Sullivan County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana, and determined by the US Census Bureau to include the mean center of U.S. population in 1940. As of 2023, the population was estimated at 20,757. The county seat (and the county's only incorporated city) is Sullivan. Sullivan County is included in the Terre Haute metropolitan area.
History On February 25, 1779, Col. George Rogers Clark captured Fort Sackville at Vincennes from the British. About west at Pointe Coupee on the Wabash River on March 2, 1779, Capt. Leonard Helm commanding three boats and 50 volunteers from Vincennes captured a reinforcement fleet of seven boats carrying 40 soldiers and valuable supplies and Indian trade goods. This small naval battle completed the destruction of British military strength in the Wabash Valley.
The county's first settlement occurred between 1808 and 1812, by a religious society of celibates known as Shakers. The 400 members of this communal group occupied , west of Carlisle.
General William Henry Harrison’s army made its last camp in Sullivan County at Big Springs on September 29, 1811. Harrison used Benjamin Turman's fort as his headquarters. With spring water available, it was an ideal location for 1000 men, including 160 dragoons and 60 mounted riflemen. A Kentucky soldier killed a fellow Kentuckian, Clark, either accidentally or in a grudge fight. The deceased was buried at the top of a hill that became the Mann Turman Cemetery. General Harrison and his troops continued north on the Wea Indiana Trail to build Fort Harrison and then proceeded to the Battle of Tippecanoe.
A War of 1812 military action occurred in September 1812, west−southwest of Sullivan County. While escorting supplies from Fort Knox near Vincennes to Fort Harrison at Terre Haute, Sergeant Nathan Fairbanks and approximately a dozen soldiers were ambushed - and most killed - by Indians.
In 1815, Carlisle was founded.
An act of the Indiana legislature dated December 30, 1816, created Sullivan County, with areas partitioned from Knox County. The effective date of the new government was January 15, 1817, with interim commissioners charged to begin organizing the new government in February. It was named for Daniel Sullivan, a prominent frontiersman killed in 1790 by Native Americans while carrying a dispatch between Fort Vincennes and Louisville.
A log courthouse in Merom served as Sullivan County's first county seat from 1819 to 1842. Merom was an important river port and a stop on the stage route known as The Old Harrison Trail. William Henry Harrison's troops camped near here on their 1811 march to the Battle of Tippecanoe.
Pioneer heroine of abdominal surgery Jane Todd is buried in Sullivan County. Born in Virginia in 1763, she and her husband, Thomas Crawford, moved to Green County, Kentucky, in 1805. Suffering from a huge abdominal tumor, she rode to Danville, Kentucky, to submit to a never-before-performed surgical procedure. On Christmas Day 1809, Dr. Ephraim McDowell performed the first ovariotomy, in his home. The ordeal lasted 25 minutes. There was no anesthesia. Mrs. Crawford recovered completely and years later came to Graysville to live with her son, Thomas, a Presbyterian minister. She died in 1842 at age 78. The restored McDowell home in Danville, Kentucky, is a surgical shrine.
Sullivan was founded in 1853 and became the county seat.
Dedicated in 1862, Union Christian College served as a preparatory school and college until 1924. In 1936 it became Merom Institute—a rural enrichment center. Now owned by the United Church of Christ, it serves as a camp, conference, and retreat center.
Numerous violent conflicts erupted in Sullivan County during the American Civil War over differing war sentiments. On July 14, 1864, anti-war Democrat John Drake was fatally shot at a community picnic near here.
In November 1902, a mob abducted James Dillard from the Sullivan County sheriff, John S. Dudley, as he was being taken to Sullivan. After kidnapping Dillard, they lynched him. In response to the lynching, Governor Winfield Durbin dismissed the sheriff - a decision which was in line with Indiana's 1899 anti-lynching law. However, Sheriff Dudley ultimately remained in office after he and other officials entered into a legal battle about the decision.
Organized nationally to bring culture to rural communities, Merom's 10-day religious and educational Chautauqua event featured concerts, debates, plays, and lectures. Carrie Nation, William Jennings Bryan, William Howard Taft, Warren G. Harding, and Billy Sunday were among its speakers.
On February 20, 1925, an explosion occurred at the Sullivan City Mine, killing 51.
In 1968, the Sullivan County Park and Lake was created. It contains a reservoir for swimming, boating, and fishing. The lake is stocked with crappie, hybrid saugeye, bass, bluegill, and channel catfish. Water skiing is popular. Sullivan County Park and Lake has of land for camping and a 9-hole golf course. The campground offers sites ranging from primitive camping to space for motor homes.
