| City of Lafayette | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| — City — | |||
| Downtown Lafayette @ the Riehle Plaza & CityBus depot | |||
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| Nickname(s): "Star City" | |||
| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | United States | ||
| State | Indiana | ||
| County | Tippecanoe | ||
| Townships | Fairfield, Wea | ||
| Platted | 1825 | ||
| Incorporated | 1853 | ||
| Founder | William Digby | ||
| Named for | General Lafayette | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | Tony Roswarski (D) | ||
| Area | |||
| • City | 20.1 sq mi (52.0 km2) | ||
| • Land | 20.1 sq mi (52.0 km2) | ||
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) | ||
| • Metro | 904.6 sq mi (2,342.9 km2) | ||
| Elevation[1] | 692 ft (211 m) | ||
| Population (2010) | |||
| • City | 67,140 | ||
| • Density | 3,340.3/sq mi (1,083.9/km2) | ||
| • Metro | 201,789 | ||
| Time zone | EST (UTC-5) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) | ||
| ZIP code | 47901, 47904, 47905, 47909 | ||
| Area code(s) | 765 | ||
| Twin cities | |||
| • Ōta City | Japan | ||
| FIPS code | 18-40788[2] | ||
| GNIS feature ID | 0437501[3] | ||
| Website | http://www.lafayette.in.gov | ||
Lafayette ( /ˌlɑːfiːˈɛt/ or lah-fee-YET) is a city in and the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States,[4] 63 miles (101 km) northwest of Indianapolis. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 67,140. West Lafayette, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, which has a large impact on both communities. Together, Lafayette and West Lafayette form the core of the Lafayette, IN Metropolitan Statistical Area.
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When European explorers first reached the area around what is now Tippecanoe County, it was inhabited by a tribe of Miami Indians 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 the location of present-day Lafayette. The fort became the center of trade for fur trappers, merchants and Indians. An annual reenactment and festival known as Feast of the Hunters' Moon takes place there each autumn.[5]
The town of Lafayette was platted in May 1825 by a river trader William Digby. It was made county seat of the newly formed Tippecanoe County the following year. Like many frontier towns, Lafayette was named for General Lafayette, a French soldier 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 center 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 in and around Lafayette and moved there from Connecticut to supervise land sales.[6] By 1847 Ellsworth was distributing broadsides looking for farmers to purchase his farmland.[7] 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.[8] Lafayette's Ellsworth Street and Ellsworth Historic District are named for the early real estate developer.[9]
The Wabash and Erie Canal in the 1840s further cemented Lafayette's regional prominence, which was also heightened by the arrival of the railroads in the 1850s. The Monon Railroad connected Lafayette with other sections of Indiana.
Lafayette was the site of the first official air mail delivery in the United States, which took place on August 17, 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 U.S. Postal Service issued a 7¢ airmail stamp commemorating the centennial of the event.[10]
Lafayette is located at (40.410585, -86.874681)[11] and lies 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 United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 20.1 square miles (52 km2), all of it land.
In recent years, temperatures in Lafayette have ranged from an average low of 17 °F (−8 °C) in January to a high of 86 °F (30 °C) in July, although a record low of −23 °F (−31 °C) was recorded in January 1985 and a record high of 105 °F (41 °C) was recorded in June 1988. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 1.58 inches (40 mm) inches in February to 4.24 inches (108 mm) inches in June.[12]
| Climate data for Lafayette, Indiana | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 69 (21) |
74 (23) |
82 (28) |
89 (32) |
93 (34) |
104 (40) |
106 (41) |
98 (37) |
102 (39) |
92 (33) |
80 (27) |
71 (22) |
106 (41) |
| Average high °F (°C) | 31.6 (−0.2) |
36.9 (2.7) |
48.5 (9.2) |
60.7 (15.9) |
72.3 (22.4) |
81.4 (27.4) |
84.5 (29.2) |
82.5 (28.1) |
76.9 (24.9) |
64.8 (18.2) |
49.9 (9.9) |
36.9 (2.7) |
60.58 (15.88) |
| Average low °F (°C) | 14.3 (−9.8) |
18.3 (−7.6) |
28.7 (−1.8) |
38.7 (3.7) |
49.7 (9.8) |
58.9 (14.9) |
62.4 (16.9) |
60.4 (15.8) |
52.6 (11.4) |
41.3 (5.2) |
