Warren County, Indiana#References

{{See also|Timeline of Warren County, Indiana history}}

In the centuries before the arrival of European settlers, the area that became Warren County was on the boundary between the Miami and Kickapoo tribes. By the late 18th century, many Miami had moved further south; most of Indiana north of the Wabash was then occupied by the Potawatomi people.{{sfn|Clifton|1913|pp=205–206}} The first non-indigenous settler in the area was probably Zachariah Cicott, a French-Canadian who first traded with the Kickapoo and Potawatomi people around 1802.Warren County Historical Society 1966, p. 4. When General William Henry Harrison took an army from Vincennes to the Battle of Tippecanoe in late 1811, Cicott served as a scout; the trail taken by Harrison's army passed through the area that later became Warren County on its way to and from the battle site in Tippecanoe County.Warren County Historical Society 2002, p. 31.{{cite book

|title=History of Parke and Vermillion Counties Indiana

|publisher=B. F. Bowen and Company

|year=1913

|location=Indianapolis

|pages=52–53

|url=https://archive.org/stream/historyofparkeve00bfbo#page/52/mode/2up

|access-date=December 17, 2010

}} Following the War of 1812, Cicott resumed his trading on the Wabash; the state of Indiana was established in 1816, and Cicott built a log house in 1817 at the location where he later founded the town of Independence.{{sfn|Clifton|1913|p=241}} Other settlers came to the area, but probably not until around 1822.{{sfn|Goodspeed|1883|pp=36–41}}

The county was established on March 1, 1827, by the Indiana General Assembly. It was named for Joseph Warren, who was killed in 1775 at the Battle of Bunker Hill,{{cite book

|title=Indiana Place Names

|last1=Baker

|first1=Ronald L.

|last2=Carmony

|first2=Marvin

|publisher=Indiana University Press

|year=1975

|location=Bloomington, Indiana

|page=173

}}{{cite book

|last1=Goodrich

|first1=De Witt Clinton

|last2=Tuttle

|first2=Charles Richard

|publisher=R. S. Peale and Company

|year=1875

|location=Indianapolis

|title=An Illustrated History of the State of Indiana

|url=https://archive.org/details/illustratedhisto02good

|pages=[https://archive.org/details/illustratedhisto02good/page/574 574]–575}} in which he fought as a private because his commission as a general had not yet taken effect. The short-lived town of Warrenton was the original Warren County seat, chosen by commissioners in March 1828; the next year an act was passed calling for the seat to be relocated, and in June 1829 it was moved to Williamsport.

The first county courthouse was a log house in Warrenton that belonged to (and was occupied by) Enoch Farmer, one of the county's earliest settlers. When the county seat moved to Williamsport, a log house belonging to the town's founder, William Harrison, served this purpose for several years. The first purpose-built courthouse was completed in 1835 at a cost of $2,000;{{refn|A $2,000 capital expense in 1835 would be roughly equivalent to $1,030,000 in 2009.Williamson, Samuel H. (April 2010). Seven Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a U.S. Dollar Amount, 1774 to present. [https://www.measuringworth.com MeasuringWorth]. Calculations made using Nominal GDP Per Capita, a measure of capital intensivity, using "the 'average' per-person output of the economy in the prices of the current year." This is a measure of the amount of capital and volume of labor required to reproduce the work over varying production methods, but assuming that money represents a proportion of the economy.|group="n"}} in 1872, it was replaced with a new building that cost $48,000.{{refn|A $48,000 capital expense in 1872 would be roughly equivalent to $11,300,000 in 2009.|group="n"}} The third courthouse was built in 1886, in a new section of town that grew around the newly constructed railroad. That building burned in 1907, and the fourth and current Warren County courthouse was completed on the same site in 1908 at a cost of $115,000.{{cite book

|last1 = Counts

|first1 = Will

|last2 = Dilts

|first2 = Jon

|title = The 92 Magnificent Indiana Courthouses

|publisher = Indiana University Press

|year = 1991

|location = Bloomington, Indiana

|isbn = 978-0-253-33638-5

|pages = 178–179}}{{refn|A $115,000 capital expense in 1908 would be roughly equivalent to $15,500,000 in 2009.|group="n"}}

Image:Warren County, Indiana map from 1877 atlas.pngAs the 19th century progressed, the United States government's Indian removal policy pushed Native American tribes west of the Mississippi River. In 1830, the Indian Removal Act was signed into law, and though that act did not directly address the Potawatomi people of Indiana, it led to several additional treaties that resulted in their removal. In what came to be known as the Potawatomi Trail of Death, about 860 Potawatomi Indians who had refused to leave were forced to move from Indiana to Kansas. On September 14, 1838, the group camped near Williamsport, and on September 15 they camped in the southwestern part of the county before moving into Illinois. Before reaching their destination in Kansas, over 40 of them had died, many of them children; two children died and were buried at the second Warren County campsite.Warren County Historical Society 2002, pp. 31, 156–157.

