Fort Wayne, Indiana

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City of Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne skyline
Fort Wayne skyline
Official flag of City of Fort Wayne, Indiana
Flag
Official seal of City of Fort Wayne, Indiana
Seal
Nickname: "The Summit City"
Location in the state of Indiana, USA
Location in the state of Indiana, USA
Coordinates: 41°04′42″N, 85°07′36″W
Country United States
State Indiana
County Allen
Founded October 22, 1794
Incorporated February 22, 1840
Mayor Graham Richard (D)
City Clerk Sandra Kennedy (D)
City Council John N. Crawford (R)
Samuel J. Talarico, Jr (R)
John Shoaff (D)
Tom Smith (R)
Donald J. Schmidt (R)
Tom Didier (R)
Tom Hayhurst (D)
Tim Pape (D)
Glynn A. Hines (D)
Area  
 - City 204.92 km²  (79.12 sq mi)
 - Land 204.48 km²  (78.95 sq mi)
 - Water 0.4 km² (.15 sq mi)
 - Urban 350.30 km² (135.25 sq mi)
 - Metro 3,554 km² (1,368 sq mi)
Elevation 247 m  (810 ft)
Population  
 - City (2004) 219,351
 - Density 1,072.73/km² (2,776.59/sq mi)
 - Urban 287,759
 - Metro 502,141
Time zone EST (UTC-5)
 - Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
Website: http://www.cityoffortwayne.org/
"Fort Wayne" redirects here. For other uses, see Fort Wayne (disambiguation).

Fort Wayne (IPA: [fɔɹt weɪn]) is a city in northeastern Indiana, USA and the county seat of Allen County. As of 2005, an estimated 248,341 lived in the city proper.[1] The Fort Wayne Metropolitan Statistical Area has a population of 502,141, as of the 2004 update of the 2000 census. Nearly equidistant from Detroit, Michigan, Chicago, Illinois and Cincinnati, Ohio, it has historically served as a transportation and communications center for the region, and an incubator for many products and companies, much more so than its size might suggest. Of all of Indiana's cities, Fort Wayne is the second largest city, second only to Indianapolis, the state's capital.

Fort Wayne is named after Gen. "Mad" Anthony Wayne. The United States Army built this last of a series of forts near the community of Kekionga, the largest of all Miami villages, located where the St. Joseph River and St. Marys River join to form the Maumee River.[2]

Contents

[edit] History

See also Forts of Fort Wayne, Indiana

The Miami nation established the first settlement at the Maumee, St. Joseph and St. Mary's Rivers in the mid 17th Century. Called Kekionga, the village was the traditional capital of the Miami nation and related Algonquian tribes. Historians believe that around 1676, French priests and missionaries visited the Miami on their way back from a mission at Lake Michigan. In 1680, René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle sent a letter to the Governor-General of Canada stating he also stopped there. In the 1680s French traders established a post at the location because it was the main portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. The Maumee River is approximately ten miles away from the Little River branch of the Wabash River, which flows, in turn, into the Ohio River.[3]

In 1696, Comte de Frontenac appointed Jean Baptiste Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes as commander of the French outpost in Miami country.[4] The French built the first fort on the site, Fort Miamis, in 1697 as part of a group of forts built between Quebec, Canada and St. Louis. In 1721, a few years after Bissot's death, Fort Miamis was replaced by Fort St. Philippe des Miamis.[5]

Increasing tension between France and the United Kingdom developed over the territory. In 1760, after defeat by British forces in the French and Indian War, the area was ceded to the British Empire. The fort was renamed "Fort Miami." In 1763, various Native American nations rebelled against British rule and retook the fort as part of Pontiac's Rebellion. The Miami regained control of Kekionga, a rule that lasted for more than 30 years.[5]

In 1790, President George Washington ordered the United States Army to secure Indiana. Three battles were fought in Kekionga against Little Turtle and the Miami Confederacy. The Miami forces defeated American army in the first two battles. Anthony Wayne led a third expedition, destroying the village while its warriors were away. When the tribe returned to their destroyed village, Little Turtle decided to negotiate peace. After General Wayne refused it, the tribe was advanced to Fallen Timbers where they were defeated on August 20, 1794. On October 22, 1794, the United States army captured the Wabash-Erie portage from the Miami Confederacy and built a new fort near the three rivers. [6]

Eventually, the portage was replaced by the Wabash and Erie Canal in 1833. Fort Wayne lost national prominence as the railroad system developed in the United States. Yet it remained an important railroad center between New York and Chicago for nearly a century.

