🇺🇸 Lafayette is a city in and the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States. West Lafayette, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, which contributes significantly to both communities. Together, Lafayette and West Lafayette form the core of the Lafayette, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Lafayette was founded in 1825 on the south-east bank of the Wabash River near where the river becomes impassable for riverboats upstream, though a French fort and trading post had existed since 1717 on the opposite bank and three miles downstream. It was named for the French general Marquis de Lafayette, a Revolutionary War hero.
1History When European explorers arrived at this area, it was inhabited by a tribe of Miami Native Americans known as the Ouiatenon or Weas. In 1717, the French government established Fort Ouiatenon across the Wabash River and three miles (5 km) south of present-day Lafayette. The fort became the centre of trade for fur trappers, merchants and Indians. An annual reenactment and festival known as Feast of the Hunters' Moon is held there each autumn.
The town of Lafayette was platted in May 1825 by William Digby, a trader. It was designated as the county seat of the newly formed Tippecanoe County the following year. Like many frontier towns, Lafayette was named for General Lafayette, a French officer who significantly aided George Washington's Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Lafayette toured the United States in 1824 and 1825.
In its earliest days, Lafayette was a shipping centre on the Wabash River. In 1838, Henry Leavitt Ellsworth, the first United States Patent Commissioner, published a booklet titled Valley of the Upper Wabash, Indiana, with Hints on Its Agricultural Advantages, to promote settlement of the region. By 1845, Ellsworth had purchased 93,000 acres (380 km²) of farmland around Lafayette and moved there from Connecticut to supervise land sales. By 1847 Ellsworth was distributing broadsides looking for farmers to purchase his farmland. He became president of the Tippecanoe County Agricultural Society in April 1851 – despite some local resentment over what was called "the Yale Crowd" – but he was defeated the same year when he ran for the Indiana House of Representatives. Ellsworth Street and Ellsworth Historic District are named for him.
The Wabash and Erie Canal in the 1840s stimulated trade and affirmed Lafayette's regional prominence. Railroads arrived in the town in the 1850s, connecting it with other major markets. The Monon Railroad connected Lafayette with other sections of Indiana.
Lafayette was the site of the first official airmail delivery in the United States on 17 August 1859, when John Wise piloted a balloon starting on the Lafayette courthouse grounds. Wise hoped to reach New York; however, weather conditions forced the balloon down near Crawfordsville, Indiana, and the mail reached its final destination by train. In 1959, the US Postal Service issued a 7¢ airmail stamp commemorating the centennial of the event.
Geography Lafayette is located in Fairfield and Wea Townships. Elevation at the court house is 550 feet (168 m), but city elevations range from a little over 500 feet (150 m) at the Wabash River to approximately 700 feet (210 m) in the areas of Murdock Park and Columbian Park.
According to the 2010 census, Lafayette has a total area of 27.74 square miles (71.85 km²), all land.
Neighborhoods • Columbian Park • Hanna • Hedgewood • Lincoln • Monon • Saint Lawrence/McAllister • Vinton • Wallace Triangle • Wildcat Valley; Historic Neighborhoods • Centennial Neighborhood District • Downtown Lafayette Historic District • Ellsworth Historic District • Highland Park Neighborhood Historic District • Jefferson Historic District • Ninth Street Hill Neighborhood Historic District • Perrin Historic District • St. Mary Historic District • Upper Main Street Historic District.
1Government The government consists of a mayor – elected in a citywide vote – and a city council of nine members. Six are elected from individual districts; three are elected at-large.
1Colleges • Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana • Purdue University (in West Lafayette) • A location of the Purdue Polytechnic Institute, one of Purdue University's academic colleges
1Education: Public K-12 public education in Lafayette is provided by the Lafayette School Corporation. The Tippecanoe School Corporation also administers county schools nearby. New Community School was a tuition-free elementary charter school (sponsored by Ball State University) located on the north side of Lafayette that permanently closed at the end of 2016. Beacon Academy was a charter school that was located in West Lafayette and closed in 2018.