31.7 (−0.2) |
20.5 (−6.4) |
39.79 (4.33) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −25 (−32) |
−23 (−31) |
−15 (−26) |
4 (−16) |
24 (−4) |
36 (2) |
42 (6) |
36 (2) |
26 (−3) |
19 (−7) |
−2 (−19) |
−25 (−32) |
−25 (−32) |
| Precipitation inches (mm) | 1.91 (48.5) |
1.73 (43.9) |
2.98 (75.7) |
3.26 (82.8) |
4.18 (106.2) |
4.38 (111.3) |
3.91 (99.3) |
3.73 (94.7) |
2.78 (70.6) |
2.44 (62) |
3.04 (77.2) |
2.56 (65) |
36.90 (937.3) |
| Snowfall inches (cm) | 6.5 (16.5) |
4.8 (12.2) |
2.9 (7.4) |
0.7 (1.8) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0.3 (0.8) |
0.8 (2) |
5.2 (13.2) |
21.2 (53.8) |
| Avg. precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 9.6 | 7.7 | 10.2 | 10.9 | 10.6 | 10.4 | 8.9 | 8.4 | 7.6 | 8.3 | 9.8 | 10.1 | 112.5 |
| Avg. snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) | 5.3 | 3.3 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 3.5 | 15.1 |
| Source no. 1: The Weather Channel (January record high)[13] | |||||||||||||
| Source no. 2: NOAA[14] | |||||||||||||
Lafayette is the larger principal city of the Lafayette-Frankfort CSA, a Combined Statistical Area that includes the Lafayette metropolitan area (Benton, Carroll, and Tippecanoe counties) and the Frankfort micropolitan area (Clinton County),[15][16][17] which had a combined population of 212,408 at the 2000 census.[2]
As of the census[2] of 2000, there were 56,397 people, 24,060 households, and 13,666 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,806.5 people per square mile (1,083.9/km2). There were 25,602 housing units at an average density of 1,274.1 per square mile (492.0/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 88.91% White; 3.22% African American; 0.37% Native American; 1.22% Asian; 0.04% Pacific Islander; 4.61% from other races, and 1.62% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.11% of the population.
There were 24,060 households out of which 27.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them; 42.5% were married couples living together; 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present; and 43.2% were non-families. 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 individuals and the average family size was 2.98.
In the city the population was spread out with 23.2% under the age of 18; 14.2% from 18 to 24; 31.3% from 25 to 44; 19.3% from 45 to 64; and 12.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 97.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $35,859, and the median income for a family was $45,480. Males had a median income of $32,892 versus $23,049 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,217. About 8.0% of families and 12.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.8% of those under age 18 and 4.6% of those age 65 or over.
The government consists of a mayor – elected in a citywide vote – and a city council which consists of nine members of whom six are elected from individual districts. Three members are elected at-large.
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 is a tuition-free elementary charter school (sponsored by Ball State University) located in downtown Lafayette.
Newspaper
Television
Commercial Radio Stations
Non-commercial Radio Stations
Airports
Highways
Railroads
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 of the rail lines that originally passed through the downtown were redirected in the mid-1990s to a rail corridor near the Wabash River.[18][19]
Bus Service
Much of the economy of the city of Lafayette and the surrounding area is centered around the academic and industrial activities of Purdue University. The university and its associated businesses employ the largest portion of the Lafayette workforce. However, private industry and commerce independent of the university also exist in the community. Some notable examples include:
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1850 | 6,129 |
|
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| 1860 | 9,387 | 53.2% | |
| 1870 | 13,506 | 43.9% | |
| 1880 | 14,860 | 10.0% | |
| 1890 | 16,243 | 9.3% | |
| 1900 | 18,116 | 11.5% | |
| 1910 | 20,081 | 10.8% | |
| 1920 | 22,486 | 12.0% | |
| 1930 | 26,240 | 16.7% | |
| 1940 | 28,798 | 9.7% | |
| 1950 | 35,558 | 23.5% | |
| 1960 | 42,330 | 19.0% | |
| 1970 | 44,955 | 6.2% | |
| 1980 | 43,011 | −4.3% | |
| 1990 | 43,764 | 1.8% | |
| 2000 | 56,397 | 28.9% | |
| 2010 | 67,140 | 19.0% | |
| Source: US Census Bureau | |||
For notable residents associated with Purdue University, see List of Purdue University people.
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