On February 22, 1840, the growing city incorporated as the City of Fort Wayne.

Most of the population growth occurred in the 19th century with immigration from Germany and Ireland. The large numbers of Roman Catholic and Lutheran churches reflect this. German-language newspapers were published into the 20th century.

[edit] Nicknames and other names

During its history, the town was renamed from Kekionga to Fort Miamis, Fort Miami, French Town, Kisakon, Miami Town, Omee Town, Post Miami, and Twightwee Village in part because it was a place where different colonies settled althrough history.[7]

Although in more recent years, Fort Wayne has been known primarily as the "Summit City," the city has been known by many other names. Originally near a portage, later a canal and then a rail center, then a stop on the first coast-to-coast paved highway, Fort Wayne was the "Gateway to the West." Located at the highest point on the continental divide between the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico watersheds, Fort Wayne is known as the "Summit City". A home of many and diverse denominations, and enough wealth to build facilities for them, Fort Wayne is the "City of Churches." Look Magazine called Fort Wayne the "America's happiest Town."[8]

Fort Wayne earned another nickname as "The City That Saved Itself" when volunteers took extraordinary steps in flood fighting in 1982.[9] Fort Wayne has saved itself economically as well. In the 1980s, major employer International Harvester imploded, closing their New Haven plant. Lincoln National Corporation, an insurance giant, left the city of its founding and moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to be closer to capital markets. Magnavox moved their consumer electronics business to Tennessee. Bowmar, inventor of the handheld calculator, filed for bankruptcy in 1975. Despite all those setbacks, Fort Wayne has not seen major drops in population as many Rust belt cities have.

[edit] Geography

Modern Fort Wayne is set in a productive agricultural area, but has always been an important transportation hub, even though it is served by only one interstate highway. The city straddles Interstate 69, and is served by Norfolk Southern, Conrail and CSX rail lines as well as Fort Wayne International Airport and Smith Field regional airport.

[edit] Physical geography

For a regional "summit," Fort Wayne is fairly flat. There are some local wetlands and gravel pits. West of the St. Joseph's River and St. Mary's River is the Tipton Till Plain, with deep dark brown soil. Land east of there is the former Black Swamp, a soil heavy with clay that forms deep cracks in August and must be plowed in the fall because it's too wet in the spring.

[edit] Climate

While Fort Wayne tends to have typical continental interior weather with cold winters and hot, wet summers. Residents will say that this is not the case. It’s not uncommon to have extreme temperature changes throughout the day. In the early 2000’s Fort Wayne had a day where it was a foot of snow in the morning and 70° by 5 o’clock. While that is an extreme case, most residents agree that it’s typical Fort Wayne weather.

Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Avg high °F
(°C)		 32
(0)		 35
(2)		 46
(8)		 60
(15)		 71
(22)		 81
(27)		 84
(29)		 82
(28)		 76
(24)		 64
(18)		 49
(9)		 36
(2)		 60
(15)
Avg low °F
(°C)		 17
(-8)		 19
(-7)		 28
(-2)		 39
(4)		 49
(9)		 59
(15)		 63
(17)		 61
(16)		 53
(12)		 42
(6)		 32
(0)		 22
(-6)		 40
(4)
Rainfall in. (mm) 2.3 (58) 2.0 (51) 2.9 (74) 3.6 (91) 3.6 (91) 3.9 (99) 3.6 (91) 3.3 (84) 2.6 (66) 2.8 (71) 2.9 (74) 2.6 (66) 36.2 (919)
Source:Weatherbase.com[10]

[edit] Law and government

Fort Wayne has an elected mayor, clerk and city council-style of government. As of April 2006, the city was exploring a government restructuring that included the possible consolidation of its government or parts of its government with Allen County, Indiana.

[edit] Executive - Mayor

See List of Fort Wayne, Indiana mayors

Fort Wayne's mayor is Democrat Graham Richard, who has served in the post since January 2000. In 2003, he was elected to a second term which ends December 31, 2007.