Education:Private • Faith Christian School • Lafayette Christian School • Lafayette Central Catholic Jr/Sr High School • Montessori School of Greater Lafayette • St. Boniface Middle School • St. Lawrence Catholic School • St. Mary Cathedral Elementary School • St. James Lutheran School
1Public library The Lafayette area has four branch locations of the Tippecanoe County Public Library: • Downtown Library • Wyandotte Branch • West Lafayette Klondike Branch • Wea Prairie Branch
1News and media Newspapers • Journal & Courier. The newspaper, which serves the Greater Lafayette area, has its newsroom and offices located in downtown Lafayette. Journal & Courier also has its own printing services for itself and other papers in the region on the eastside of Lafayette. • Purdue Exponent. Purdue University's independent student newspaper serves Purdue, West Lafayette, and Lafayette, and has its newsroom and offices located off campus on Northwestern Avenue in West Lafayette. • The Lafayette Leader
Television • WPBI-LD 16 (Fox; NBC on LD2; ABC on LD3) • WLFI-TV 18 (CBS; CW on DT2; ION on DT3; GetTV on DT4) • WPBY-LD 35 (ABC; MeTV/MyNetworkTV on LD2)
From 1953 until the 2016 launch of WPBI-LD, WLFI-TV had been the only "Big Three" (ABC, CBS and NBC—or, including Fox, "big four") commercial network television broadcaster in the Lafayette market. With the 2017 launch of WPBY-LD, local broadcasts of all "big four" networks became available.
WRTV, WTHR, WTTV, and WXIN, the respective ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox affiliates in Indianapolis which had been carried by cable and satellite providers in the Lafayette market as "out-of-market" stations, remain viewable in the area via a large over-the-air antenna or, in some cases, via a subscription satellite or streaming service. Cable provider Comcast Xfinity discontinued its remaining carriage of Indianapolis-based "big four" stations on March 7, 2018, but resumed carriage of WTHR and WRTV two days later.
Commercial Radio Stations • WASK • WASK-FM • WAZY-FM • WKHY-FM • WKOA-FM • WLQQ • WBPE • WSHY-AM • WXXB-FM • WYCM; Non-commercial Radio Stations • WBAA-AM/FM • WHPL-FM • WJEF-FM • WQSG-FM • WTGO-LP FM • WWCC-LP FM.
1Transport: Air No airports are located within Lafayette city limits. The nearest general aviation airport is Purdue University Airport (LAF) in West Lafayette. The nearest commercial airport which currently has scheduled airline service is Indianapolis International Airport (IND), located approximately 60 miles (97 km) south-east of Lafayette in Indianapolis.
1Transport: Road • Interstate 65 to Gary, Indiana (near Chicago) and Indianapolis • US 52 to Joliet, Illinois (also near Chicago) and Indianapolis • US 231 to Rensselaer, Indiana and Owensboro, Kentucky • State Road 25 • State Road 26 • State Road 38.
1Railroads Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides passenger rail service to Lafayette through the Cardinal to Chicago, Washington D.C., and New York City. Norfolk Southern; CSX; Kankakee, Beaverville and Southern Railroad; and Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway (RailAmerica) provide freight rail service. Many lines that originally passed through the downtown were redirected in the mid-1990s to a rail corridor near the Wabash River.
See also: Lafayette station (Indiana)
1Buses and shuttles • CityBus local bus service by the Greater Lafayette Public Transportation Corporation • Greyhound intercity bus service • Lafayette Limo and Reindeer Shuttle to Indianapolis International Airport and O'Hare International Airport • Express Air Coach to O'Hare International Airport
1Economy Much of the area's economy centres around the academic and industrial activities of Purdue University, although private industry and commerce independent of the university also exist in the community, with multiple large manufacturing operations in the city employing thousands of workers. Some examples: • Arconic, a producer of aluminum extrusions and tubes • Caterpillar Large Engine Division, producer of large diesel and natural gas engines • Wabash National, world's largest manufacturer of semi-truck trailers • Subaru of Indiana Automotive, the only non-Japanese producer of Subaru vehicles. • Evonik (Tippecanoe Laboratories) pharmaceuticals/chemicals • Tate & Lyle, corn wet mill producing specialty starches • Primient, corn wet mill and refinery producing corn syrup • ZF Commercial Steering Systems • Landis+Gyr, manufacturer of electric meters for global ANSI markets • Cargill, soybean oil mill.
1Arts organizations • Haan Mansion Museum of Indiana Art • Tippecanoe Arts Federation • Art Museum of Greater Lafayette • The Long Center for the Performing Arts • Lafayette Symphony Orchestra • Civic Theatre of Greater Lafayette
1Fairs and festivals • Feast of the Hunters' Moon • Hands on Transportation • Mini Maker Faire of Greater Lafayette • Art in the Park • OUTfest • Mosey Down Main Street • Beers Across the Wabash • Round the Fountain Art Fair • A Taste of Tippecanoe.
