Facts & History

History

Summary

The land containing Hamilton County was brought into the possession of the United States by the Treaty of St. Mary's in 1818. William Conner was one of the first settlers in the county. In the summer of 1822, after realizing there were enough settlers in the area, Conner and other settlers applied to the Indiana Legislature for a charter authorizing them to become a separate and independent county under Indiana law. The application was presented to the Legislature at the 1822-23 session and the act was passed and approved by the governor on January 8, 1823. The act took effect on the first Monday in April (April 7), 1823. The County Commissioners first met on May 5, 1823, at the house of William Conner. Conner's house would also serve as the County Circuit Court. The county was named after Alexander Hamilton, the first secretary of the treasury.

More Resources

• Hamilton County Historical Society - A non-profit educational institution created to collect, preserve and interpret the history of Hamilton County, Indiana. It provides museum tours, brochures, a newsletter and personal recollections recorded by the members of the society.
• Westfield/Washington Historical Society

Facts

Census Data

Hamilton County Quick Facts - Provides information and statistics from current censuses, such as demographics, income/poverty and community growth.

SAVI

The Social Assets and Vulnerabilities Indicators (SAVI) Community Information System is one the nation's largest spatially-enabled systems of its type, providing detailed, geographically precise information needed to make data-informed decisions. It contains over 10,000 data items about the social, physical, and economic conditions of Central Indiana communities from counties to neighborhoods and census tracts, as well as information on thousands of non-profit and community-based organizations and programs.

Historic Indiana Atlases

The resources in this collection are historical atlases of various Indiana counties including Hamilton, Henry, Madison and Putnam. These books not only provide maps of Hoosier areas dating from 1875 to 1901, but also provide rich historical details of the central Indiana region.