Octagon, Indiana
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{{Infobox settlement
|name = Octagon, Indiana
|settlement_type = Unincorporated community
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|image_map = Map of Indiana highlighting Tippecanoe County.svg
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|map_caption = Tippecanoe County's location in Indiana
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|pushpin_map = USA Indiana Tippecanoe County
|pushpin_label = Octagon
|pushpin_label_position =
|pushpin_map_caption = Location in Tippecanoe County
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|subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_name = United States
|subdivision_type1 = State
|subdivision_name1 = Indiana
|subdivision_type2 = County
|subdivision_name2 = Tippecanoe
|subdivision_type3 = Township
|subdivision_name3 = Wabash
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|timezone = Eastern (EST)
|utc_offset = -5
|timezone_DST = EDT
|utc_offset_DST = -4
|elevation_ft = 755
|coordinates = {{coord|40|31|35|N|86|59|32|W|region:US-IN|display=inline}}
|postal_code_type = ZIP code
|postal_code = 47906
|area_code = 765
|blank_name = GNIS feature ID
|blank_info = 440499{{GNIS|440499}}
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Octagon is a former unincorporated rural settlement in Wabash Township, Tippecanoe County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. As part of Tippecanoe County, the community is part of the Lafayette, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
A post office was established at Octagon in 1866, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1900.{{cite web | url=http://www.postalhistory.com/postoffices.asp?task=display&state=IN&county=Tippecanoe&searchtext=&pagenum=2 | title=Tippecanoe County | publisher=Jim Forte Postal History | access-date=July 25, 2016}}
Octagon was the site of a Masonic Lodge established in 1874, as well as several churches and schools over the years. The site apparently took its name from an octagon-shaped schoolhouse on the site at one time.{{cite news |author= |date=16 Jan 1954 |title=Little Lodge in the Cornfield |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/journal-and-courier-octagon-lodge/175080426/ |work=Lafayette Journal and Courier |location=Lafayette, IN |publisher= |access-date=22 Jun 2025}}
The original Octagon Schoolhouse, also known as Number 2, was named for the shape of the building, which was sometimes described as round. It was razed around 1872.{{cite web | url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_First_Century_of_the_Public_Schools/v15CAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=%22octagon%22%2B%22wabash%20township%22 | title=The First Century of the Public Schools of Tippecanoe County, Indiana | publisher=Press of the Haywood Publishing Company | date=1917 | accessdate=27 June 2025 | author=Hooker, Brainard | pages=63 | quote=No. 2, Octagon, named from the shape of the house, which was razed about 1872; sometimes called round school}} The second Octagon School was an eight-sided building constructed in 1914, at a cost of $2,900. The Indiana State Superintendent called the eight-sided, one-room open design an "ideal plan" for a school.{{cite book | title=Traveling Through Tippecanoe | publisher=G. Bradley Publisher | author1=Woods, Paula Alexander |author2=Stehman, Lucille M. |author3=Martin, Fern Honeywell | year=1992 | page=82 | isbn=9780943963259 | quote=The eight-sided school was erected in 1914 at a cost of $ 2,900, and was called by the State Superintendent the "ideal plan" for a school. The one-room building |access-date=27 Jun 2025 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Traveling_Through_Tippecanoe/9nVuAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=%22octagon%22%2B%22wabash%20township%22 }}
By 1975, Octagon had only "a few houses" and the Masonic temple, and was described as a "ghost town".{{cite news |last=Schumpert |first=Larry |date=27 Sep 1975 |title=County Mapmaker Sees History Come Alive |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/journal-and-courier/175081380/ |work=Lafayette Journal and Courier |location=Lafayette, IN |publisher= |access-date=22 Jun 2025}} The Masonic lodge was still active at least as recently as 2002.{{cite news |author= |date=25 Jun 2002 |title=Hart, Walter John Jr. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/journal-and-courier/175081540/ |work=Lafayette Journal and Courier |location=Lafayette, IN |publisher= |access-date=22 Jun 2025}}
See also
{{Portal|Indiana}}
References
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{{Tippecanoe County, Indiana}}
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Category:Unincorporated communities in Tippecanoe County, Indiana