Bartholomew County, Indiana: History
The area now known as Bartholomew County was long populated by indigenous peoples, including the Miami, Potawatomi, and Shawnee. The county is the site of numerous mounds, and human remains dating back as far as 3,000 years have been uncovered in the county. Early settlers recounted the presence of large villages along the various creeks and rivers in the area. The area was within the territory of the Haudenosaunee, and was part of the lands officially ceded to Great Britain in the 1701 Nanfan Treaty. Encroachment by European settlers, contested by indigenous peoples, began in the years after the American Revolutionary War with the 1787 Northwest Ordinance. By then, Delaware people lived in the area. A series of treaties, beginning with the 1804 Treaty with the Piankeshaw, initiated the incorporation of the area into the United States. This process was ended with the 1818 Treaty of St. Mary's, although violent conflict with indigenous peoples was mostly over by 1813 and white settlers had begun to squat on the land by 1816.
Bartholomew County was formed on February 12, 1821, and was named for Lt. Col. Joseph Bartholomew, wounded at the Battle of Tippecanoe. Bartholomew and his fellow officer John Tipton led militia through the county in 1813, and Tipton purchased several parcels in the area in 1820, building a cabin at the confluence of the White and Driftwood rivers. The site of the county seat was chosen on February 15, 1821, by a team of commissioners, who suggested the name Tiptona, in honor of Tipton. In July of the same year, the Legislature renamed Tiptona to Columbus, in honor of Christopher Columbus.
The county's first general store was built in the fall of 1821, and trade routes connecting Columbus with Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Chicago, and Madison were built by 1835. Although indigenous people continued living in Bartholomew County after its formation, they were soon forced out by settlers. A band visited the courthouse in 1830, and Dr. John Beck, an early settler, recounted visits by solitary natives as late as 1839. Mills were built along the Driftwood River following the establishment of trade routes, and the Madison and Indianapolis Railroad began servicing Columbus in 1844. The arrival of the railroad spurred the establishment of local industry in and around Columbus. The current Bartholomew County Courthouse was completed in 1871. Notably, Cummins Inc. was established in Columbus in 1919.
Cummins grew rapidly during and after World War II to become a national, and later global, leader in the production of engines and generators. Under the leadership of J. Irwin Miller, the company sponsored the building of dozens of structures in and around Columbus by eminent architects including I.M. Pei, Eilel and Eero Saarinen, and Harry Weese. Today, the local economy continues to be shaped by the presence of Cummins and other manufacturers. Its built heritage attracts a large number of tourists and architects.