Jasper, Indiana, United States

🇺🇸 Jasper is a city in, and the county seat of, Dubois County, Indiana, United States, located along the Patoka River. It is the 48th largest city in Indiana. On November 4, 2007, Dubois County returned to the Eastern Time Zone, after having moved to the Central Time Zone the previous year. Land use in the area is primarily agricultural. The Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame, which honors players and others associated with the national pastime who were born or lived in Indiana, is located in Jasper.

History Jasper was founded in 1818. The Enlow family were the first settlers of the town. Jasper was originally going to be named "Eleanor" after the wife of early settler Joseph Enlow, but she opted to suggest a name herself, and named the city after a passage in the Bible (Revelation 21:19).

Jasper was not officially platted until 1830. That year, the community became the new county seat of Dubois County, succeeding Portersville.

The Jasper post office has been in operation since 1832. During the New Deal era, Jessie Hull Mayer won a federal commission to paint a mural as part of the Section of Painting and Sculpture′s projects, later called the Section of Fine Arts, of the Treasury Department. Indiana Farming Scene in Late Autumn depicts a harvest scene on a farmstead, with no indication of the town. In 1975, the painting was featured as part of a film, Art for Main Street: The Indiana Post Office Murals, produced by the Indiana Historical Society.

Jasper was incorporated as a town in 1866, and was incorporated into a city in 1915.

Geography According to the 2010 census, Jasper has a total area of 13.191 square miles (34.16 km²), of which 13.1 square miles (33.93 km²) (or 99.31%) is land and 0.091 square miles (0.24 km²) (or 0.69%) is water.

The city is located in the townships of Bainbridge, Madison and Boone.

Economy Jasper is a regional centre in Southwestern Indiana, with German Catholic ancestral roots. Jasper has been called the "Wood Capital of the World", with furniture companies such as Kimball International and Masterbrand Cabinets located here. Also located in Jasper are Southern Indiana Education Center, Jasper Engines and Transmissions, and a satellite campus of Vincennes University.

In 2022, Jasper won the annual Strong Towns "Strongest Town" competition.

The largest industry sectors by employment in Jasper are manufacturing, retail, and health care and social services.

Arts and culture Jasper has the only municipally supported Arts Council in Indiana; it is part of city government. The City of Jasper and the Jasper Community Arts Commission won the Governor's Arts Award in 1987 and 2007.

The Jasper Strassenfest is a four-day event held annually during the first weekend in August. The "Fest" is a celebration between Jasper and its German sister-city Pfaffenweiler, a village in south-west Germany, and some citizens of Pfaffenweiler travel to Jasper around this time of year. The street festival encompasses the city square, and features food stands, rides, a beer garden, parade, fireworks, golf tournament, beauty pageant (Miss Strassenfest), fishing tournament, and a network of German "Polka Masses" at the three Roman Catholic parishes. On average, over 1,300 lb (590 kg) of bratwurst are consumed during the event.

In 2021, the Thyen-Clark Cultural Center and public lending library opened.

Historic Places Sites in Jasper listed on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Dubois County, Indiana include: • Dubois County Courthouse • Gramelspacher-Gutzweiler House • John Opel House • St. Joseph Catholic Church • Louis H. Sturm Hardware Store.

Parks and recreation Jasper has 18 city parks covering 355 acres (144 ha).

Education In 1970, the school system of Ireland, Indiana, was consolidated into that of Jasper.

Schools in Jasper include: • Jasper High School (public, grades 9 to 12) • Jasper Middle School (public 6 to 8) • Ireland Elementary School (public pre-K to 5) • Jasper Elementary School (public pre-K to 5) • Holy Trinity Catholic School • West Campus at St. Mary's Ireland (private pre-K) • Central Campus at Precious Blood (private pre K to 2) • East Campus at Holy Family (private 3 to 8) • Vincennes University (Jasper Campus).

Media: Print • The American Eagle, Jasper's first newspaper, operated from 1846 to 1848. • The Democrat (1857), the Times (1865), and another Times (1879–1891). • The Jasper Weekly Courier, a Democratic newspaper, served Dubois County from 1858 to 1921. • The Dubois County Herald, founded in 1895, currently circulates about 10,000 copies per day to residents of Dubois, Spencer, and Pike counties. The Herald is one of only 300 independently-owned newspapers in the United States. • The Jasper News Journal is a free newspaper.

Media: Radio The following stations are licensed in the city of Jasper • 91.7 FM WJPR • 93.7 FM WJWS "The Curve" • 104.7 FM WITZ-FM • 990 AM WITZ-AM

Transport: Road • U.S. Route 231 • Indiana State Road 164 • Indiana State Road 162 • Indiana State Road 56.