JEFFERSONVILLE, INDIANA

'Jeffersonville' (IPA: ) is a city in Clark County, Indiana, along the Ohio River. Locally, the city is often referred to as the abbreviated name Jeff. It is directly across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky to the north along I-65. The population was 28,621 at the 2005 census. The city is the county seat of Clark County.

Contents

Geography

Demographics

History

Dining and bars

Notable people

See also

External links

References

Geography

Jeffersonville is located at (38.295669, -85.731485).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 35.2 km² (13.6 mi²), all land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 27,362 people, 11,643 households, and 7,241 families residing in the city. The population density was 777.9/km² (2,014.7/mi²). There were 12,402 housing units at an average density of 352.6/km² (913.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 82.50% White, 13.68% African American, 0.27% Native American, 0.84% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 0.65% from other races, and 1.97% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.80% of the population.
There were 11,643 households out of which 28.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.3% were married couples living together, 14.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.8% were non-families. 32.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.90.
In the city the population was spread out with 23.6% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 31.2% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 12.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 92.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $37,234, and the median income for a family was $45,264. Males had a median income of $32,491 versus $24,738 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,656. About 6.9% of families and 10.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.9% of those under age 18 and 7.2% of those age 65 or over.

History

In 1786 Fort Finney was situated where the Kennedy Bridge is today, to protect the area from Indians, and a settlement grew around the fort. The fort was renamed in 1791 to Fort Steuben, to honor Baron von Steuben. In 1793 the fort was abandoned. Precisely when the settlement became known as Jeffersonville is unclear, but it was probably about 1801.^[1] In 1802 local residents used a grid pattern designed by Thomas Jefferson for the formation of a city, and Indiana Territorial Governor William Henry Harrison decided to name the new city after Jefferson. Jeffersonville would be the only city ever designed by Jefferson. On September 13, 1803, a post office was established in the city. In 1808 Indiana's second federal land sale office was established in Jeffersonville, after the first was established in Vincennes in 1807, initiating the growth of the white population in Indiana that was further spurred by the end of the War of 1812.
Shortly after formation, Jeffersonville was named to be the county seat of Clark County in 1802, replacing Springville. In 1812 Charlestown was named the county seat, but the county seat returned to Jeffersonville in 1878, where it remains.
In 1813 Jeffersonville was briefly the seat of power in the Indiana Territory, as then-governor Thomas Posey hated then-capital Corydon, and wanted to be close to his personal physician in Louisville.
In 1819 the first shipbuilding took place in Jeffersonville, and steamboats would become key to Jeffersonville's economy. Jonas Howard made his first steamboat in 1834 in Jeffersonville. In 1848 the Howard Shipyards were established.

The third largest American Civil War hospital, Jefferson General Hospital was located in Jeffersonville from 1864-1866, as it was close to the river and Louisville. During the war it housed 16,120 patients in its 5,200 beds and was under the command of Dr. Middleton Goldsmith. The property is now owned by a local Masonic lodge, who built a temple on the ground. A cemetery was built for fallen soldiers down the hill, but the wooden grave markers by 1927 had rotted away, causing the Jeffersonville city council to build a ballfield over the cemetery, and not bothering to move the graves, located on Crestview Avenue. Also built during the Civil War was a U.S. Quartermaster Depot, which was used until the 1950s. Now the Depot is used as a shopping center.
By 1870 17% of Jeffersonville residents were foreign-born. Most of these were from Germany
During the 1920s, Jeffersonville was a popular gathering place for the Ku Klux Klan, as Louisville and New Albany had strong anti-KKK laws and Jeffersonville didn't.

Gambling in the 1930s and 1940s was instrumental in Jeffersonville's recovery from the Great Depression and the Flood of 1937. Casinos, betting parlors, night clubs, and even a dog track was present, giving the town the nickname "Little Las Vegas". After a New Albany businessman was gunned down, public sentiment turned against gambling. On January 2, 1948, Indiana State Police raided every casino in the city before the operators could warn each other, and the judge who had devoted the past nine years in eliminating gambling from Jeffersonville, James L. Bottorff, made sure that the equipment was confiscated and the money at the casinos given to charity. It is memories of this that kept Jeffersonville residents from voting to approve riverboat gambling in the 1990s. In 2006 riverboat gambling was approved, but for the return of gambling to occur the Indiana State legislature would either have to approve an additional riverboat, or one of the existing riverboats in Indiana would have to relocate to Jeffersonville; presumably, it would be one of the three currently serving the Cincinnati market.

After the Flood of 1937 and the Great Depression, the Howard Shipyards were devastated. In 1942 the United States Navy purchased what remained, and established the Jeffersonville Boat & Machine Company, later simply known as Jeffboat, which still support the local economy. The history of shipbuilding in Jeffersonville is the focus of the Howard Steamboat Museum. There was an annual festival held on the second weekend in September called Steamboat Days, but lack of interest killed it.

Dining and bars

Jeffersonville has a mix of restaurants that range in popularity along the river front mostly and downtown. The city is scattered with smaller scale bars, restaurants and fast food chains in areas such as the Quadrangle in which the Town Hall is now located and other various shopping centers.^[2] Among the various restraunts Jeffersonville is most known for the being the birth place of the national pizza chain Papa John's Pizza. The pizza chain started in Mick's Lounge a local bar in Jeffersonville.

Notable people

Jeffersonville has been the birthplace to sport players Detroit Tigers Walt Terrell, NFL wide receiver Jermaine Ross, and professional wrestler Nick Dinsmore. In addition to people just being born in the city former New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan spent part of his childhood in Jeffersonville and actress Natalie West also lived in the city at one time. Business man John Schnatter graduated from Jeffersonville High School and started Papa John's in Jeffersonville.

See also

★ Howard Steamboat Museum

★ List of cities and towns along the Ohio River

External links

★ City of Jeffersonville official website

★ Official History of Jeffersonville

References

1. http://www.cityofjeff.net/history/historymain.htm
2. http://www.cityofjeff.net/dining/diningmain.htm