Monroe County was formed in 1818 from portions of Orange County. It was named for James Monroe ho was the fifth President of the United States from 1817 until 1825. With a total area of just over 411 square miles and a population count of 148,431 residents.
The area was originally called the Delaware New Purchase until it was divided into Wabash County in the northwest and Delaware County in the southeast on January 2 in 1820. Those counties soon after dissolved and the areas came to be called the “Wabash New Purchase” and “Delaware New Purchase” which was renamed (again) the “Adams New Purchase” in 1827. Subsequently, 35 counties (including Morgan which was authorized on February 15 in 1822) were carved out of the original area. It was named for Gen. Daniel Morgan, who defeated the British at the Battle of Cowpens in the Revolutionary War. With a total area of 409 square miles and has a population count of 70,116 residents.
Orange County was formed from parts of Knox, Gibson, and Washington counties by the Indiana Territorial Legislature on December 26, 1815. Even the county was formed in 1815, it didn’t become effective until February 1, 1816. In 1816 the Orange County seat was designated at Paoli, which was named after Pasquale Paoli Ash, the 12-year-old son of the sitting North Carolina Governor. The county itself is named after the current reigning house in the Netherlands, The House of Orange-Nassau. With a total area of 408 square miles, the county also has a population count of just under 19,500 residents.
That winter December of 1818, the state legislature took portions from northern Daviess and eastern Sullivan to create Owen County. It was then was named after Abraham Owen who was a colonel in the US Army and died at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. The boundaries of this new county were reduced hen Putnam county became established in 1822 and again in 1825 when Clay county was created. With an area of 388 square miles, the county has a population count of 20,845 residents.
Scott County was formed in 1820 from portions of Clark, Jackson, Jefferson, Jennings, and Washington counties. It was named for Gen. Charles Scott who was Governor of Kentucky from 1808 to 1812. The county seat is Scottsburg which is located about 30 north of Louisville, KY. With a total area of 193 square miles, there is a population count of 23,878 residents.
The effective date for the creation of the county was 15 January 1817. With interim commissioners charged to begin organizing the new government by that next February. It was named for Daniel Sullivan who was a Revolutionary War general killed by Native Americans while carrying a dispatch between Fort Vincennes and Louisville. With a population count of 20,690 residents, the county has a total area of 454 square miles.
Vanderburgh County was formed on January 7, 1818, from Gibson, Posey, and Warrick counties. It was named after former Captain Henry Vanderburgh who was a Revolutionary War veteran and judge for the Indiana Territory. The county seat is Evansville and has a total area of 236 square miles. The county also has a population count of 181,451 residents.
On January 21, 1818, the northern portion of Sullivan County was partitioned off to create Vigo County. The first county commissioners organized the government later that same year including naming Terre Haute as its seat. The county’s borders changed several times in 1821, for example, part of the county was formed into Parke County, and later that year Putnam County was formed which also affected Vigo’s borders. The county is named after former Colonel Francis Vigo who was one of George Rogers Clark’s rigt hand men. The county has a total area of 410 square miles along with a population count of 107,038 residents.
Warrick County was formed by statute on March 9, 1813, it didn’t becoe effective until April 30, 1813. Knox County was affected by the formation of this county along with the creation of Warrick and Gibson Counties. The county seat is Booneville, though it orinally belonged to Evansville, then it belonged to Yankeetown, then Newburgh. With a total area of 391 square miles, it also has a population count of 62,567 residents.
In February of 1814, territory legislature officials from Harrison and Clark counties had selected an uninhabited site near the center of the southern part of the state, naming it Washington County. In the territorial act creating the county, it was named after the first U.S. President George Washington who had died fourteen years prior. With a total area of 517 square miles, it has a population count of just under 28,000 residents.
