwest of Indianapolis. Population in 1900, 18,116; in 1910, 20,081; in 1920, 22,486; and in 1940, 28,798 people. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,397. The city is the county seat of Tippecanoe CountyGR6. West Lafayette, just across the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, which has a large impact on both communities.
Contents |
[edit] Geography
Lafayette is located at (40.410585, -86.874681)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 52.0 km² (20.1 mi²), all land.
[edit] History
The area around what is now Tippecanoe County was inhabited by a tribe of Miami Indians known as the Ouiatenon or Weas. The French government established Fort Ouiatenon in 1717 across the Wabash River and three miles south of the location of present-day Lafayette. The fort became the center of trade for fur trappers, merchants and Indians. An annual reenactment and festival known as The Feast of the Hunters' Moon takes place there each fall.
Lafayette was platted by the river trader William Digby, in May 1825. The town was made county seat for the newly formed Tippecanoe County soon after in 1826. Like many small frontier towns, Lafayette was officially named for the French general, Marquis de Lafayette (September 6, 1757—May 20, 1834) who aided the American armies during the Revolutionary War.
In its earliest days Lafayette was a shipping center on the Wabash River. The Wabash and Erie Canal in the 1840s further cemented Lafayette's regional prominence and was escalated by the arrival of the railroads in the 1850s. The Monon Railroad connected Lafayette with other sections of Indiana.
Lafayette was the site of the first official air mail delivery in the United States, which took place on August 17, 1859, when John Wise piloted a balloon starting on the Lafayette courthouse grounds. Wise hoped to reach New York; however, weather conditions forced the balloon down near Crawfordsville, Indiana, and the mail reached its final destination by train. In 1959, the U.S. Postal Service issued a 7¢ airmail stamp commemorating the centennial of the event.<ref>http://www.rootsweb.com/~intippec/airmail.htm</ref>
Modern history owes a fair debt to Robert Kriebel, a reporter since retired from the Lafayette Journal and Courier newspaper. By way of his books and columns the curious are provided a convenient, accessible, and even colorful way to grasp the events around and preceding him. Old Lafayette in two volumes is highly recommended. For further reading, the curious might look into some other notable historians of Lafayette appearing below. These were compiled by Kriebel for his "short list" as provided in the Lafayette Bank & Trust's The Best of Lafayette (2000): Sandford C. Cox, Richard P. DeHart, Sallie Sample, Sarah M. Crockett, Thomas B. Helm, Jesse Henderson Levering, Paul K. Mavity, Logan Esarey, and Herbery H. Heimlich.
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 56,397 people, 24,060 households, and 13,666 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,083.9/km² (2,806.5/mi²). There were 25,602 housing units at an average density of 492.0/km² (1,274.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 88.91% White, 3.22% African American, 0.37% Native American, 1.22% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 4.61% from other races, and 1.62% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.11% of the population.
There were 24,060 households out of which 27.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.5% were married couples living together, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.2% were non-families. 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.98.
In the city the population was spread out with 23.2% under the age of 18, 14.2% from 18 to 24, 31.3% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 12.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 97.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $35,859, and the median income for a family was $45,480. Males had a median income of $32,892 versus $23,049 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,217. About 8.0% of families and 12.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.8% of those under age 18 and 4.6% of those age 65 or over.
Like most of Indiana, Lafayette has been dominated by the agriculture, manufacturing, and transportation industries.
[edit] Education
[edit] Colleges
Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana
Indiana Business College
[edit] Public
K-12 public education in the Lafayette area is provided by the Lafayette School Corporation. Lafayette's school system has built a reputation for extracurricular programs, especially its band, choral, and visual arts programs. The Marching Bronchos, under the direction of Thomas W. Barker, Jr., have qualified for ISSMA State Marching Band Finals seven times since 1983 and have performed in Hollywood, Philadelphia, Orlando, and Hawaii. The wind ensemble has consistantly qualified for ISSMA State Concert Band Finals since 2001. The concert choir, Varsity Singers, under the direction of Jeff Vallier and John Satterfield, has consistantly qualified for ISSMA State Concert Choir Finals since 1994, receiving second-place honors three times. The show choir First Edition is nationally known, including performances in Miami, Orlando, Philadelphia, Nashville, Washington D.C., Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, New York City, Europe, Mexico, and the Bahamas, and has been recognized on four occasions since 1990 by the Indiana General Assembly for outstanding achievements in musical performance and community contributions. Students in the visual arts program consistently take top honors at state and national level competitions.
High Schools
Jefferson High School [1]
Middle Schools
Lafayette Tecumseh Junior High School [2]
Lafayette Sunnyside Middle School [3]
Elementary Schools
Amelia Earhart
Edgelea
George R. Durgan
Glen Acres
Linnwood
Miami
Murdock
Oakland
Thomas Miller
Vinton
[edit] Private
High Schools
Central Catholic
[edit] Notes
- Purdue University is located in West Lafayette, Indiana.
- Other schools can be found in the surrounding area including independent, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, and the West Lafayette, Indiana school systems.