[edit] City Clerk

Democrat Sandra Kennedy has been Fort Wayne's city clerk since 1983.

[edit] Representatives - City Council

The Fort Wayne City Council is a nine-member legislative group that serve four-year terms. Six of the members represent specific districts; three are elected city-wide as at-large council members. The council elected on November 4, 2003 will serve until December 31, 2007:

[edit] Economy

In the mid-20th century, Fort Wayne was a major manufacturing center of the northeastern United States. Major employers included General Electric, International Harvester, and Tokheim gasoline pumps. Phelps Dodge, Rea Wire, and Essex Wire comprised the largest concentration of copper and enamel wire manufacturing in the world. In the latter half of the 20th century, shifts in manufacturing patterns led to the reduction of the number of manufacturing plants and jobs, and Fort Wayne could be counted among the relatively stagnant "rust belt" cities of the northeast.

The Fort Wayne region has always been prominent in the automotive industry. John Lambert of nearby Ohio City, Ohio built the first gasoline-powered automobile in the U.S. in 1891. The Auburn, Cord, and Duesenberg were manufactured in nearby Auburn, Indiana. International Harvester Corporation manufactured trucks in New Haven, Indiana from 1910 until 1982, and produced the Scout, one of the first SUVs.

To support these many manufacturers, OEM manufacturers sprung up. Bowser, inventor of the gas pump, actually predated automobiles, manufacturing in Fort Wayne from 1885 to 1962. Other area factories manufacture a wide variety of components ranging from wheels to steering wheels, from transmissions to automotive trim, from hydraulic hoses to nuts and bolts.

Dudlo Wire opened on Fort Wayne's Wall Street in 1912, and a decade later, was the world's largest manufacturer of magnet wire, selling to the likes of Delco-Remy and Ford Motor Company. Dudlo was bought by General Cable Corporation, with Fort Wayne operations were closing in 1933 - but Dudlo's general manager in Fort Wayne, Victor Rea, opened his own factory in a new location as Rea Magnet Wire, and Essex Wire Corporation opened up in the old Dudlo factory. In turn, to support the wire companies, other companies sprung up manufacturing diamond dies for drawing copper wire.

In recent decades growth based on a more diverse economy has resumed. General Motors opened the Truck and Bus Assembly operation in the 1980s. Fort Wayne employs many in the transportation and logistics sector, with Sirva, the Norfolk Southern Railway, along with its subsidiaries Triple Crown Services (supplying intermodal services) and TransWorks (supplying carrier and shipper transportation tools), and Kitty Hawk Air Cargo combining for more than 2,500 local jobs. National defense is also an increasingly important component of the local economy, with ITT and Raytheon employing more than 1,000 people each.

Mid-Size businesses have also shown growth throughout the Fort Wayne area. Insurance companies such as K&K Insurance, Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company, and Insurance & Risk Management, one of Indiana's largest private insurance companies, have their headquarters in the Fort Wayne area. The finance sector has grown in recent years as well, having accounting firms such as Baden Gage and Schroeder and the bank headquarters of Star Financial Group. Recently the city had lost almost 1,000 jobs due to the sale of Waterfield Mortgage Company.

A secure area at the Fort Wayne International Airport houses the Indiana Air National Guard's 122nd Fighter Wing, which flies the F-16 fighter.

While the homegrown Lincoln National Corporation has changed names and relocated its headquarters to Philadelphia, Lincoln Financial still employs about 1,500 professionals in the city and contributes millions of dollars annually to local charities and civic causes.

Publicly traded Steel Dynamics is headquartered in Fort Wayne. Privately held OmniSource, one of the nation's largest metallurgical recyclers, is also based in Fort Wayne.

United Art and Education, a mid-sized art supply retailer opened in the 1960s in Fort Wayne, has its headquarters located on Airport Expressway. It also has eight stores throughout the Midwest, with its highest selling store located in Fort Wayne.

INdigital Telecom, a business that supplies voice and Internet services to Northeast Indiana businesses was rewarded a statewide contract to become Indiana’s Wireless E-911 provider; responsible for engineering, building, and managing the statewide IP-based “IN911” Network.

