Lafayette, IN Summary

photo by gusto

This city of 43,800 is surrounded by a broad ring of dairy farms and cattle operations. One of Indiana’s best-known universities, Purdue, especially noted for its agricultural and engineering programs, is next door in West Lafayette. Its 140 buildings are clustered within a 1,579-acre campus that caters to 36,000 students. Lafayette was founded on a plateau above the Wabash River in the year 1825 by riverboat captain William Digby. Digby named it for the Marquis of Lafayette, who served as a general under George Washington in the Revolutionary War.

The Wabash and Erie Canal, which opened in 1843, extended the economic reach of Lafayette. Purdue, an early land grant college, was established in 1869.

The nineteenth century is preserved in the Downtown Lafayette Historic District, which includes the Tippecanoe County Courthouse, an enthusiastic blend of Gothic, Classical, Romanesque, and Renaissance styles which was built in the 1880s. The Tippecanoe County Historical Museum is located in the 1851 Gothic Revival house built by wealthy businessman Moses Fowler. It contains period furnishings, relics from Fort Quiatenon and the Battle of Tippecanoe, Native American artifacts, and nineteenth-century glassware, tools, clothing, and toys.

Tippecanoe is a big name in American history. The Battle of Tippecanoe was fought in 1811 between forces representing the two most influential men in the old Northwest, William Henry Harrison, leading US troops, and Shawnee Indian Chief Tecumseh.

A group of warriors estimated at 600 to 700 attacked the camp of 1,000 US soldiers. The Native Americans withdrew, but there were many losses on both sides. The battle failed to break Native American resistance, and Tecumseh allied himself with the British in the War of 1812. In 1840 Harrison won the presidential election with the slogan “Tippecanoe and Tyler too,” which referred to his victory against Tecumseh, and his vice-presidential running mate, John Tyler.

The Tippecanoe Battlefield Museum and Park marks Harrison’s camp with a large obelisk. The 100-acre park is rugged and scenic woodland and marsh. The museum exhibits artifacts from the battle and literature from Harrison’s 1840 presidential campaign. The Wabash Heritage Trail runs from this site to the golf course at Columbia Park, the largest park in Lafayette, which has plenty to entertain children and adults, including a zoo, an amusement park, tennis courts, a swimming pool, and an outdoor theater.

The Greater Lafayette Museum of Art displays paintings by Indiana and other American artists, American pottery, contemporary art, and Latin American paintings. Temporary exhibits feature historical themes in art, regional cultures, and local artists.

Access is by air in adjacent West Lafayette; by car via I-90, Hwy 26, and Hwy 43; and by bus.