Foxfire at Valley Lakes Apartments in Lafayette Indiana:: History

Roughly 12,000 years ago, the last glacier receded, and people moved into the land we know as Tippecanoe County. Until the 18th century, tribes of indigenous people had nearly exclusive domain in this area.

The first permanent European settlement appeared in 1717 with the construction of Fort Quiatenon, named after a tribe of Native Americans living in the area. The original Fort was built by the French to provide an anchor in the West and to hold a strategic position between the regional capitals of Quebec and New Orleans.

Indiana was admitted to the union in 1816, and soon became the home for a growing stream of settlers. On Christmas Eve, 1824, William Digby bought 84.23 acres of land along the Wabash River at the Crawfordsville Land Sell. Digby, a river boatman, gambler, adventurer, and merchant laid out 140 lots, and on May 25, 1825 named this new town “Lafayette.” The Indiana Legislature named Lafayette the county seat for the newly formed Tippecanoe County.

The Wabash River was navigable as far as Lafayette, and became an important shipping center from 1826-1862. The Wabash and Erie Canal, completed in 1843, linked the waterways between Lafayette and Toledo. The canal was always dependent on good weather and adequate water supply, and was of no use during the winter, periods of flood or drought.

The first railroad arrived in Lafayette in 1853 and gradually took over Canal traffic. By the 1870’s the canal was considered a health hazard and public nuisance. Five railroads carried passengers and cargo directly to Chicago, St. Louis, Louisville, Indianapolis, and Toledo.

The first land grant college in Indiana was built just west of Lafayette and opened September 16, 1874, as Purdue University, a small agricultural college. Purdue has since become one of the largest and most respected schools in the world.

The life-sized model of Fort Quiatenon and the 11,000 year-old artifacts from Camp Kethtippecanunk- the first permanent settlement in this area- serve as reminders of the people whose presence has had such an impact on the history of Tippecanoe County.
The Native Americans were the first to discover the beauty of this Wabash Valley ... the Wea, Miami, Potawatomi, Shawnee, Wyandot, Winnebago, and Delaware were some of the tribes that settled here. Then the French arrived in the early 1700s and established a trading post at Ouiatenon and changes began in the valley.

Tecumseh and his brother, the Prophet, arrived to try and preserve the Native American way of life. They established the headquarters for their confederation at Prophetstown and this led to the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. Within five years, Indiana became a state and the settlers arrived here on the banks of the Wabash.

One of these early settlers was William Digby. He was a young man, just starting in life ... he made his living as a riverman and he knew that this was about as far upriver as the new steamboats were going to be able to travel. So, he went to the 1824 Christmas Eve land sale at Crawfordsville and bought the land to establish a town. He platted it in May of 1825 and named it after the Marquis de Lafayette, the French hero of the Revolutionary War.

Lafayette became the supply center for these new settlers moving into the area. In 1826, Tippecanoe County was formed with Lafayette as its county seat. The river provided transportation in those early years, with the city wharf just a block from the Courthouse Square. In the 1840s, the Wabash & Erie Canal arrived. By the 1850s the railroads had arrived to serve the developing town. Lafayette was soon a manufacturing, merchandising, and transportation center.

In August of 1859, Lafayette became the site for the first official airmail flight by the United States Postal Service. Professor John Wise and his balloon, the Jupiter, took off with a mail pouch including 123 letters and 23 circulars. Because of a capricious wind that blew south, the flight ended near Crawfordsville some 5 or 6 hours later. While this was not the intended destination... the flight was officially recognized.

Lafayette continued to grow and in 1869, Purdue University was founded. The school has played an important part in the development of the Greater Lafayette area. Today, Lafayette has developed as a diversified community ... with manufacturing, merchandising, education and transportation all contributing their share.

We continue to honor our past, but look to the future. We are known as the home of the astronauts even as we continue to preserve our architecture and historical heritage. Lafayette was recently named an All-America City ... and we all agree. It is a wonderful community to live in and an interesting place to explore and visit.