[edit] Demographics

* 1860 city figures not reported.
Fort Wayne
Population by year [1]
1744 1,040
1850 4,282
1860 *
1870 17,718
1880 25,880
1890 35,393
1900 45,115
1910 63,933
1920 85,540
1930 114,946
1940 118,410
1950 133,607
1960 161,144
1970 178,269
1980 172,196
1990 195,680
2000 205,727
2003 219,495

The first census, performed in 1744 on the order by the governor of Louisiana, revealed a population of approximately forty Frenchmen and one thousand Miami.[5]

As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 205,727 people, 83,333 households, and 50,666 families residing in the city. In 2005, the Census Bureau revised the population of Fort Wayne upward to 248,341 to reflect suburban annexation after 2000.

On January 1, 2006 an additional annexation of 13 square miles of suburban Aboite Township into the City of Fort Wayne became effective. It brought in approximately 30,000 additional people, boosting the city's overall population to an estimated 252,000.

There are 90,915 housing units at an average density of 444.6/km² (1,151.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 75.45% White, 17.38% Black or African American, 0.39% Native American, 1.56% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 2.91% from other races, and 2.26% from two or more races. 5.78% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 83,333 households out of which 31.5% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.9% are married couples living together, 14.6% have a female householder with no husband present, and 39.2% are non-families. 32.6% of all households are made up of individuals and 10.3% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.41 and the average family size is 3.08.

In the city the population is spread out with 27.0% under the age of 18, 10.7% from 18 to 24, 30.2% from 25 to 44, 19.7% from 45 to 64, and 12.5% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 33 years. For every 100 females there are 94.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 90.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $36,518, and the median income for a family is $45,040. Males have a median income of $34,704 versus $25,062 for females. The per capita income for the city is $18,517. 12.5% of the population and 9.6% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 17.5% of those under the age of 18 and 7.6% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

[edit] Culture

[edit] Arts and Theatre

Fort Wayne has a rich art and theatre scene. Of the many options are the Embassy Theatre, Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra, Scottish Rite Center, First Presbyterian Theatre, Bower North Productions, the Fort Wayne Dance Collective, Cinema Center, Artlink, Fort Wayne Mānnerchor/Damenchor, Foellinger Theatre, Arts United Center, Fort Wayne Youtheatre, Fort Wayne Civic Theatre, the Firehouse Theatre, Bach Collegium, IPFW Department of Music, IPFW Department of Theatre, Fort Wayne Ballet, Festival Choir of Fort Wayne, Fort Wayne Children's Choir, Fort Wayne Cinema Center, and Heartland Chamber Chorale.

The Fort Wayne Museum of Art permanently features a 1,300-piece collection,as well as traveling exhibits.

[edit] Night Life

Fort Wayne has a large number of bars and music venues. However, the night life in Fort Wayne does not center around the downtown area like most cities. Though, downtown Fort Wayne is home to the Embassy Theater and the Grand Wayne Center, the downtown night life is generally located on the small strip named Columbia Street or "The Landing" near the City County Building. Here you will find a few Dance Clubs and the corner bar "Columbia Street West" (Current Name) which is home to the Midwest Original Music Showcase (MOMS). Fort Wayne is home to Piere's the largest bar/club in the Midwest. In 2006, Piere's was rated 6th in the entire world for ticket sales in 21+ venues.

[edit] Recreation

Located in downtown Fort Wayne, the Allen County Courthouse is listed as a National Historic Landmark. Its attached park, the Courthouse Green is a gathering place for impromptu political demonstrations.
Enlarge
Located in downtown Fort Wayne, the Allen County Courthouse is listed as a National Historic Landmark. Its attached park, the Courthouse Green is a gathering place for impromptu political demonstrations.

Fort Wayne's first park, the 0.2 acre (800 m²) Old Fort Park, was established in 1863. The newest park, the 170 acre (690,000 m²) Salomon Farm Park, was established in 1995. As of 2005, the city had 87 parks covering 2,199.55 acres (8.9 km²).

[edit] Sports

Fort Wayne has a rich sports tradition, especially for a city of its size.

