Clarksville, Indiana

Town of Clarksville
Town
Clarksville Town Hall
Location in the state of Indiana
Country	United States
State	Indiana
County	Clark
Townships	Silver Creek, Jeffersonville
Government
• Type	Town Council
• President	Paul Kraft
Area
• Total	10.2 sq mi (26.4 km2)
• Land	10.1 sq mi (26.1 km2)
• Water	0.1 sq mi (0.2 km2)
Elevation	456 ft (139 m)
Population  (2008)
• Total	46,658
• Density	2,121/sq mi (818.9/km2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP codes	47129
Area code	812
FIPS code	18-12934Template:GR
GNIS feature ID	0432578Template:GR
Website	http://townofclarksville.com/

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1880	1,037		—
1890	1,692		63.2%
1900	2,370		40.1%
1910	2,743		15.7%
1920	2,322		−15.3%
1930	2,243		−3.4%
1940	2,386		6.4%
1950	5,905		147.5%
1960	8,088		37.0%
1970	13,298		64.4%
1980	15,164		14.0%
1990	19,833		30.8%
2000	21,400		7.9%
Source: US Census Bureau

Clarksville is a town in Clark County, Indiana, along the Ohio River as a part of the Louisville Metropolitan area. The population was 21,400 at the 2000 United States Census. The town, once a home site to George Rogers Clark, was founded in 1783 and is the oldest American town in the Northwest Territory. The town is home to the Colgate clock, one of the largest clocks in the world and the Falls of the Ohio State Park, a large fossil bed.

History

File:FotO LewisClark statue.jpg

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark Statue at the Falls of the Ohio State Park.

Clarksville is named for American Revolutionary War General George Rogers Clark who lived for a time on a point of land on the Ohio River. Founded in 1783, the town is believed to be the first true American settlement in the Northwest Territory.

The site was first used as a base of operations by George Rogers Clark during the American Revolution. In 1778 he established a post on an island at the head of the Falls of the Ohio. From there he trained his 175 man regiment for the defense to the west. After the war Clark was granted a tract of 150,000 acres (610 km²) for his services in the war. In 1783 1,000 acres (4 km²) where set aside for the development of a town, Clarksville. The same year a stockade was built and settlement began.

The explorer William Clark was a younger brother of George Rogers Clark.

Renowned historian Stephen Ambrose writes of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in Undaunted Courage, "When they shook hands, the Lewis and Clark Expedition began." However, several other localities also claim to be the start of Lewis and Clark's west expedition, most notably St. Louis, Missouri.

The town failed to flourish in the 1800s due to the many floods and its failed competition to build a canal around the Ohio. On Aug. 24 1805 the Indiana Territorial Legislature authorized the construction of a canal around the Falls of the Ohio at Clarksville. The first attempt failed and the investors lost their money, which was believed to have been used to finance the conspiracy of Aaron Burr. A second attempt to build a canal occurred in 1817 and again in 1820. But the race to build the canal would be lost in 1826 when the Federal Government made a large grant to build the Louisville and Portland Canal. The lack of a canal handicapped the growth of the town as the Falls of the Ohio made river transport from the city difficult.

Clarksville became a popular dueling spot for Kentuckians who wanted to dodge Kentucky's anti-dueling laws. The most famous of these was the 1809 duel between Henry Clay and Humphrey Marshall. Another famous duel of the area was by Rory Buckman and David Knuckles the duel came about over an argument over which one of the two had ownership over a manservant named William. During the duel both of the mens muskets misfired and they decided it was neither one of their days to die. Eventually they did get over their differences and had the first domestic partnership in the Northwest Territory There was an attempt to build a second town within Clarksville's boundaries, named Ohio Falls City, until the Indiana Supreme Court ruled that this would be illegal.

File:GRC Cabin 2.jpg

George Rogers Clark cabin along the Ohio river.

The town was managed by a ten member Board of Trustees in the charter from Virginia. The trustees were allowed to align lots along roads and sell the lots for the proceeds to benefit the town. The trustees could elect replacements as needed and didn't have to reside in the town. This remained controversial with residents until 1889 when the board stopped meeting and was replaced by a three member board. One member selected by the Floyd County Commissioners, One member selected by the Clark County Commissioners, and one member selected by residents of Clarksville. So having members that lived outside the boundaries of Clarksville remained a problem. At an unknown date between 1889 and 1937 the board became a five member board entirely elected by residents, however the exact records of the change were lost in the Ohio River flood of 1937.

