Lake County, Indiana

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Lake County, Indiana
Seal of Lake County, Indiana
Map
Map of Indiana highlighting Lake County
Location in the state of Indiana
Map of the U.S. highlighting Indiana
Indiana's location in the U.S.
Statistics
Founded February 15, 1837
Seat Crown Point
Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water
626 sq mi (1,621 km²)
497 sq mi (1,287 km²)
129 sq mi (334 km²), 20.61%
PopulationEst.
 - (2007)
 - Density
492,104
990/sq mi (376/km²)
Congressional district 1st
Website: www.lakecountyin.org/index.jsp
 Former Lake County courthouse
 in Crown Point, Indiana.

Lake County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. In 2000, its population was 484,564, making it Indiana's second-most populous county. The county seat is Crown Point.[1] This county is part of Northwest Indiana and the Chicago metropolitan area.

Contents

[edit] History

Lake County was formed in 1837. From 1832 to 1836 the area that was to become Lake County was part of La Porte County.[2] From 1836 to 1837 it was part of Porter County.[2] It was named for its location on Lake Michigan.[3]

[edit] Government

See also: Government of Indiana

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.[4][5]

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.[4][5]

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.[5]

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.[5]

[edit] Politics

Presidential election results
Year Republican Democratic Others
2008 32.5% 67,742 66.7% 139,301 0.8% 1,525
2004 38.2% 71,903 61.1% 114,743 0.7% 1,714
2000 36.0% 63,389 62.0% 109,078 2.0% 3,527
1996 29.2% 47,873 61.2% 100,198 9.6% 15,789
1992 28.9% 53,867 55.2% 102,778 15.9% 29,653
1988 43.0% 79,929 56.6% 105,026 0.4% 780
1984 44.3% 94,870 55.1% 117,984 0.6% 1,289
1980 46.0% 95,408 48.8% 101,145 5.2% 10,786
1976 42.4% 90,119 56.7% 120,700 0.9% 1,922
1972 56.2% 115,480 43.1% 88,510 0.7% 1,352
1968 36.5% 77,911 46.8% 99,897 16.7% 35,766
1964 35.2% 73,722 64.4% 134,978 0.4% 823
1960 37.0% 78,278 62.8% 132,554 0.2% 526

Lake County has long been a Democratic stronghold, giving majorities to Democrats in every Presidential election since 1960 except 1972.

Lake is part of Indiana's 1st congressional district, which is held by Democrat Pete Visclosky.[6] In the Indiana House of Representatives, Lake is part of the 1st through 4th, 12th through 15th and 19th districts. In total nine districts; seven seats represented by Democrats and two by Republicans. In the State Senate, Lake is part of the 1st through 4th and 6th districts, which are held by four Democrats and one Republican.

[edit] Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 626 square miles (1,621 km²), of which 497 square miles (1,287 km²) is land and 129 square miles (334 km²) (20.65%) is water. Most of the county is fairly flat. However, some hills and ridges do exist. There are many remnants of the ancient shorelines of Lake Michigan. Hoosier Prairie, a portion of what once existed, has been preserved and restored.

As you travel south from the southern shore of Lake Michigan (the northern end of the county), the land gradually rises in elevation until the Valparaiso Moraine is reached. This is the highest area in the county. From there the land descends into the Kankakee Outwash Plain until the Kankakee River is reached.

[edit] Commercial Airport

[edit] Major highways

Interstate 65 in Lake County is called the Casimir Pulaski Memorial Highway. Interstate 80/94/US 6 is the Frank Borman Expressway from the Illinois state line east to the Indiana Toll Road interchange in the eastern portion of the county. Interstate 94 has been referred to as the Chicago-Detroit Industrial Freeway. US 6 is part of the Grand Army of the Republic Highway. Broadway (Indiana 53) is also the Carolyn Mosby Memorial Highway. Indiana 51 is known for its entire length as the Adam Benjamin Memorial Highway. US 30 is part of the historic Lincoln Highway. US 12 from Gary eastward is part of Dunes Highway. Cline Avenue (Indiana 912) from US 12 north and westward is known as the Highway Construction Workers Memorial Highway.

[edit] Railroads

[edit] Adjacent counties

[edit] National protected area

[edit] Demographics

Historical populations
Census Pop.  %±
1840 1,468
—
1850 3,991 171.9%
1860 9,145 129.1%
1870 12,339 34.9%
1880 15,091 22.3%
1890 23,886 58.3%
1900 37,892 58.6%
1910 82,864 118.7%
1920 159,957 93.0%
1930 261,310 63.4%
1940 293,195 12.2%
1950 368,152 25.6%
1960 513,269 39.4%
1970 546,253 6.4%
1980 522,965 −4.3%
1990 475,594 −9.1%
2000 484,564 1.9%

As of the census[7] of 2000, there were 484,564 people, 181,633 households, and 126,961 families residing in the county. The population density was 975 people per square mile (376/km²). There were 194,992 housing units at an average density of 392 per square mile (151/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 66.72% White, 25.33% Black or African American, 0.28% Native American, 0.82% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 4.96% from other races, and 1.85% from two or more races. 12.20% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. The most commonly cited national ancestries were German (12.2%), Polish (9.6%) and Irish (7.1%).