[edit] Transportation
Airports
- Purdue University Airport, West Lafayette
Highways
- Interstate Highway 65 to Gary, Indiana (near Chicago) and Indianapolis
- U.S. Highway 52 to Joliet, Illinois (also near Chicago) and Indianapolis
- U.S. Highway 231
- Indiana state highways 25, 26, 38, 43
Railroads
- Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Lafayette. Amtrak Train 51, the westbound Cardinal, is scheduled to depart Lafayette at 8:22am on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday with service to Rensselaer, Dyer and Chicago. Amtrak Train 50, the eastbound Cardinal, is scheduled to depart Lafayette at 11:43pm on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday with service to Crawfordsville, Indianapolis, Connersville, Cincinnati, Maysville, South Portsmouth, Ashland, Huntington, Charleston, Montgomery, Thurmond, Prince, Hinton, Alderson, White Sulphur Springs, Clifton Forge, Staunton, Charlottesville, Culpeper, Manassas, Alexandria, and Washington, DC and continuing on to New York City. Amtrak Train 317, the westbound Hoosier State, is scheduled to depart Lafayette at 8:22am on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday with service to Rensselaer, Dyer and Chicago. Amtrak Train 318, the eastbound Hoosier State, is scheduled to depart Lafayette at 11:43pm on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with service to Crawfordsville, and Indianapolis.
- Norfolk Southern, CSX, Kankakee, Beaverville and Southern Railroad, and Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway (RailAmerica) provide freight rail service.
Bus Service
- CityBus local bus service by the Greater Lafayette Public Transportation Corporation
- Greyhound intercity bus service
[edit] Economy
Much of the economy of the city of Lafayette and the surrounding area is centered around the academic and industrial activities of Purdue University. The university and its associated businesses employ the largest portion of the Lafayette workforce. However, private industry and commerce independent of the university also thrive in the community. Some notable examples include:
- Alcoa, a producer of aluminum extrusions and tubes.
- Caterpillar Large Engine Division, producer of large diesel and natural gas engines.
- Fairfield Manufacturing, producer of gears.
- Wabash National, world's largest manufacturer of semi-truck trailers
- Subaru of Indiana Automotive, producer of Subaru and now, Toyota vehicles.
- Eli Lilly and Company (Tippecanoe Laboratories) pharmaceuticals.
- The Lafayette Life Insurance Company, insurance and annuity services
- Tate & Lyle, manufacturer of Splenda(R) and other sweeteners
- TRW Commercial Steering Systems
- Landis+Gyr, manufacturer of electric meters for global ANSI markets, see www.landisgyr.us for more information
[edit] Notable residents and natives
For notable residents associated with Purdue University see List of Purdue University people
[edit] Entertainment
- William "Dick the Bruiser" Afflis - Professional wrestler
- Karen Black - Actress
- Jeremy Camp - Christian recording artist
- Embeth Davidtz - Actress
- Louise Fazenda - silent film comic actress, character actress in the "talkies"
- Kevin Galbraith - Professional Dancer on MTV's "The Grind" and "Prince" (Kevin was also in the original "Squirtgun" band called "Rattail Grenider" with Mass Giorgini)
- Mass Giorgini - Record producer and bassist of Screeching Weasel, and bassist and vocalist of Squirtgun
- Charlton Heston - Actor
- Shannon Hoon - Lead band member of Blind Melon
- John Korty - Director, screenwriter, best known for Oliver's story
- Tammy Lynn Michaels - Actress; married to musician Melissa Etheridge
- Sydney Pollack - Actor, director, and producer
- Axl Rose - Guns N' Roses singer
- Peter Sattler - graphic designer for the feature film Walk the Line[4]
- Izzy Stradlin - Guns N' Roses rhythm guitarist
- Adam Vanderwielen - Actor [5]
[edit] Sports
- Ray Ewry - Ten-time Olympic champion
- Chuckie Nwokorie - NFL defensive player and Lafayette Jefferson High School graduate
[edit] Business, law, politics
- Roger D. Branigin - Indiana Govenor 1965-1969
- Steve Carter - Indiana Attorney General
- Brian Lamb - C-SPAN founder
- Alvah C. Roebuck - founded Sears, Roebuck and Company
- Bob Rohrman - Car dealer and local celebrity
- Clara Shortridge Foltz (1849-1934) - first woman lawyer on the Pacific coast.
- Matthew Steven Buckles (1987-Present) - Founded First Chapter of Nationwide Fraternity Upsilon Zeta
[edit] Academic, science, technology
- Daniel X Freedman - pioneer in biological psychiatry, discovered link of hallucinogens to brain transmitters.
- Donald E. Williams - astronaut
[edit] Local civic organizations
- The Bach Chorale Singers
- Civic Theatre of Greater Lafayette
- Downtown Business Center
- Historic Ninth Street Hill Neighborhood Association
- Lafayette Citizens Band
- Lafayette Music League
- Lafayette Symphony Orchestra
- Opera de Lafayette
- Round the Fountain Art Fair
- Tippecanoe County Historical Association
[edit] Points of interest
- Purdue University, located in West Lafayette
- Jerry E. Clegg Botanic Garden
- Horticulture Gardens at Purdue University
- Lafayette Farmer's Market in historic downtown (May through October)
- Ninth Street Hill Historic District
- Tippecanoe Battlefield (in Battle Ground, IN)
- Farmer's Institute (Friends Meeting House)
- Wolf Park (Battle Ground, IN)
[edit] Community Events
- The Feast of the Hunters' Moon (Mid to Late September or Early October)
- A Taste of Tippecanoe (Mid June)
- Colt World Series (August)
- Indiana Fiddlers' Gathering (in Battle Ground in June)
- First Edition's Haunted Feargrounds (October)
- Lafayette Citizens Band concerts (Thursdays in the summer)
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Lafayette Online
- Lafayette, Indiana travel guide from Wikitravel
- Lafayette Journal and Courier (Local newspaper, owned by Gannett)
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
io:Lafayette, Indiana ja:ラファイエット (インディアナ州) pl:Lafayette (Indiana)
