Crawfordsville, Indiana

Crawfordsville is a city in Montgomery County, Indiana, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 15,243. The city is the county seat of Montgomery County. Its mayor is John Zumer, who took office in January, 2004. Other recent past mayors include Stephen Gentry, a teacher at the local high school; Philip Michal, a local veterinarian; Glenn Knecht, teacher and football coach at the local high school; David Gerard, a cartoonist whose works included "Will-yum" and "Citizen Smith"; and local attorney and author Will H. Hays, Jr.

Geography

Crawfordsville is located at (40.038831, -86.896755).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 21.7 km² (8.4 mi²), all land.

History

In 1813 three rangers, Williamson Dunn, Henry Ristine, and Major Ambrose Whitlock noted that the site of present-day Crawfordsville was ideal for settlement. They returned a decade later to find at least one cabin built. Major Whitlock laid out the town in March 1823. Crawfordsville was named in honor of Colonel William H. Crawford. In 1832, Wabash College was founded in Crawfordsville. Today, it is one of only three remaining traditional all-male colleges in the country, and has a student body of around 900.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 15,243 people, 6,117 households, and 3,664 families residing in the city. The population density was 702.3/km² (1,819.4/mi²). There were 6,623 housing units at an average density of 305.1/km² (790.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 94.02% White, 1.61% African American, 0.31% Native American, 0.70% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 2.39% from other races, and 0.91% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.25% of the population.

There were 6,117 households out of which 29.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.0% were married couples living together, 11.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.1% were non-families. 33.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the city the population was spread out with 23.3% under the age of 18, 13.4% from 18 to 24, 27.3% from 25 to 44, 19.6% from 45 to 64, and 16.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 98.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $34,571, and the median income for a family was $43,211. Males had a median income of $32,834 versus $22,093 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,945. About 10.0% of families and 12.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.9% of those under age 18 and 7.0% of those age 65 or over.

External links

Community Profile

Famous people

Joseph P. Allen, NASA astronaut
Henry Smith Lane, Indiana governor and US Senator
Will Shortz, crossword editor, The New York Times
Lew Wallace, author, Ben-Hur