Pike County, Indiana

Pike County Education, Geography, and History

Pike County is a county located in the Southwest part of the state of Indiana. As of 2010, the population was 12,845. Pike County was created on February 1, 1817. The county seat is Petersburg. The county is named for Zebulon M. Pike, explorer of the American West.

Pike County is part of the Jasper Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Etymology - Origin of Pike County Name

The county is named for General Zebulon M. Pike, who found the source of the Mississippi River and discovered Pike's Peak. He fell at the capture of York on April 27, 1813.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

Pike County History

Pike County was organized on February 1, 1817. It was named for Zebulon Pike, mostly famous for the Pike Expedition of 1806 - 1807, exploring the southwest portion of the Louisiana Purchase. Pike also fought at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. Pike was killed, in 1813, during the War of 1812.

From 1959 to 1963 Vance Hartke and Homer E. Capehart were the US Senators for Indiana, both from Pike County.

Pike County is divided into 9 Civil Townships as follows: Clay, Jefferson, Lockhart, Logan, Madison, Marion, Monroe, Patoka and Washington.

Geography: Land and Water

As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 341 square miles (883 km²), of which, 336 square miles (871 km²) of it is land and 5 square miles (13 km²) of it is water.

Pike county is located in southwest Indiana. Part of the Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge and Management Area is located in this county.

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• Northeast: Daviess County
• East: Dubois County
• South: Warrick County
• Southwest: Gibson County
• Northwest: Knox County

Education

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