Historic Southern Indiana

Population

Most of the counties in southern Indiana have less than 50 persons per square kilometer (2000 census). The exceptions are Vanderburgh, with more than 200; Floyd, with 151 to 200; and Clark, Dearborn, and Warrick, with 51 to 100.

In percentage of population growth, 1990-200, three counties lost population—Knox, Martin and Perry. All but three grew between 0.0 and 9.0 percent. Harrison, Warrick and Washington grew between 10.0 and 19.0 percent.

The most populous counties in 200o were Clark and Vanderburgh. Fourteen of the twenty-six counties in the region ranked among the state’s least populous—30,000 people or less.

Median Household Income (2000)

Median income in Indiana was $41,567, $400 below the national median.

None of the counties in southern Indiana ranked in the state’s top five. The highest in the state was Hamilton ($71,026). Three of the bottom five were in southern Indiana—Crawford, Orange and Knox (the lowest, at $31,362). Warrick and Dearborn, with median income between $45,001 and $50,000, were the top two in southern Indiana. Below them, at $40,001 to $45,000, were Posey, Spencer, Dubois, Harrison, Floyd, Clark and Ohio. Six counties were less than $35,000—the three noted above plus Daviess, Pike and Scott.

Changes in Employment, 1970-2000

Seven southern Indiana counties had at least a 100 percent increase in total number of employees—Spencer, Dubois, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Jennings and Ohio. Twelve more had from 50.1 to 100 percent. Knox, Orange, Jefferson and Switzerland counties grew from 25.1 to 50 percent, Pike and Perry counties 0 to 25 percent. Martin County lost between 0.1 and 10 percent.

In the same years, Pike, Dubois, Warrick, Harrison and Jennings counties gained 100 percent or more manufacturing employees. Seven added from 50.1 to 100 percent—Posey, Gibson, Floyd, Lawrence, Jackson, Scott and Ripley. Washington and Jefferson gained 10.1 to 50 percent. By contrast, Clark, Switzerland and Ohio lost at least 50 percent, and Dearborn, Knox, Perry and Vanderburgh from 25.1 to 50 percent. Martin lost between 10.1 and 25 percent. Daviess, Warrick, Crawford and Orange fell between a loss of 10 percent and a gain of 10 percent.

Between 1970 and 2000, Harrison County was the only one in southern Indiana to gain at least 600 percent in service employees. Above it in the state were only Brown and Hamilton counties. Dearborn’s increase was 400 to 599.9 percent. Posey, Warrick, Spencer, Crawford, Floyd, Clark, Scott, Jennings and Ripley rose between 200 and 399.9 percent. The remainder grew by 200 percent or less. There was insufficient data for Ohio, Switzerland and Martin counties.

Source: Jeffrey Wilson, Indiana in Maps: Geographic Perspectives of the Hoosier State (2003)

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Five of the six Indiana counties with the most coal and the most reserves are in southern Indiana: Daviess, Gibson, Knox, Posey, Warrick.

The Salem limestone belt extends in a north-northwesterly direction from Harrison County through Lawrence (Bedford) County, Monroe County, to a point about midway between Terre Haute and Indianapolis. It is virtually synonymous with the Mitchell Plain. This stone is the best for building.

Mining of gravel, gypsum, and stone is also commonplace in the central portion of southern Indiana.

Hardwoods—especially oak and walnut—are found in great quantities in this region, though the quantities are significantly lower than in pioneer times. Hardwood timber was responsible for much of early economic growth, especially of towns on the Ohio, where sawmills were established and wood was shipped downriver to southern communities (including in the flatboats themselves). Later, wood was the basis for the manufacture of farm implements, wagons and buggies, furniture, and other items.

Corn and pork have been from the outset the hallmarks of southern Indiana agriculture. Cornmeal, produced by gristmills, was, like timber, an early mainstay of the economy. Pigs, which flourished on the lowland farms and in the hills and forests of the region, living off nuts and other food from the land, accounted for much of the economic development of early towns. For example, Madison, in Jefferson County, was the third largest pork-packing center in the Midwest in the mid-1840s. Pork products—soap, candles, bristles for brushes, lard, among other things—were also vital to the development of southern Indiana towns.

Another important product has been tobacco, though in modern times it is mostly seen from Harrison County upriver to the Ohio line. In the mid-1800s Spencer County was the state’s leading producer. For much of southern Indiana’s history, tobacco was processed into plugs for chewing or into cigars.

World War II defense installations—mostly vestigial—are to be found throughout the region. An abandoned shipyard that produced hundreds of LSTs between 1942 and 1945 is to be found on Evansville’s west side. On its north side are the remains of Chrysler Corporation’s ammunition factory and testing ground, and Whirlpool Corporation’s Evansville Division is based on the factory where over 5,000 P-47 Thunderbolts were manufactured between 1942 and 1945. The former Army Quartermaster’s Depot is found on Jeffersonville’s east side, and farther upriver, stretching miles to Charlestown, are the remains of a massive Ordnance Works begun in 1942. North of Madison, stretching well into Ripley County, is the Jefferson Proving Ground. Remains of Camp Atterbury, where the 35th Division trained, are found on the northern edge of the region. Crane Naval Weapons Support Center, begun in 1940, remains an important part of the northern half of Martin County.

The Ohio River has remained a vital, though somewhat modified element in the life of the region. Once essential for carrying people and products on America’s first interstate highway, 981 miles from Pittsburgh to the Mississippi, it is today a major inland waterway for barge traffic. The Corps of Engineers canalized the river with locks and dams that opened in 1929 along the entire river system. Today, modernized locks and dams are seen at Newburgh, Cannelton, and upriver from Vevay. (Remains of abandoned facilities in old Leavenworth are still visible.) Along the Indiana portion of the river, tows are most frequently seen carrying coal and grain, though chemicals, sand and gravel, steel, and containerized freight are also commonly visible. Two major state-supported ports are found at Jeffersonville and Mount Vernon. The Ohio is also an outlet for recreation, and its scenic beauty attracts many visitors.

Agriculture remains a primary element in the southern Indiana economy. Corn and soybeans are most commonly produced in the Scottsburg Lowland and the Wabash Lowland. Beef cattle and hogs are the most frequently found livestock. Hay is also an important product. Popcorn, eggs, turkeys and chickens, cantaloupes, watermelons, and tobacco are also pervasive, and in these categories southern Indiana helps the state rank in the top ten in these products.

Relatively few towns and cities in Historic Southern Indiana could be considered industrial centers. Evansville, with Mead Johnson, Whirlpool, a number of plastics manufacturers, and nearby Toyota, Alcoa, and GE Plastics, remains by far the leader in this regard. Processing of agricultural products—corn, poultry and eggs, notably—and of wood and minerals continues to be a mainstay of local economies throughout the region. A number of large coal-fired generators are found along the Ohio, beginning west of Evansville and extending into metropolitan Cincinnati, as well as inland, especially in Petersburg.

Southern Indiana is relatively deprived in modern transportation—one medium-sized airport at Evansville, and just two interstate highways—64, across the southern tier of counties, and 65, connecting metropolitan Louisville to Indianapolis. Interstate 74 skirts the northern edge of HSI, as does I-275 on the far eastern end, near Lawrenceburg. The most recent addition has been I-164, which is located on the east side of Evansville and connects I-64 to US 41 on the city’s south side. (By contrast, due to population concentrations and political clout, many of the early transportation projects, such as the Michigan Road, the Wabash and Erie Canal, and the Madison and Indianapolis, the Ohio and Mississippi, and Evansville and Crawfordsville railroads, were in southern Indiana.)

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