Starke County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 23,371. The Starke County Courthouse is located in the county seat of Knox and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
History
Establishment
During the pre-Colombian 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. 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
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. when initially created and organized, an e was added to the county's name fairly early in its history. No solid evidence has been found to clearly explain this alteration. Three possible explanations have been advanced - an early scribe had "fancy lettering", including a k with a long tail or flourish that appeared to others as ke, with the new spelling sticking; General Stark himself may have used a similar flourish at the end of his signature; which became a point of confusion to Indiana officials (unlikely, since Stark County, Ohio (1808) and Illinois (1839) both preceded Starke County, Indiana, not to mention numerous other smaller midwestern toponyms spelled "Stark"); or an Indianapolis official's clerical error around 1860.
Geography
Starke County consists of low, rolling hills covered with vegetation or brush. Its boundaries include three prominences that rise to above sea level - two adjacent swells northeast of Bass Lake, and a small ridge east-southeast of Bass Lake.
According to the 2010 census, Starke County has a total area of , of which (or 0.98%) are covered by water.
From 2014 until 2024, the city of Knox was the geographic center of the Big Ten Conference, according to a 2018 article in fivethirtyeight.com that referred to locations of various NCAA Men's Basketball Conference championships.
Major highways
Adjacent counties
Municipalities
The municipalities in Starke County, and their populations as of the 2020 Census, are:
Cities and towns
Census-designated places
Unincorporated communities
Townships
The nine townships of Starke County, with their populations as of the 2020 Census, are:
Education
Schools
Public schools in Starke County are administered by four different districts:
- Culver Community Schools
- Knox Community School Corporation
- North Judson-San Pierre Schools
- Oregon-Davis School Corporation
Libraries
The Starke County Public Library (SCPL) was founded in Knox in 1852. In 1970, all county libraries except one were incorporated into SCPL. Today there are four branches: Schricker (Knox), Hamlet, Koontz Lake, and San Pierre.
North Judson-Wayne Township Public Library was gifted as a Carnegie Library. This is the only library in the county that is not part of the SCPL system.
In recent years, average temperatures in Knox 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 June 1988. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in February to in June.
Board of Commissioners: The executive body of the county, the commissioners are elected county-wide to staggered four-year terms. One commissioner serves as president. The commissioners execute the acts legislated by the council, collect revenue, and manage the functions of the county government.
In presidential elections, Starke County was a bellwether county for a time, voting for the winner in every election from 1964 to 2008. Since the Donald Trump era, much like virtually all of Indiana, the county is extremely Republican.
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