In 2000, there were 181,633 households out of which 32.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.70% were married couples living together, 16.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.10% were non-families. 25.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.19.

In the county the population was spread out with 26.80% under the age of 18, 9.30% from 18 to 24, 28.30% from 25 to 44, 22.60% from 45 to 64, and 13.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 92.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.00 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $41,829, and the median income for a family was $50,131. Males had a median income of $41,986 versus $26,393 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,639. About 9.70% of families and 12.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.80% of those under age 18 and 8.00% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Municipalities

[edit] Cities

[edit] Towns

[edit] Unicorporated Areas

[edit] Townships

[edit] Education

The administration of public schools in Lake County is divided among 16 corporations and governing bodies, more than any other Indiana county. [1]

Colleges and Universities

[edit] Major businesses

[edit] Newspapers

The Times is the largest daily newspaper in Lake County and Northwest Indiana, and the second largest in the state. Lake County is also served by the Post-Tribune, a daily newspaper based in Merrillville.

[edit] Indiana State Quarter

Indiana State Quarter missing the northwest section of Lake County.

The northwest tip of Lake County is seemingly missing from the state outline on the Indiana state quarter. The outline of the state on the quarter shows the Lake Michigan shore line continuing in a southwest direction from the Porter/Lake County line to the Illinois-Indiana state line, showing Lake Michigan where Gary and Hammond are located. Unlike the similar occurrence with Dade County, Georgia on the Georgia state quarter, fewer complaints were made concerning the omission.

[edit] 2008 Presidential Primary

In the 2008 Democratic presidential primary on May 6, 2008, Lake County was one of the last counties to report results.[8] Lake County had reported no results at 11 p.m. ET,[9] and at midnight ET, only 28% of Lake County's vote had been reported.[10] A large number of absentee ballots and a record turnout delayed the tallies, and polls closed an hour later than much of the state because Lake County is in the Central Time Zone.[9] Early returns showed Senator Barack Obama leading by a potentially lead-changing margin, leaving the race between Senator Hillary Clinton and Obama "too close to call" until final tallies were reported.

Rudy Clay, the mayor of Gary, the largest city in Lake County, predicted the bizarre events, telling CNN, "They are going to point at Indiana and say Hillary Clinton is leading by one point but Gary ain't come in yet."[11]

[edit] See also

[edit] Bibliography

  • Forstall, Richard L. (editor) (1995). U. S. Population of States and Counties - 1790 Through 1990. National Technical Information Services (NTIS). ISBN 0-934213-48-8. 
  • Schoon, Kenneth J. (2003). Calumet Beginnings: Ancient Shorelines and Settlements at the South End of Lake Michigan. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253342-18-X. 

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Template.cfm?Section=Find_a_County&Template=/cffiles/counties/usamap.cfm. Retrieved on 2008-01-31. 
  2. ^ a b Kenneth J. Schoon (2003). Calumet Beginnings: Ancient Shorelines and Settlements at the South End of Lake Michigan. Indiana: Indiana University Press. pps. 20-23.
  3. ^ De Witt Clinton Goodrich & Charles Richard Tuttle (1875). An Illustrated History of the State of Indiana. Indiana: R. S. Peale & Co.. pp. 565. http://books.google.com/books?id=YDIUAAAAYAAJ. 
  4. ^ a b Indiana Code. "Title 36, Article 2, Section 3". IN.gov. http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title36/ar2/ch3.html. Retrieved on 2008-09-16. 
  5. ^ a b c d Indiana Code. "Title 2, Article 10, Section 2" (PDF). IN.gov. http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title3/ar10/ch2.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-09-16. 
  6. ^ "US Congressman Pete Visclosky". US Congress. http://www.house.gov/visclosky/. Retrieved on 2008-10-08. 
  7. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved on 2008-01-31. 
  8. ^ CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - Awaiting one county « - Blogs from CNN.com
  9. ^ a b Indiana's Lake County has tradition of late vote tallies
  10. ^ Races tightens in Indiana
  11. ^ Gary Mayor Predicts Possible Indiana Shocker - The Trail: Washingtonpost.com

[edit] External links

Cook County, Illinois Lake Michigan
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Will County, Illinois North Porter County
West   Lake County, Indiana    East
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Kankakee County, Illinois Newton County Jasper County
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Municipalities and communities of
Lake County, Indiana
County seat: Crown Point
Cities
Map of Indiana highlighting Lake County
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Footnotes

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Coordinates: 41°29′N 87°23′W / 41.48°N 87.38°W / 41.48; -87.38

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