Geography Sullivan County lies on the west edge of Indiana; its western border abuts the state of Illinois (across the Wabash River). The meanders of the Wabash delineate the county's west border. The upper part of the county is drained by Turtle Creek, which flows southwestward into the river. The lower part of the county is similarly drained by Busseron Creek.
The county's abundant woods were largely cleared and devoted to agriculture during the nineteenth century. At present only the drainages remain wooded.Sullivan County IN (Google Maps, accessed 4 November 2020) Its highest point ( ASL) is a small rise east of Carlisle.Sullivan County High Point, Indiana (PeakBagger.com, accessed 4 November 2020)
According to the 2010 census, the county has a total area of , of which (or 98.46%) is land and (or 1.53%) is water.
Adjacent counties
Vigo County − north Clay County − northeast Greene County − east Knox County − south Crawford County, Illinois − west Clark County, Illinois − northwest
Protected areas
Busseron Creek Fish & Wildlife Area Elliott Woods State Nature Preserve Greene-Sullivan State Forest (part) Redbird State Recreation Area (part) Shakamak State Park (part) Sullivan County Park and Lake Turtle Creek Reservoir
City Sullivan - county seat
Towns
Carlisle Dugger Farmersburg Hymera Merom Shelburn
Unincorporated communities
Baker Baldridge Bucktown Cass Curryville Dodds Bridge East Shelburn Fairbanks Gambill Gilmour − part Graysville Jackson Hill Lewis − part Merom Station New Lebanon Paxton Pleasantville Riverton Riverview Scotchtown Scott City Shiloh Standard Wilfred
Ghost towns Caledonia Farnsworth
Townships
Cass Curry Fairbanks Gill Haddon Hamilton Jackson Jefferson Turman
Transportation Major highways
U.S. Route 41 U.S. Route 150 State Road 48 State Road 54 State Road 58 State Road 63 State Road 154 State Road 159
Airport The county contains one public-use airport, the Sullivan County Airport (SIV) at Sullivan.Public and Private Airports, Sullivan County, Indiana
Economy Peabody Energy Corporation The Bear Run mine is the largest surface mine in the eastern U.S. and was expected to produce 12 million tons of coal per year. The mine employed 500 employees in 2012. Peabody Energy Earnings Report 2011 However, as national coal demand declined, its production was cut back (to 7.2 million tons in 2016 and 2017, to 6.8 in 2018), and in November 2019 there were further reductions and layoffs.
Education Sullivan County is served by two school corporations, the Southwest School Corporation and the Northeast School Corporation. The former's high school is Sullivan High School in Sullivan, and the latter's high schools are North Central High School in Farmersburg and Union High School in Dugger. Union Christian College formerly operated in Merom.
Climate and weather
In recent years, average temperatures in Sullivan have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1994 and a record high of was recorded in July 1999. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in February to in July.
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 the county government.
Court: The county maintains a small claims court that handles 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 a four-year term. In some cases, court decisions can be appealed to the state level circuit 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. Members elected to county government positions are required to declare party affiliations and to be residents of the county.
Demographics
Racial and ethnic composition +Sullivan County, Indiana – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 1980Pop 1990Pop 2000Pop 2010 Pop 2020% 1980% 1990% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)20,98318,86420,38019,93018,85699.41%99.32%93.70%92.81%90.58%Black or African American alone (NH)22159289468770.10%0.08%4.27%4.41%4.21%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)25365453430.12%0.19%0.25%0.25%0.21%Asian alone (NH)15152939330.07%0.08%0.13%0.18%0.16%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)x included in the Asian category in the 1980 Censusx included in the Asian category in the 1990 Census018xx0.00%0.00%0.04%Other race alone (NH)441211280.02%0.02%0.06%0.05%0.13%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)x not an option in the 1980 Censusx not an option in the 1990 Census169201638xx0.78%0.94%3.06%Hispanic or Latino (any race)58591792943340.27%0.31%0.82%1.37%1.60%Total21,10718,99321,75121,47520,817 100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 20,817. The median age was 42.1 years. 20.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 18.8% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 121.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 124.8 males age 18 and over.
The racial makeup of the county was 91.1% White, 4.2% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 0.8% from some other race, and 3.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 1.6% of the population.
23.4% of residents lived in urban areas, while 76.6% lived in rural areas.
There were 7,727 households in the county, of which 29.2% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 49.9% were married-couple households, 18.7% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 24.4% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 28.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.