Southwestern Indiana | |
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![]() Evansville skyline | |
![]() Counties of Southwestern Indiana | |
Country | ![]() |
State | ![]() |
Largest city | Evansville |
Population | 474,251 |
Southwestern Indiana is an 11-county region of southern Indiana, United States located at the southernmost and westernmost part of the state. As of the 2010 census, the region's combined population is 474,251. Evansville, Indiana's third-largest city, is the primary hub for the region, as well as the primary regional hub for a tri-state area that includes Kentucky and Illinois. Other regional hubs include Jasper, Vincennes, and Washington. Although part of a Midwestern state, this region's culture and language, like much of the rest of Southern Indiana, is somewhat more aligned with that of the Upland South rather than the Midwest; the area is Midwest with a Southern influence, rather than Southern with a Midwest influence.
Southwestern Indiana's topography is considerably more varied and complex than most of Indiana, from large tracts of forest, marshes, rolling fields, large flat valleys in the west and south, to several chains of low mountains, high hills, and sharp valleys towards the north and east. Every county in Southwestern Indiana is bounded by a river at one point, whether it be the Wabash River along the west, the Ohio River along the south, the White River, dividing the six northern counties between its two forks, or other smaller rivers. More than 50% of the boundaries of Daviess, Knox, Perry, Posey, and Spencer Counties are dictated by a river or a creek. Just under 50% of Gibson and Pike counties are dictated by a river. About 80% Knox County's boundaries are dictated by either the Wabash or the White River and its West Fork, essentially making the county a river peninsula. Additionally, over half of the area is located within the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone along with neighboring Southeastern Illinois.
Southwestern Indiana has clusters of separate towns of varying sizes and layouts. Vincennes is laid out in the French quadrangular, while Jasper and Princeton are laid out in a standard grid. Evansville is laid out in both modes of survey, with its downtown being mapped out from the river and the rest of the city being laid out in the standard grid.
Southwestern Indiana, like most of Southern Indiana as a whole contains several of the oldest counties in Indiana, including Knox County, the states's oldest county. In addition, four other area counties; Gibson, Perry, Posey, and Warrick, predate Indiana's statehood and the area also contains Pike County, the first county created after statehood. The youngest county, Martin, was created in January, 1820, was the state's 30th county overall of the states's 92 counties.
In addition to various media definitions, Southwestern Indiana is also defined by most Indiana state agencies, as well as various commercial and economic regions, as an entire area. All of Southwestern Indiana's counties are in Indiana's 8th Congressional District as of 2013 [update] . Most of Southwestern Indiana is in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Evansville except for Perry County and Spencer County's Harrison Township, which are in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. Southwestern Indiana makes up realtor region 12 in Indiana, while nine of the counties make up Economic Growth Region 11 with Daviess and Martin in Region 8. [1] [2]
In addition, the southern third of Southwestern Indiana exists within the Ohio River Valley American Viticultural Area, the second-largest wine appellation in the United States. The Ohio River Valley AVA occupies all of Perry, Posey, Spencer, Vanderburgh, and Warrick Counties, nearly 90% of Gibson County, and portions of Pike and Dubois Counties in Southwestern Indiana. [3]
IN No. | County name | Establishment date (SW Indiana) (history) (statehood) | County seat | Time zone | Population (2015) (rank) | Area sq mi (km2) (Rank) | Twps | ZIP code Prefix(es) | % of Boundary by water |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
