Terre Haute, IN news and local guide

The building of Fort Harrison in 1811 marked the start of a permanent European-American population. A Wea village already stood near the fort, and the orchards and meadows the Wea kept a few miles to the south became the site of the city. The village of Terre Haute, then in Knox County, was platted in 1816 and became the seat of the new Vigo County in 1818. Its roughly 1,000 residents voted to incorporate in 1832, and it became a city in 1853. Early Terre Haute lived by farming, milling and pork packing, but transportation drove its growth before 1960. The Wabash River, the National Road, now U.S. 40, and the Wabash and Erie Canal linked it to wider markets. Its economy came to rest on iron and steel mills, hominy plants and, late in the 19th century, distilleries, breweries and bottle makers. Coal mines grew up to supply the railroads, but farming stayed dominant, largely because corn was needed for liquor and food products. Sources Wikipedia: Terre Haute, Indiana