The first major league baseball game was played on May 4, 1871, between the Fort Wayne Kekiongas and the Cleveland Forest Citys. Fewer than 500 attended, as rain was threatening. The Kekiongas were ahead when they entered the bottom of the 9th, but 1871 rules required that a complete 9th inning be played anyway. Carey had an unassisted double-play, and Bobby Matthews had an extraordinary game - the first of many. Foran and Goldsmith both grounded out to Pratt, and just as Lenon grounded to Bass, rain started coming down in sheets.[11] The Kekiongas were financially unsuccessful, and on August 29, 1871, they merged with the Brooklyn Eckfords, who were anxious to join the only major league in baseball. When the Eckfords disbanded in 1875, most players went to the Brooklyn Hartfords, which also failed, with a majority of the team joining the Brooklyn Bridegrooms, which survives as today's Los Angeles Dodgers.

On June 3, 1883, Fort Wayne hosted the Quincy Professionals for the first lighted baseball game involving a professional team (the very first lighted game of any kind was played earlier that year in Lowell, Massachusetts).

According to local legend, Babe Ruth hit the longest home run ever hit, while playing an exhibition game in 1927 at League Park on North Clinton Street in Fort Wayne. Ruth belted a homer over the left-center-field fence, where it landed in an open boxcar, part of a moving train that was leaving Fort Wayne, not to stop for hours.

From 1945 to 1954, Fort Wayne was the home of the Daisies, of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Max Carey coached. Ernie Berg, business manager of the Daisies, and Harold Van Orman, on the original Daisies board of directors, joined together to buy an International Hockey League franchise and created the Fort Wayne Komets in time for the 1952-1953 season to be played in the brand new War Memorial Coliseum.

The National Basketball Association was organized in 1949 around Fred Zollner's kitchen table in Fort Wayne. Zollner, owner of a Fort Wayne foundry, was owner of the Zollner Pistons fast-pitch softball team, world champions in 1945, 1946 and 1947, and the Zollner Pistons basketball team, world champions in 1944 and 1945, which became the Detroit Pistons.

See also: History of sports in Fort Wayne, Indiana

[edit] Current professional sports teams

Club Sport League Venue Logo
Fort Wayne Fever Soccer Premier Development League Hefner Field Fort Wayne Fever logo
Fort Wayne Flyers Football Minor League Football Association Dave S. Walter Memorial Stadium Fort Wayne Flyers logo
Fort Wayne Fusion Arena football af2 Memorial Coliseum Image:FortWayneFusion.jpg
Fort Wayne Komets Hockey United Hockey League Memorial Coliseum Fort Wayne Komets logo
Fort Wayne Wizards Baseball Midwest League Memorial Stadium Fort Wayne Wizards logo

[edit] Media

For the complete list, see List of media in Fort Wayne, Indiana

The major newspaper in the city is the independent Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, a daily that has more than twice the circulation of the city's second daily, the Ogden Newspaper Group-owned Fort Wayne News-Sentinel. The two dailies have separate editorial departments, but under a joint operating agreement, printing, advertising, and circulation are handled by Fort Wayne Newspapers, Inc., which is 75 percent owned by the News-Sentinel, 25 percent owned by the Journal Gazette.

The city also is served by several free weekly and monthly alternative and neighborhood newspapers, including two that serve the African American community, Ink and Frost Illustrated.

Nationally, Fort Wayne is the home of the Macedonian Tribune, the oldest and largest Macedonian language publication produced outside of the Balkans.

Fort Wayne is served by a handful of television stations as the 106th-largest media market. Broadcast network affiliates include WANE-TV (CBS), WFFT-TV (FOX), WISE-TV (NBC), and WPTA (ABC). Fort Wayne's PBS Member station is WFWA. Religious broadcasters include WINM and W07CL.

UPN and The WB were primarily local cable television channels, also broadcast as digital television sub-channels on the WANE and WPTA, respectively. The CW Network and My Network TV also are cable-only for many Fort Wayne market viewers as they are broadcast by digital sub-channels of WPTA and WISE, respectively, and not broadcast on an NTSC channel.

[edit] Architecture

Fort Wayne and its suburbs are the home to many notable architectural structures, including:

Built in 1929, the Lincoln Bank Tower was the first skyscraper in the state of Indiana.
Enlarge
Built in 1929, the Lincoln Bank Tower was the first skyscraper in the state of Indiana.