14 | Daviess | February 2, 1818 (10) (29) (14) | Washington | Eastern | 32,906 (6) | 437 sq mi (1,130 km2) (3) | 10 | 475 | 55% |
19 | Dubois | December 20, 1817 (7) (20) (4) | Jasper | Eastern | 42,461 (3) | 435 sq mi (1,130 km2) (4) | 12 | 475 | 24% |
26 | Gibson | April 1, 1813 (2) (8) (T) | Princeton | Central | 33,775 (5) | 526 sq mi (1,360 km2) (1) | 10 | 475/476 | 59% |
42 | Knox | June 6, 1790 (1) (1) (T) | Vincennes | Eastern | 37,927 (4) | 516 sq mi (1,340 km2) (2) | 10 | 475/478 | 84% |
51 | Martin | January 7, 1820 (11) (33) (18) | Shoals | Eastern | 10,226 (11) | 341 sq mi (880 km2) (10) | 6 | 475 | 18% |
62 | Perry | November 1, 1814 (4) (12) (T) | Tell City | Central | 19,347 (9) | 386 sq mi (1,000 km2) (8) | 7 | 474/475 | 52% |
63 | Pike | December 21, 1816 (6) (16) (1) | Petersburg | Eastern | 12,594 (10) | 342 sq mi (890 km2) (9) | 9 | 475/476 | 35% |
65 | Posey | November 11, 1814 (5) (13) (T) | Mt. Vernon | Central | 25,512 (7) | 429 sq mi (1,110 km2) (5) | 10 | 476 | 63% |
74 | Spencer | January 10, 1818 (9) (24) (9) | Rockport | Central | 20,715 (8) | 401 sq mi (1,040 km2) (7) | 9 | 475/476 | 73% |
82 | Vanderburgh | January 7, 1818 (8) (22) (7) | Evansville | Central | 181,877 (1) | 236 sq mi (610 km2) (11) | 8 | 476/477 | 26% |
87 | Warrick | April 30, 1813 (3) (9) (T) | Boonville | Central | 61,897 (2) | 424 sq mi (1,100 km2) (6) | 10 | 475/476/477 | 19% |
(T) - Establishment Date - Indiana Territory County
Name | Primary city or cities | State or states | County or counties | Non-area county or counties influenced | Area | 2005 Population |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Evansville, IN-KY Metropolitan Statistical Area | Evansville Henderson Princeton | Indiana Kentucky | IN: Gibson, Posey Vanderburgh, Warrick KY: Henderson, Webster | Illinois: Wabash, White Indiana: Spencer Kentucky: Union | 2,367 sq mi 6,130 km2 | 352,943 |
Name | Primary city | State or states | County or counties | Area | 2005 Population |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jasper, IN Micropolitan Statistical Area | Jasper | Indiana | Dubois Pike | 776 sq mi 2010 km2 | 53,211 |
Vincennes, IN-IL Micropolitan Statistical Area | Lawrenceville Vincennes | Illinois Indiana | Knox Lawrence | 898 sq mi 2,330 km2 | 54,332 |
Washington, IN Micropolitan Statistical Area | Washington | Indiana | Daviess | 437 sq mi 1,130 km2 | 32,200 |
County | House District(s) | Senate District(s) | US House District |
---|---|---|---|
14 Daviess | 45th 63rd 64th | 39th 48th | 8th |
19 Dubois | 63rd 73rd 74th | 47th 48th | 8th |
26 Gibson | 64th 74th 75th | 48th 49th | 8th |
42 Knox | 45th 64th | 39th 48th | 8th |
51 Martin | 62nd 63rd | 48th | 8th |
62 Perry | 73rd 74th | 47th | 8th |
63 Pike | 63rd 64th | 48th | 8th |
65 Posey | 76th | 49th | 8th |
74 Spencer | 74th 78th | 47th | 8th |
82 Vanderburgh | 75th 76th 77th 78th | 49th 50th | 8th |
87 Warrick | 75th 77th 78th | 47th 50th | 8th |
Southwestern Indiana | 45th 62nd 63rd 64th 73rd 74th 75th 76th 77th 78th | 39th 47th 48th 49th 50th | 8th |
The older interstate in the region, this stretch of I-64 has been the primary artery of east-west traffic since entering service around 1983. While relatively flat in Posey, Vanderburgh, and Gibson counties, its terrain becomes hillier as it passes through the 25.5-mile (41.0 km) stretch in Warrick County. By the time it approaches U.S. 231, the hills and valleys are sharper, transitioning into the low mountainous conditions found in Perry County as the highway leaves into Crawford County.
The newer interstate in the region, this stretch of I-69 provides interstate access to Bloomington and Indianapolis. Like I-64, the terrain around Evansville is relatively flat, but becomes hillier in northeastern Gibson County, and becomes progressively hillier through Pike County. The stretch of I-69 in Daviess County between Washington and Elnora is actually flatter than the stretch in Vanderburgh County, while containing some hilly sections south of Washington, but becomes very hilly northeast of Elnora as the highway approaches Crane and leaves the area into Greene County.
