Union County, Indiana

Union County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 7,087. The county seat is Liberty.

Since 2018, Union County has been included in the Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is located on the Indiana-Ohio border.

History
Prior to cession to the United States government, this area belonged to and was inhabited by peoples of the Chippewa, Delaware, Eel River, Kaskaskia, Kickapoo, Miami, Ottawa, Piankishaw, Potawatomi, Shawnee, Wea, and Wyandot tribes.

The future state of Indiana was first regulated by passage of the Northwest Ordinance in 1787. In 1790 the Territory was divided into two counties, with Knox covering much of present-day Indiana. The area later known as Union County was included in lands ceded to the U.S. government in two treaties: in 1795 with the Treaty of Greenville and in 1809 with the Treaty of Fort Wayne.

In 1810, a portion of Knox was partitioned to create Wayne County; in 1811 a portion further south was partitioned to create Franklin. The area between those two counties was partitioned in 1818 to create Fayette; by the 1820s the eastern part of Fayette County was sufficiently populated to warrant separate representation. Thus on January 5, 1821, the state legislature authorized the creation of Union County, with areas ceded from Wayne County, Fayette County and Franklin County. The organization of the new county's governing structure began on February 1, 1821.

It was so named because it united parts of Fayette, Franklin and Wayne counties. The first non-native settlers were from Laurens District, South Carolina. John Templeton was the first settler to enter land at the Cincinnati land office in what would become Harmony Township, Union County, Indiana. The first county seat was Brownsville, a small community on the East Fork of the Whitewater River. The seat was moved in 1824 to Liberty, a central location. The primary industry of Union County was and is farming.

Geography
Union County lies on the east side of Indiana; its east border abuts the state of Ohio. Its low rolling hills have now been cleared of timber, although drainage areas are still largely brush-filled. The area is devoted to agricultural or recreational uses. The highest point on the terrain (1140 ft ASL) is a rise near the county's north border, 1.0 mi ENE from Witts Station.

Silver Creek flows southwestward through the northeastern part of the county, discharging into Whitewater Lake. The East Fork of Whitewater River flows southward through the upper western part of the county, discharging into Brookville Lake. The lower part of the county is drained by Dubois Creek, flowing westward into Brookville Lake.

According to the 2010 census, the county has a total area of 165.18 sqmi, of which 161.22 sqmi (or 97.60%) is land and 3.95 sqmi (or 2.39%) is water.

Adjacent counties

 * Wayne County – north
 * Preble County, Ohio – east
 * Butler County, Ohio – southeast
 * Franklin County – south
 * Fayette County – west

Major highways

 * [[Image:US 27.svg|20px]] U.S. Route 27
 * [[Image:indiana 44.svg|20px]] Indiana State Road 44
 * [[Image:indiana 101.svg|20px]] Indiana State Road 101
 * [[Image:indiana 227.svg|20px]] Indiana State Road 227

Lakes

 * Brookville Lake (part)
 * Whitewater Lake

Protected areas

 * Whitewater Memorial State Park

Quakertown State Recreation Area

Incorporated towns

 * Liberty (county seat)
 * West College Corner

Unincorporated communities

 * Billingsville
 * Brownsville
 * Charlottesville
 * Clifton
 * Cottage Grove
 * Dunlapsville
 * Five Points
 * Goodwins Corner
 * Hopeville
 * Kitchel
 * Lotus
 * Philomath
 * Quakertown
 * Roseburg
 * Salem
 * Witts Station
 * Yankee Town

Townships

 * Brownsville
 * Center
 * Harmony
 * Harrison
 * Liberty
 * Union

Climate and weather
In recent years, average temperatures in Liberty have ranged from a low of 17 °F in January to a high of 87 °F in July, although a record low of -31 °F was recorded in January 1994 and a record high of 104 °F was recorded in September 1951. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 2.68 in in September to 4.90 in in May.

Government
The county government is a constitutional body, and is granted specific powers by the Constitution of Indiana, and by the Indiana Code.

County Council: The legislative branch of the county government; controls spending and revenue collection in the county. Representatives are elected to four-year terms from county districts. They set salaries, the annual budget, and special spending. The council has limited authority to impose local taxes, in the form of an income and property tax that is subject to state level approval, excise taxes, and service taxes.

Board of Commissioners: The executive body of the county. Commissioners are elected county-wide to staggered four-year terms. One commissioner serves as president. The commissioners execute acts legislated by the council, collect revenue, and manage county government.

Court: The county maintains a circuit court that can handle all case types. The judge of the court is elected to a term of six years and must be a member of the Indiana Bar Association. In some cases, court decisions can be appealed to the state level appeals court.

County Officials: The county has other elected offices, including sheriff, coroner, auditor, treasurer, recorder, surveyor, and circuit court clerk. These officers are elected to four-year terms. People elected to county government positions are required to be residents of the county.

2010 Census
As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 7,516 people, 2,938 households, and 2,117 families in the county. The population density was 46.6 PD/sqmi. There were 3,239 housing units at an average density of 20.1 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the county was 97.5% white, 0.4% black or African American, 0.3% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 0.1% Pacific islander, 0.3% from other races, and 1.1% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.1% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 26.2% were German, 16.0% were Irish, 11.9% were English, and 11.6% were American.

Of the 2,938 households, 34.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.0% were married couples living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 27.9% were non-families, and 23.9% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 2.99. The median age was 40.3 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $47,697 and the median income for a family was $49,815. Males had a median income of $39,603 versus $27,394 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,243. About 8.2% of families and 11.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.2% of those under age 18 and 10.0% of those age 65 or over.

Education
All of Union County is served by the Union County–College Corner Joint School District, the only joint state school district in the state.

Notable people

 * Ambrose Everett Burnside (1824–1881), soldier, railroad executive, inventor, industrialist, politician
 * Thomas W. Bennett (territorial governor) (1831–1893), governor of Idaho Territory 1871–1875; born in Union County
 * Hiram Rhodes Revels (1827–1901), first African-American member of the US Senate, representing Mississippi 1870–1871; attended the Union County Quaker Seminary.
 * Bill Bartlett (fl. 1970s-2010s), musician, guitarist for Ram Jam
 * Jay Hall Connaway (1893–1970), Realist painter
 * Mary Alice Smith (1850-_), aka Little Orphant Annie
 * Bob Jenkins (1947–2021), television and radio sports announcer for ESPN/ABC Sports
 * Edward E. Moore (1866–1940), Indiana state senator and Los Angeles City Council member
 * Joaquin Miller American poet, author, and frontiersman