[edit] Transportation

Fort Wayne is the largest city in Allen County, Indiana. This map shows its relations with nearby municipalities and major roadways. Unincorporated towns are marked with a dark red dot.
Enlarge
Fort Wayne is the largest city in Allen County, Indiana. This map shows its relations with nearby municipalities and major roadways. Unincorporated towns are marked with a dark red dot.

Fort Wayne International Airport[2] (formerly known as Fort Wayne Municipal Airport from 1946-1991 and Baer Field during World War II) is the only Midwest commercial airport, other than Chicago's O'Hare, with a 12,000-foot runway. As of April 2006, a construction project was underway to strengthen the runway to make it usable by heavier airplanes requiring a longer runway. As of 2006, Passenger service was provided by Air Wisconsin (United Express). American Eagle (American Eagle), CommutAir (Continental Connection affiliate), Atlantic Southeast (Delta Connection), Comair (Delta Connection), Mesaba (Northwest Airlink), Pinnacle (Northwest Airlink), and Sky West (United Express).

Amtrak does not offer service to Fort Wayne directly. The nearest station to Fort Wayne is in Waterloo, Indiana, 24 miles north of downtown Fort Wayne.

Fort Wayne Public Transportation Corporation Citilink provides bus service between downtown, urban shopping centers and area employment locations.

Major automobile highways and freeways in Fort Wayne include Interstate 69, Interstate 469, U.S. Route 24, U.S. Route 27, U.S. Route 30 (the Lincoln Highway), and U.S. Route 33. Fort Wayne is served by a single interstate highway (I-69), which serves as the western portion of the beltway around the metro area (I-469 serves as the beltway around the south and east portions of the metro area). Inside the beltway, there are no freeways. All major arterial roadway intersections are traffic signal controlled at-grade intersections.

Light rail systems started being built in Fort Wayne in 1872 with horse-drawn cars on Calhoun Street. By 1900, a number of lines had been built, the companies building them consolidated into one, and the lines electrified. The next step was the interurban, with a line to Huntington in 1901. Many interurban routes were built between 1900 and 1908, and no place was more enthused than Fort Wayne, which had the only full cloverleaf for the interurban in the entire country. A few well-publicized wrecks and the 1910 introduction of the Model T led to a decline of passengers, but even at peak traffic in 1915, most interurban systems were unprofitable, and many filed for bankruptcy in the 1920s.

Author Mabel Thomas, writing under the pen name Harriet Housewife, wrote that in the early 1920s, she was sent as a 4-year-old across Fort Wayne to play with a friend. I boarded by myself, and told the man where I was to go on 4th Street. When we got downtown, the man told me which car to transfer to. Several hours later, my friend's mother told me that my mother had called, that she wanted me to come home, that she had a surprise for me. I again boarded by myself, went back to Hughes Street, and found a new baby brother waiting for me."

Between 1940 and 1947, the trolleys were replaced with trolleybuses, and in 1948, the system sold to the city. By 1960, the trolleybuses had all been converted to motor buses. The same electric power plan used to power the trolley system by day was one of two electric systems lighting businesses and houses by night. After years of neglect, the system was in need of major capital expenditures that the city could not afford, and Fort Wayne leased their municipal power system to rival I&M in 1975. Science Central has occupied the old City Light power plant since 1991.

[edit] Education

[edit] Colleges and Universities

IPFW's Willis Bridge across Fort Wayne's Crescent Avenue, links the university's main academic campus with its residential campus.
Enlarge
IPFW's Willis Bridge across Fort Wayne's Crescent Avenue, links the university's main academic campus with its residential campus.

Fort Wayne is the home of Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW), with an enrollment of 11,755 is the 5th-largest public university campus in Indiana. The city also holds the main campus of the Northeast Region of Ivy Tech Community College, the second-largest public community college campus in the state. Indiana University (IU) maintains the third public higher educational facility in the city with the Fort Wayne Center for Medical Education, a branch of the IU School of Medicine.

Fort Wayne's private colleges and universities include religious-affiliates and secular institutions. Religious-affiliated schools include the University of Saint Francis (Roman Catholic), Concordia Theological Seminary (Lutheran), an Adult Learning Center of Concordia University Wisconsin (Lutheran) and Taylor University Fort Wayne (Evangelical Christian) and Indiana Wesleyan University (Wesleyan Church). Non-religious colleges and universities include the Indiana Institute of Technology (IIT) as well as regional branches of Tri-State University, Indiana Business College and International Business College.