U.S. Route 41
US 41 extends from Miami, Florida to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This four-lane highway serves the western half of the region. US 41 goes through the city of Evansville, becoming six lanes between the Lloyd Expressway and Diamond Avenue. It bypasses Princeton and Vincennes before continuing north towards Terre Haute.
U.S. Route 50
US 50 extends from Baltimore, Maryland, to Sacramento, California. It is a winding two-lane road in the eastern half of the region which becomes a four-lane road in the western half, near Washington, before joining US 41 in the bypass around Vincennes. It intersects with I-69 just east of Washington. It leaves Indiana on the Red Skelton Bridge.
U.S. Route 150
Coterminous with US 50 from Vincennnes to Shoals, it breaks off and heads eastward while US 50 continues northeast.
U.S. Route 231
This now mostly new four-lane road serves the eastern half of the region. The route is in a process of relocation, as a new four-lane road is under construction from Rockport to Greene County, where it will intersect with Interstate 69.
From 1966 to 2006, the five southwesternmost counties—Gibson, Posey, Spencer, Vanderburgh, and Warrick—observed Central Daylight Time. The six northern and eastern counties—Daviess, Dubois, Knox, Martin, Perry, and Pike, since 1982—observed year-round Eastern Standard Time as did much of the rest of the state.
In 2006, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels pushed through legislation for all Indiana counties to observe Daylight Timeon Eastern Time onto Eastern Daylight Time. This action threw both Southwestern and Northwestern Indiana into chaos as counties started to debate whether to return to the Central Time Zone or remain in the Eastern Time Zone and start observing daylight time. This resulted, on April 2, 2006, in all of Southwestern Indiana being in the Central Time Zone.
Not even a month after the change, people began to complain about some of the same problems that people who lived in the original Central Daylight Time counties had been complaining about for years. Most prevalent was the complaint that the Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center had become a "time island". The workers' union of the base subsequently petitioned the Martin County Commissioners to repetition for a change back to Eastern Time. The resulting chain reaction resulted in all of the former Eastern Time counties, along with two Central Time counties, Gibson and Spencer, petitioning for a change to Eastern Time.
On September 20, 2007, after only 15 months and only one winter on Central Time, the DOT returned only five of the eight applicants to the Eastern Time Zone. Gibson, Perry, and Spencer counties did not have enough support to be placed there. However, three of the five counties, Daviess, Knox, and Pike, had little support either, but "convenience of commerce" was given as the reason for their time changes, despite commute patterns into Evansville and the Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana plant in Gibson County, the region's largest employer. In Dubois County, a heated disagreement between Huntingburg and Jasper occurred over the topic. Most of Huntingburg's industry and economy is geared towards the Central Time Zone, where Owensboro, Kentucky, and Spencer County, and the Huntingburg area's largest employers, AK Steel and Holiday World, are located. Jasper, though, stated that the majority of its business activity is aimed at the Eastern Seaboard and that returning to the Eastern Time Zone would be in the best interest of the county. [4] The final result was that Daviess, Dubois, Knox, Martin, and Pike counties returned to the Eastern Time Zone on November 4, 2007, once again dividing Southwestern Indiana. [5] [6]
Warrick County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2020, the population was 63,898. The county seat is Boonville. It was organized in 1813 and was named for Captain Jacob Warrick, an Indiana militia company commander killed in the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. It is one of the ten fastest-growing counties in Indiana.
Gibson County is a county in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Indiana. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 33,011. The county seat is Princeton.
Southern Indiana is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern third of the U.S. state of Indiana and borders the states of Illinois to the west, Kentucky to the south, and Ohio to the east. Spanning the state's southernmost 33 counties, its main population centers include Southwestern Indiana, the Louisville metropolitan area (south), and the Cincinnati metropolitan area (southeast). The region's history and geography have led to a blending of Northern and Southern cultures, distinct from the rest of the state. It is often considered to be part of the Upland South and lower Midwest.
UTC−05:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of −05:00. In North America, it is observed in the Eastern Time Zone during standard time, and in the Central Time Zone during the other eight months. The western Caribbean uses it year round.
