| Town of Fort Branch, Indiana | |
|---|---|
| — Town — | |
| Location in the state of Indiana | |
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Indiana |
| County | Gibson |
| Township | Union |
| Area | |
| • Total | 0.7 sq mi (2.2 km2) |
| • Land | 0.7 sq mi (2.2 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 449 ft (137 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| • Total | 2,320 |
| • Density | 3,135.2/sq mi (1,210.5/km2) |
| Time zone | CST (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 47648 |
| Area code(s) | 812 |
| FIPS code | 18-24250[1] |
| GNIS feature ID | 0434683[2] |
Fort Branch is the largest town and second largest community in Gibson County, Indiana, United States after Princeton. The population was 2,320 at the 2000 census.
Contents |
Fort Branch is located at (38.246872, -87.576003)[3].
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.7 square miles (1.9 km²), all of it land.
As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 2,320 people, 985 households, and 647 families residing in the town. The population density was 3,131.0 people per square mile (1,210.5/km²). There were 1,051 housing units at an average density of 1,418.4 per square mile (548.4/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.53% White, 0.26% African American, 0.26% Native American, 0.26% Asian, 0.30% from other races, and 0.39% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.69% of the population.
There were 985 households out of which 31.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.2% were married couples living together, 8.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.3% were non-families. 30.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.95.
In the town the population was spread out with 24.5% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 30.5% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 16.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 92.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.1 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $35,964, and the median income for a family was $46,397. Males had a median income of $34,125 versus $21,314 for females. The per capita income for the town was $17,180. About 1.6% of families and 4.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.1% of those under age 18 and 3.2% of those age 65 or over.
South Gibson School Corporation
K-8: Fort Branch Community School
9-12: Gibson Southern High School
Fort Branch High School (merged into Gibson Southern High School in 1974)
Marlette School
Like Princeton, Fort Branch is also largely a blue-collar town although of somewhat smaller size. For a long time the town's largest employer was the Emge Foods processing and packing plant, still located along the southwest portion of the town. When the plant closed in May 1999, it had been in operation for nearly 90 years.
As the Emge plant was starting to close, Toyota announced that it would be building a manufacturing facility on a patch of farmland located halfway between Fort Branch and nearby Princeton. While most of the suppliers for the new Toyota plant are located closer to Princeton, most of the population gains from employees moving closer to work moved into either Fort Branch, or into Haubstadt or Owensville.
Recently, Vincennes University announced plans to build an advanced manufacturing education facility just south of Fort Branch along U.S. 41 to provide such education to an area becoming more diverse in manufacturing methods. This is expected to provide a major boost to lifestyle in the Fort Branch-Haubstadt Area. Ground Broke on the new facility on October 23, 2009.
On June 18, 2010 a fire started at the former Emge Foods plant. By June 22, the fire had destroyed the vacant meat processing plant portion of the complex but was put out. Fire departments from three counties battled to control the fire, dealing with the unstable structure of the 100+-year-old building and the 95+-degree temperatures that occurred during the five day period the fire burned.[4]
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