1Points of interest • Purdue University, located in West Lafayette • Jerry E. Clegg Botanic Garden; • Horticulture Gardens at Purdue University
1Prophet's Rock 10 minutes North of Lafayette lies Prophet Rock, where the Prophet Tenskwatawa, the half brother of Tecumseh, stood watch encouraging the local Shawnee Native Americans to fight against the encamped army forces of William Henry Harrison in the Battle Of Tippecanoe in 1811. Tenskwatawa was a spiritual leader, but not a military man. His brother was out of town as the U.S. Army forces marched North, with hopes to destroy Prophetstown. Tenskwatawa had sought to have a meeting with Harrison to discuss how to avoid going to war. In the evening before the war, he sought a spiritual vision that led him to believe that Harrison must be assassinated. Early in the morning of November 6, the warriors attacked Harrison's militia and war ensued. The warriors fell weak in supplies against the militia, and succumbed. Prophetstown was taken over where the militia stole supplies and burnt it down. The rock where Tenskwatawa stood still stands over the battlefield, though now covered with much taller trees. The rock can be accessed by scaling its front or by hiking the ridge that leads to the top.
1Headstone of Martin P. Jenners The Martin Jenners headstone is at the Spring Vale Cemetery in Lafayette. Jenners was a Civil War veteran who was known as the first white person born in Tippecanoe County and as an outspoken atheist. Originally located in Greenbush Cemetery, his headstone is unique because he had it placed in the cemetery fourteen years before his death, with this inscription: "My only objection to religion is that it is not true. No preaching, no praying, no psalm singing on this lot". Jenners' headstone cites two verses that contradict each other, hence making the Bible untrue: I Corinthians 15:52, which talks about believers being raised from the dead "in a twinkling of an eye", and Isaiah 26:14, which states "They are now dead, they live no more; their spirits do not rise". The headstone received national attention at the time, despite attempts to have it removed, and it continued to draw visitors from around the country. Jenners' headstone inscription has been cited by believers as an example of Bible writings being taken out of context.
1Notable buildings • Judge Cyrus Ball House, listed on the National Register of Historic Places • James H. Ward House, listed on the National Register of Historic Places • Temple Israel, 17 South 7th St. - one of the nation's oldest surviving synagogue buildings. • Trinity United Methodist Church (Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church until 1969) – the first church congregation in the Lafayette area. Its current building was erected in 1869 by William Heath and has remained intact to this day. • Tippecanoe Mall - the city's main shopping center. • Tippecanoe County Courthouse - built 1882–1884 at a cost of around $500,000 (double the original estimate).
1Lafayette has a population of over 72,170 people. Lafayette also forms the centre of the wider Lafayette Metropolitan Area which has a population of over 224,709 people.
To set up a UBI Lab for Lafayette see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork
Twin Towns, Sister Cities Lafayette has links with:
🇨🇳 Longkou, China 🇯🇵 Ōta, Japan🇪🇸 Gaztambide 40.433
🇺🇸 Pittsburgh 40.433
🇺🇸 West Lafayette 40.433
🇪🇸 Pozuelo de Alarcón 40.441
🇪🇸 Torrejón de Ardoz 40.459
🇺🇸 Michigan City -86.878
🇺🇸 West Lafayette -86.9
🇺🇸 Spring Hill -86.93
🇲🇽 San Miguel de Cozumel -86.933
Locations Near: Lafayette -86.8667,40.4167
🇺🇸 West Lafayette -86.9,40.433 d: 3.4
🇺🇸 Kokomo -86.134,40.486 d: 62.5
🇺🇸 Danville -86.517,39.75 d: 79.9
🇺🇸 Danville -87.617,40.117 d: 71.8
🇺🇸 Carmel -86.127,39.978 d: 79.5
🇺🇸 Noblesville -86.017,40.05 d: 82.9
🇺🇸 Indianapolis -86.15,39.767 d: 94.6
🇺🇸 Valparaiso -87.05,41.467 d: 117.8
🇺🇸 Martinsville -86.429,39.428 d: 116.1
Antipodal to: Lafayette 93.133,-40.417
🇦🇺 Bunbury 115.637,-33.327 d: 17871.2
🇦🇺 Mandurah 115.721,-32.529 d: 17821.3
🇦🇺 Rockingham 115.717,-32.267 d: 17806.9
🇦🇺 City of Cockburn 115.833,-32.167 d: 17791.9
🇦🇺 Vincent 115.834,-31.936 d: 17778.6
🇦🇺 Perth 115.857,-31.953 d: 17777.7
🇦🇺 Wanneroo 115.803,-31.747 d: 17770.1
🇦🇺 Guildford 115.973,-31.9 d: 17765.3