Area codes 812 and 930 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the southern third of the state of Indiana.
The Wabash Valley is a region located in sections of both Illinois and Indiana. It is named for the Wabash River and, as the name is typically used, spans the middle to the middle-lower portion of the river's valley and is centered at Terre Haute, Indiana. The term Wabash Valley is frequently used in local media in Clinton, Lafayette, Mount Carmel, Princeton, Terre Haute, and Vincennes all of which are either on or near the Lower Wabash River.
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana is a federal district court in Indiana. It was created in 1928 by an act of Congress that split Indiana into two separate districts, northern and southern. The Southern District is divided into four divisions, Indianapolis, Terre Haute, Evansville, and New Albany. Appeals from the Southern District of Indiana are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. The court has five judges, four full-time United States magistrate judges and two part-time magistrate judges.
The U.S. state of Indiana is divided into Eastern and Central time zones. The official dividing line has generally moved progressively west from its original location on the Indiana–Ohio border, to a position dividing Indiana down the middle, and finally to its current location along much of the Indiana–Illinois border. This change primarily occurred to ease communications with Indiana and New York. In April 2006, several southwestern and northwestern counties reverted to Central time.
Indiana's 8th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Indiana. Based in southwest and west central Indiana, the district is anchored in Evansville and also includes Jasper, Princeton, Terre Haute, Vincennes, and Washington.
The Pocket Athletic Conference (PAC) is a high school athletic conference in Southwestern Indiana with its headquarters at Forest Park. It is the largest athletic conference in the state of Indiana with 13 member schools. The conference is composed primarily of Class 3A schools, with a few 2A and one 1A. Schools are currently located in Daviess, Dubois, Gibson, Perry, Pike, Posey, Spencer, and Warrick counties.
Interstate 64 (I-64) in the US state of Indiana is a major east–west highway providing access between Illinois and Kentucky. It passes through southern Indiana as part of its connection between the two metropolitan areas of St Louis, Missouri, and Louisville, Kentucky.
The Southern Indiana Career & Technical Center is a high school-level institution that provides advanced education to meet the demand in the areas of agriculture, business and marketing, family and consumer sciences, health careers, and trade and industry arts to the students in Indiana's Area Career & Technical District #46 (ACTD-46) consisting of nine school district and corporations in Gibson, Posey, Spencer, Vanderburgh and Warrick Counties in Southwestern Indiana. 90.7 FM WPSR, which used to broadcast from Central High School, now broadcasts from the center.
The Evansville metropolitan area is the 164th largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States. The primary city is Evansville, Indiana, the third most populous city in Indiana and the most populous city in Southern Indiana as well as the hub for Southwestern Indiana. Other Indiana cities include Boonville, Mount Vernon, Jasper, Oakland City, Princeton, and Vincennes. Large towns in Indiana include Chandler, Fort Branch, McCutchanville, and Newburgh. Cities in Kentucky include Henderson, Dixon, Providence, and Robards and currently covers an area of 2,367 sq mi (6,130 km2). It is the primary metropolitan area in the Illinois–Indiana–Kentucky Tri-State Area.
The Warrick County School Corporation (WCSC) is the second largest public school-governing body in Southwestern Indiana, and the 27th largest in the state. It is responsible for providing education to the second largest county in the area, Warrick County; its boundaries are that of the county.
The 2000 United States presidential election in Indiana took place on November 7, 2000, and was part of the 2000 United States presidential election. Voters chose 12 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
Sycamore Land Trust is a 501(c)(3) non-profit member-supported land trust headquartered in Bloomington in the U.S. state of Indiana.
The 10th Regiment Indiana Cavalry, also designated the 125th Indiana Regiment, was a Cavalry Regiment raised in southern Indiana to fight in the American Civil War.
The 65th Regiment Indiana Infantry, was organized in Princeton and recruited throughout the southern Indiana counties to fight in the American Civil War.
The Illinois–Indiana–Kentucky tri-state area is a tri-state area where the U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky intersect. The area is defined mainly by the television viewing area and consists of ten Illinois counties, eleven Indiana counties, and nine Kentucky counties, centered upon the Ohio and Wabash Rivers.