[edit] Primary and Secondary Education

As the largest city in Allen County, Fort Wayne geographic boundaries extend into each of the four elementary, middle and high school districts in the county. Most of Fort Wayne Community Schools is located within the Fort Wayne city limits; the district also extends into Pleasant Township on the south and into unincorporated areas of Wayne, St. Joseph and Washington Townships. Most of southeastern and parts of eastern Fort Wayne lies within the East Allen County Schools district, while the northern and northwestern part of the city lies in the Northwest Allen County Schools district. The 2006 annexation of a large swath of Aboite Township extended Fort Wayne into the remaining school district in the county, Southwest Allen County Schools.

[edit] Religion

See also List of churches in Fort Wayne, Indiana

Beside its "Summit City" nickname, Fort Wayne also is informally called the "City of Churches" by some of its residents; a nickname that stretches back to the late 1800s when the city was the hub of regional Catholic and Lutheran faiths. Until the building of the Lincoln Bank Tower in 1929, church and cathedral spires dominated the city's skyline.

Fort Wayne is the principal see-city of the Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend whose region includes Northeastern and North central Indiana. The principal cathedral of the diocese is the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, located in downtown Fort Wayne.

As of May 2006, three national Christian congregations were headquartered in Fort Wayne: the Fundamental Baptist Fellowship Association, Missionary Church, Inc. and the Fellowship of Evangelical Churches (formerly Evangelical Mennonite Church).

[edit] Notable natives

Johnny Appleseed, Harper’s Magazine, 1871
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Johnny Appleseed, Harper’s Magazine, 1871

See also List of famous people from Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Many celebrities, politicians, writers, inventors and business were born or raised or made their mark in history while living in Fort Wayne, Indiana. [7]

Perhaps one of the most enduring famous residents of Fort Wayne was pioneer horticulturalist and Swedenborgian missionary, John Chapman, who is better known in American folklore as Johnny Appleseed.

A regional center of the arts, Fort Wayne has been the birthplace of stars of Broadway, film and television. These include film actress Carole Lombard, and television actors Shelley Long of Cheers and Dick York of Bewitched. Fashion designer Bill Blass was born in Fort Wayne, as was author and mythology expert Edith Hamilton, and her sister, Dr. Alice Hamilton.

Many business leaders were born or raised in Fort Wayne, including Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy's International and industrialist Fred Zollner, founder of the National Basketball Association and the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons(later renamed the Detroit Pistons).

Fort Wayne natives who entered politics include former U.S. Surgeon General Leonard Andrew Scheele, former U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia E. Ross Adair, and former United States Secretary of the Treasury and first Comptroller of the Currency, Hugh McCulloch, the namesake of Fort Wayne's McCulloch Park.

Rod Woodson, professional football player, Eric Wedge, Cleveland Indians manager

[edit] Cultural impact

[edit] TV programs and films shot in Fort Wayne

[edit] TV programs and films set in Fort Wayne

  • A 2005-2006 episode of Supernatural sent the stars on a search for the source of the original "Bloody Mary" mirror in Fort Wayne.
  • Episode 104: "Wish we Weren't Here" of ABC series Dharma & Greg was set in the Fort Wayne International Airport although shot in a studio.

[edit] Fictional characters from Fort Wayne

[edit] Novels set in the Fort Wayne area

  • Richard Bach's 1977 book Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah in the mystical hills east of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Ironically, east of Fort Wayne are the remnants of the Black Swamp, the flattest land in Indiana and Ohio.

