Grant County is a county in central Indiana in the United States Midwest. At the time of the 2020 census, the population was 66,674. The county seat is Marion. Important paleontological discoveries, dating from the Pliocene epoch, have been made at the Pipe Creek Sinkhole in Grant County.
History
Grant County was formed in 1831 by settlers from Kentucky and Virginia. It was named after Captains Samuel and Moses Grant of Kentucky, who were killed fighting indigenous warriors north of the Ohio River. Their home county was also named after them, Grant County, Kentucky.
In 1831, Martin Boots and David Branson each donated 30 acres of land to begin a settlement called Marion. This land was on the north side of a fast-flowing and scenic river which the Miami Indians called Mississinewa. Marion was designated as the County Seat. As the county was developed for agriculture, the County Seat became a center of trade and business, as well as government and the court system.
On August 7, 1930, a mob of an estimated 5,000 people took three African-American men, Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, both 19, and James Cameron, 16, from the county jail. They were suspects in a robbery/murder and rape. The first two were hanged from trees in the courthouse square. Cameron was spared and later became a civil rights activist. This was the last lynching in Indiana.
In 1982, Stephen Johnson was elected as Grant County's first full-time prosecutor. He served for five terms, from 1983 through 2002.
Geography
Grant County consists of low rolling hills, covered with vegetation and devoted to agriculture or urban development. The Mississinewa River flows northwesterly through the center of the county toward Mississinewa Lake in adjacent Miami County. The highest terrain consists of two rises in southeast Upland, at ASL. According to the 2010 census, the county has a total area of , of which (or 99.80%) is land and (or 0.20%) is water.
In recent years, average temperatures in Marion have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1985 and a record high of was recorded in July 1936. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in February to in July.
Board of Commissioners: The executive body of the county; commissioners are elected county-wide to staggered four-year terms. One commissioner serves as president. The commissioners are charged with executing the acts legislated by the council, collecting revenue, and managing the day-to-day functions of the county government. and Indiana House of Representatives districts 31, 32 and 82.
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