The Great Flood of 1937 decimated the town. The entire town was submerged beneath as much as 12 feet (3.7 m) of water in some areas for over three weeks during January and February. With almost all of the old town destroyed Clarksville would be rebuilt with a new modern city plan.

Clarksville finally began to experience significant growth during the post-World War II housing boom. The population went from 2,400 in 1940 to 22,000 in 2000. This was helped by the expansion of the town to the north annexing several sizable suburbs. By 1981 the State of Indiana changed statutes to convert a board of trustees to a council with members rather than trustees. In 1990 the Town Council expanded its members from five to seven following from the growth of the town. In 2008 Vicki Appleby became the first female to serve on the council.

Many locals believe slam dancing was created in Clarksville in the early 1980's on the riverfront

Geography

Clarksville is located at 38°18′43″N 85°46′2″W (38.311885, -85.767265)Template:GR.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 10.2 square miles (26.4 km²), of which, 10.1 square miles (26.1 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km²) of it (0.79%) is water.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 21,400 people, 8,984 households, and 5,561 families residing in the town. The population density was 2,120.6 people per square mile (818.9/km²). There were 9,537 housing units at an average density of 945.1/sq mi (364.9/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 90.56% White, 5.59% African American, 0.27% Native American, 0.93% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.08% from other races, and 1.53% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.80% of the population.

There were 8,984 households out of which 28.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.4% were married couples living together, 13.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.1% were non-families. 31.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.92.

In the town the population was spread out with 23.1% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 15.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 91.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.8 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $35,473, and the median income for a family was $44,688. Males had a median income of $30,860 versus $23,329 for females. The per capita income for the town was $20,315. About 5.6% of families and 8.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.5% of those under age 18 and 6.7% of those age 65 or over.

Attractions

The Falls of the Ohio Interpretive Center located next to the Ohio River fossil beds

First Texas Roadhouse at the Green Tree Mall

Clarksville has the largest exposed fossil beds from the Devonian period and the state has built an education center and declared the area, alongside the Ohio River and bordering Kentucky, the Falls of the Ohio State Park. These fossils include plant and marine life from a prehistoric coral reef that are 386 million-years-old.

Clarksville is home to the second-largest clock in the world at the former Colgate-Palmolive Plant near the Ohio River. Its future was is in question, as the Colgate company closed the plant in early 2008, however, the town has vowed to keep the clock in its current location viewable from downtown Louisville, KY.

Clarksville has several parks and sports fields such as 332-acre (1.3 km²) Lapping Park which contains a golf course, soft ball field, shelter house, amphitheater, and hiking trails.

The town also has the Clarksville Little Theater, one of the oldest continuously-running community theaters in the United States, and Derby Dinner Playhouse, the only dinner theater in the area.

Clarksville is the birthplace of the restaurant chain Texas Roadhouse which is still located at its original location in the Green Tree Mall. In addition to those retail accomplishments Clarksville is also the home to the nation's second largest Bass Pro at the River Falls Mall.

Notable people of Clarksville are John James Audubon which did many of his bird fieldbook sketches at the Falls of the Ohio. and Frank Kimmel a NASCAR driver was born and lives in Clarksville.

Twin cities

The Clarksville sister or twin city program began in 1998. Bewdley and Melton Mowbray in the UK were the first sister cities to begin friendship ties in 1998 and 1999 and relations have continued. Most recently La Garenne-Colombes in Paris urban area, France joined the sister cities of Clarksville.

• Bewdley
• Melton Mowbray
• La Garenne-Colombes (Paris area)

Gallery

• 
  Derby Dinner Playhouse
• 
  Clarksville High School
• Providence High School
  Providence High School

See also

• List of cities and towns along the Ohio River
• Clarksville Senior High School
• Clarks Hill, Indiana, a community in Tippecanoe County originally named Clarksville
• John Minta

External links

• Town of Clarksville, Indiana website
• Clarksville Sister Cities
• Clarksville Parks Department
• "Clarksville Historical Society". Archived from the original on 2006-10-06.