[edit] Sister cities

Fort Wayne has three sister cities as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI) and Fort Wayne Sister Cities International (FWSCI):

[edit] References

  • Bradley, George K., Fort Wayne and Wabash Valley trolleys, Central Electric Railfans' Association, 1983, ISBN 0-915348-22-5
  • Griswold, Bert J., Fort Wayne, gateway of the West, AMS Press, 1973, ISBN 0-404-07133-3
  • Hawfield, Michael C., Fort Wayne Cityscapes: Highlights of a Community's History, Windsor Publications, 1988, ISBN 0-89781-244-1
  • Martone, Michael, Fort Wayne is seventh on Hitler's list: Indiana stories, Indiana University Press, 1993, ISBN 0-253-33687-2
  • Paddock, Geoff, Headwaters Park: Fort Wayne's Lasting Legacy, Arcadia Publishing, 2002, ISBN 0-7385-1971-5
  • Thornborough, Gayle, Letter Book of the Indian Agency At Fort Wayne 1809-1815, Indiana Historical Society, 1961
  • Community Magazine segment of the 2006 Verizon Directory

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Shawgo, Ron, City count approaches 250,000, census says, Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, June 21, 2006. (Accessed June 21, 2006)
  2. ^ Brice, Wallace A. (1868) "History of Fort Wayne, from the Earliest Known Accounts of this Point to the Present Period". D.W. Jones & son.
  3. ^ Goodrich, De Witt C. and Charles Richard Tuttle (1875) An Illustrated History of the State of Indiana. (NP:R. S. Peale & Co., ND).
  4. ^ "Vincennes, Sieur de (Jean Baptiste Bissot)," The Encyclopedia Americana (Danbury, CT: Grolier, 1990), 28:130.
  5. ^ a b c Peckham, Howard Henry (2003) "Indiana: A History". W.W. Norton ISBN 0-252-07146-8.
  6. ^ Hoxie, Frederick E. (1996) "Encyclopedia of North American Indians: Native American History, Culture, and Life from Paleo-Indians to the Present". Houghton Mifflin Company. p.343 ISBN 0-395-66921-9.
  7. ^ a b Willis, Wanda (2002) "Haunted Hoosier Trails: A Guide to Indiana's Famous Folklore Spooky Sites". Guild Press Emmis Publishing, L.P. p.45. ISBN 1-57860-115-0.
  8. ^ Kevin Leninger, Not the brightest bulb in the box, Fort Wayne News Sentinel, January 12, 2005. (Accessed August 3, 2006)
  9. ^ Barbara Johnstone, Stories, Community, and Place: Narratives for Middle America, Indiana University Press, 1990.
  10. ^ Fort Wayne, Indiana, Weatherbase.com (Accessed July 1, 2006)
  11. ^ Box Score - Kekiongas 2, Forest Cities, 0

[edit] External links

The following links are references for more information or provided source material for the information provided in the above article:

State of Indiana
Regions Michiana | Nine-County Region | Northern Indiana | Northwest Indiana | Southern Indiana | Wabash Valley
Largest cities Anderson | Bloomington | Carmel | Columbus | East Chicago | Elkhart | Evansville | Fishers | Fort Wayne | Gary | Goshen | Greenwood | Hammond | Indianapolis | Jeffersonville | Kokomo | Lafayette | Lawrence | Marion | Merrillville | Michigan City | Mishawaka | Muncie | New Albany | Noblesville | Portage | Richmond | South Bend | Terre Haute | Valparaiso | West Lafayette
Counties Adams | Allen | Bartholomew | Benton | Blackford | Boone | Brown | Carroll | Cass | Clark | Clay | Clinton | Crawford | Daviess | De Kalb | Dearborn | Decatur | Delaware | Dubois | Elkhart | Fayette | Floyd | Fountain | Franklin | Fulton | Gibson | Grant | Greene | Hamilton | Hancock | Harrison | Hendricks | Henry | Howard | Huntington | Jackson | Jasper | Jay | Jefferson | Jennings | Johnson | Knox | Kosciusko | Lagrange | Lake | LaPorte | Lawrence | Madison | Marion | Marshall | Martin | Miami | Monroe | Montgomery | Morgan | Newton | Noble | Ohio | Orange | Owen | Parke | Perry | Pike | Porter | Posey | Pulaski | Putnam | Randolph | Ripley | Rush | Saint Joseph | Scott | Shelby | Spencer | Starke | Steuben | Sullivan | Switzerland | Tippecanoe | Tipton | Union | Vanderburgh | Vermillion | Vigo | Wabash | Warren | Warrick | Washington | Wayne | Wells | White | Whitley
v • d • e
The 100 largest cities of the United States by population [3]

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