Vigo County is a county located in the U.S.
state of Indiana
. As
of
2000, the
population was 105,848.
The county seat is Terre Haute
. Vigo County is included in the Terre Haute,
Indiana,
Metropolitan
Statistical Area.
The county is one of the best
bellwether
regions for voting U.S. presidential elections; it has voted for
the winning candidate in every election since 1960 and in all but
two elections since 1892. It continued the trend in 2008, voting
for Illinois Senator
Barack Obama by a
15-point margin.
History
Vigo County, pronounced (Vee-go) or (Vye-go) depending on whom you
ask, was officially formed in 1818 by order of the Indiana State
Legislature.
The county is named in honor of Col. Francis Vigo, of Italian heritage but a citizen
of Spain
due to
residence in St. Louis. He is credited with great assistance
to
George Rogers Clark both in
financing Clark's exploration and
Revolutionary War efforts, and in service
as an agent obtaining military information for Clark against
British campaigns on the then frontier.
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 county council is the
legislative branch of the county government and controls all the
spending and revenue collection in the county. Representatives are
elected from county districts. The council members serve four year
terms. They are responsible for setting salaries, the annual
budget, and special spending. The council also 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 is made of a board of commissioners. The commissioners are
elected county-wide, in staggered terms, and each serves a four
year term. One of the commissioners, typically the most senior,
serves as president. The commissioners are charged with executing
the acts legislated by the council, the collection of revenue, and
managing the day-to-day functions of the county government.
Court: The county maintains a
small claims court that can handle some
civil cases. The judge on the court is elected to a term of four
years and must be a member of the Indiana Bar Association. The
judge is assisted by a constable who is also elected to terms of
four years. In some cases, court decisions can be appealed to the
state level
circuit court.
County Officials: The county has several other
elected offices, including
sheriff,
coroner,
auditor,
treasurer,
recorder,
surveyor, and circuit court
clerk. Each of these elected officers serve
terms of four years and oversee different parts of the county
government. Members elected to any county government position are
required to declare a
party
affiliation and be a resident of the county.
Geography
According to the
U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total
area of 410 square miles (1,063 km²), of which
403 square miles (1,045 km²) is land and 7 square
miles (19 km²) (1.75%) is water.
Adjacent counties
Cities and towns
Unincorporated towns
Townships
Twelve townships make up Vigo County. They are:
A map of the arrangement of the townships is available from the
Vigo
County Public Library site.
Major highways
Demographics
The Vigo County Courthouse.
As of the
census of 2000, there were 105,848
people, 40,998 households, and 26,074 families residing in the
county. The
population density
was 262 people per square mile (101/km²). There were 45,203 housing
units at an average density of 112 per square mile (43/km²).
The racial makeup of the county was 90.66%
White, 6.04%
Black or
African American, 0.27%
Native American, 1.22%
Asian, 0.04%
Pacific Islander, 0.39% from
other races, and 1.38%
from two or more races. 1.20% of the population were
Hispanic or
Latino of any race.
21.6% were of
German, 21.0% American
, 11.1% English and
9.8% Irish ancestry according to
Census 2000.
There were 40,998 households out of which 29.60% had children under
the age of 18 living with them, 48.00% were
married couples living together, 11.70% had a
female householder with no husband present, and 36.40% were
non-families. 30.00% of all households were made up of individuals
and 11.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or
older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family
size was 2.96.
In the county the population was spread out with 22.90% under the
age of 18, 14.30% from 18 to 24, 27.30% from 25 to 44, 21.30% from
45 to 64, and 14.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median
age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 96.60 males. For
every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.80 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $33,184, and
the median income for a family was $42,957. Males had a median
income of $32,854 versus $22,381 for females. The
per capita income for the county was
$17,620. About 10.30% of families and 14.10% of the population were
below the
poverty line, including
17.60% of those under age 18 and 9.50% of those age 65 or
over.
The public school district is the Vigo County School Corporation,
which at serving over 16,000 students is one of the largest school
corporations in the state.
Vigo County
Population by year
|
2000 105,848
1990 106,107
1980 112,385
1970 114,528
1960 108,458
1950 105,160
1940 99,709
1930 98,861
1920 100,212
1910 87,930
1900 62,035
1890 50,195
1880 45,658
1870 33,549
1860 22,517
1850 15,289
1840 12,076
1830 5,766
1820 3,390
|
References
External links
(north)
(northeast)
(east)
(south)
, Illinois
(southwest)
, Illinois
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