Porter County, Indiana

Porter County Education, Geography, and History

Porter County is a county located in the state of Indiana. As of 2010, the population was 164,343. Porter County was created on February 1, 1836. The county seat is Valparaiso. The county is named for Captain David Porter, hero of the War of 1812.

This county is part of Northwest Indiana as well as the Chicago metropolitan area.

Etymology - Origin of Porter County Name

The county is named for Captain David Porter who served in the War of 1812.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

Porter County History

Porter County was organized February 1, 1836. From 1832 to 1836, the area that was to become Porter County was part of La Porte County. It was named for Captain David Porter, naval officer during the Barbary Wars and the War of 1812.

Porter County is divided into 12 Civil Townships as follows: Boone, Center, Jackson, Liberty, Morgan, Pine, Pleasant, Portage, Porter, Union, Washington and Westchester.

Geography: Land and Water

As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 522 square miles (1,351 km²), of which, 418 square miles (1,083 km²) of it is land and 104 square miles (268 km²) of it is water, most of it in Lake Michigan. The total area is 19.84% water.

Porter county is located in north Indiana. Part of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is in this county.

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• North: Lake Michigan
• East: La Porte County
• Southeast: Starke County
• South: Jasper County
• West: Lake County

Education

Colleges and Universities

Ivy Tech Community College
Valparaiso University

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