Starke County, Indiana: History
=== Establishment ===
During the pre-Columbian era, Starke County was home to mound-building cultural groups such as the Hopewell and Mississippians. Many of these mounds were discovered and mapped by early settlers. A 1876 map shows many mounds in Knox and between Eagle Creek and the Yellow River in Washington Township. The mounds were excavated in the 1930s.
Starke County was part of the area established as New France in 1534 during European colonization. LaSalle and his group were the first European explorers in Starke County during their expedition of the Kankakee River in 1679. Following the Treaty of Paris in 1763, Great Britain took control of the land. The United States took control of the land after the Revolutionary War ended in 1783.
Starke County was part of Knox County from the beginning of Indiana's statehood until plotting in 1834. On February 7, 1835, the Indiana State Legislature passed an omnibus county bill that authorized the creation of 13 counties in northern Indiana, including Starke. It was named for Gen. John Stark, who commanded New Hampshire troops at the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775 in the American Revolutionary War, and who defeated the British at the Battle of Bennington in 1777.
Before white settlement, the land that forms modern-day Starke County was inhabited by the Miami and Potawatomi Indian nations. The Potawatomi were forcibly removed to Kansas by the United States government in 1838, and many died on the Potawatomi Trail of Death.
When Starke County was established, it included the present LaPorte County townships of Cass, Dewey, Hanna, and Prairie. Residents in this area had to travel some distance east to Lemon's Bridge to cross the Kankakee River to travel south to the center of the county, the future site of the county seat at Knox. Therefore, because they were effectively isolated from the rest of Starke County, residents north of the river petitioned to be annexed to LaPorte county and this was done on January 28, 1842.
The county government commenced in 1850. During this time, Starke County began to grow and make community improvements. The first regular election was held in 1852, and three railroads were built through the county within the decade.
In 1863, construction began on the second courthouse — located on the same site as the current one. The first metal bridge was installed in 1881 at the Yellow River in Knox, and electricity and telephone service became available in 1895 and 1898, respectively, to the residents of Knox and Hamlet. …