Boonville, Indiana, United States

🇺🇸 Boonville is a city in Boon Township, Warrick County, Indiana, United States. The population was 6,712 at the 2020 census. The city is the largest community in and the county seat of Warrick County.

History Boonville was founded in 1818 and named for Jesse Boon, father of Ratliff Boon. A post office has been in operation at Boonville since 1820. Boonville was incorporated in 1858 as a town and once again in 1906 as a city.

President Abraham Lincoln studied law in Boonville. When Abraham Lincoln and his family moved from Kentucky to present-day Spencer County in 1816, their homestead was then considered to be within Boonville's Warrick County boundaries. The future president frequently walked to Boonville to borrow books and watch local attorney John Brackenridge argue cases, thus earning Boonville the distinction of being "where Lincoln learned the law".

Points of interest The Boonville post office contains a casein tempera-on-canvas mural titled Boonville Beginnings, painted in 1941 by Ida Abelman. Murals were produced from 1934 to 1943 in the United States through the Section of Painting and Sculpture, later called the Section of Fine Arts, of the Treasury Department.

The Boonville Public Square Historic District and Old Warrick County Jail are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Geography Boonville is located at 38°2′46″N 87°16′21″W (38.046231, -87.272544). According to the 2010 census, Boonville has a total area of 3.013 square miles (7.80 km²), of which 3 square miles (7.77 km²) (or 99.57%) is land and 0.013 square miles (0.03 km²) (or 0.43%) is water.

Demographics As of the 2010 census, there were 6,246 people, 2,549 households, and 1,647 families living in the city. The population density was 2,082.0 inhabitants per square mile (803.9/km²). There were 2,867 housing units at an average density of 955.7 per square mile (369.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.7% White, 0.5% African American, 0.2% Native American, 0.1% Asian, 0.4% from other races, and 1.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.2% of the population.

There were 2,549 households, of which 31.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.0% were married couples living together, 13.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 35.4% were non-families. 31.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.97.

The median age in the city was 39.4 years. 23.3% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.4% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 25.8% were from 25 to 44; 25.4% were from 45 to 64; and 18% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 46.3% male and 53.7% female.

Government The government consists of a mayor and a city council. The mayor is elected in citywide vote. The city council consists of five members. Four are elected from individual districts. One is elected at-large.

Transport The Boonville Airport is located two nautical miles (2.3 mi, 3.7 km) west of the central business district. Boonville also has the Warrick Area Transit System (WATS), a public bus line which connects with the nearby Metropolitan Evansville Transit System (METS).

Education The town has a lending library, the Boonville-Warrick County Public Library. Additionally, within city limits there are two elementary schools: Oakdale Elementary and Loge Elementary. Boonville Middle School and Boonville High School also serve the residents.