HENDRICKS COUNTY

 HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE

             Hendricks county is located near the center of the State of Indiana. It contains about one hundred and thirty-five thousand acres of land. The county was organized in 1824, and was named in honor of Governor William Hendricks. The surface of the county is gently rolling, and the soil is generally very good. The county is well timbered, especially in the northern portion. It is well watered by Eel river, Mill creek, Mud creek, White Lick creek, and their numerous tributary streams.

            The first settlers of the county emigrated from North Carolina to this county about the year 1818, and settled on government lands prior to entry. The first lands were entered in the county in 1821, about three years before the organization of the county. The first settlements were made in the southeast portion of the county, in what is now Liberty and Gilford townships. Among the first settlers were David Downs, Ross Nichols, Richard Christie, George and David Matock, William Ballard, Jonathan Rodgers, James Thompson, Thomas Hadley, Josiah Tomlinson, John Bryant and Thomas Lockhart.

            The county was organized in 1824, and Danville was chosen as the seat of justice. The first settlements were made in the county in 1818, when the first trees were felled and the first rude cabin erected. This population increased so rapidly that in 1824 there were more than one thousand inhabitants in the county. In 1870, the population of the county was twenty thousand two hundred and seventy-seven. The growth of wealth and public improvements in the county have been commensurate with this growth in population. The old court house has long since perished, and a new and substantial building has taken its place. The new jail and county asylum are substantial and well conducted institutions. The pioneer log school houses of the county have gone, and now over one hundred fine brick and frame school buildings attest the educational advantages of Hendricks county. Excellent turnpike roads bisect each other in all parts of the county, and ample railroad facilities are presented. The county has now over one hundred and thirty thousand acres of improved land, valued at twelve million dollars. The products of the farms have always been largely remunerative. The taxable property in the county is worth over twenty million dollars. In every sense, the people of Hendricks county are intelligent, progressive, and enterprising citizens.

            The Indiana House of Refuge is located on the state farm adjoining Plainfield, in Hendricks county. This is one of the State’s most worthy and benevolent institutions, and it is doing a good work for the benefit of the boys who have been sent there.

Source: An Illustrated History of the State of Indiana by DeWitt C. Goodrich and Charles R. Tuttle, 1875.