When the county was established, the Wabash River was vital to transportation and shipping. Zachariah Cicott traded up and down the river, and cities like Attica, Perrysville, Baltimore and Williamsport were founded near the river's banks and flourished because of it. In the 1840s, the Wabash and Erie Canal began to operate and provided even broader shipping opportunities, but the canal favored towns which were on the "right side" of the river; the canal was on the Fountain County side, and towns like Baltimore dwindled as a result.Warren County Historical Society 1966, pp. 56–57. Some towns, such as Williamsport and Perrysville, managed to participate in canal traffic through the use of side-cuts that brought traffic from the canal across the river.Warren County Historical Society 2002, p. 163. When railroads were constructed starting in the 1850s, they in turn began to render the canals obsolete and allowed trade to reach towns that lacked water connections.Warren County Historical Society 1966, p. 134. The canal continued to be used through the early 1870s.{{sfn|Clifton|1913|pp=130–131}}

Image:Courthouse in Warren County, Indiana from 1877 atlas.png

The first trains to run in Warren County operated on portions of the Toledo, Wabash and Western Railway (later the Wabash Railroad) in 1856. The railroad entered the county near Williamsport and was built westward, reaching the western border at State Line City by 1857. West Lebanon was the only other settlement near the railroad's path, but the line bypassed it by about a mile; the town subsequently moved northward to be nearer the station. In 1869 the Indianapolis, Bloomington and Western Railway was built across Mound Township in the southern part of the county.{{sfn|Goodspeed|1883|p=49}} A few years later, in 1872, a branch of the Chicago, Danville and Vincennes Railroad (known as the "Pumpkin Vine Railroad") was built from Bismarck, Illinois, southeast through Warren County; it was built specifically to carry coal from the mines south of Covington. A labor riot at the mines in the late 1870s interrupted the flow of coal, and this combined with the poor financial state of the railroad led to the removal of most of the track by 1880; the remaining portion was removed a few years later. At about this time, in the early 1880s, the Chicago and Indiana Coal Railroad began operating a north–south line through the county. It became part of the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad but was abandoned in 1920 due to financial difficulties; a new company operated the line as the Chicago, Attica and Southern Railroad starting in 1921, but financial problems affected the new company as well and the rails were removed in 1946.Warren County Historical Society 1966, pp. 11–12. Another line, part of the New York Central Railroad, was built through the area in 1903; locally, it ran northeast from Danville into Warren County, then turned north through the small towns of Sloan and Stewart and continued north into Benton County. In the 1970s it became part of Penn Central, then Conrail; operations on the line ceased in the 1990s and the tracks were removed, though a portion running north from Stewart remained and became the Bee Line Railroad which serves the grain processing facility in Stewart.Warren County Historical Society 2002, pp. 16–17.

The Wabash Cannonball was a passenger train that ran on the Wabash Railroad between Detroit, Michigan and Saint Louis, Missouri, starting in 1949. On September 19, 1964, the southbound Cannonball struck a truck loaded with concrete blocks at a crossing in Johnsonville. The driver of the truck was killed instantly, but although the train derailed, no other people died. On the train, the driver and fireman were severely injured when the engine caught fire, and about half of the 50 passengers were injured. Over {{convert|1000|ft}} of track was torn out, and the damage was estimated at over $500,000. The last run of the Cannonball was in 1969.Warren County Historical Society 2002, pp. 114–115.

After peaking in the late 19th century, the county's population declined during the 20th,{{cite web

|url=http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/00_SF1/DP1/0500000US18171

|title=Warren County, Indiana – Fact Sheet

|access-date=August 24, 2010

|publisher=United States Census Bureau}} in common with much of the rural Midwest.

{{cite book

|last=Davies

|first=Richard O.

|title=Main Street Blues: The Decline of Small-Town America

|publisher=Ohio State University Press

|location=Columbus

|year=1998

|isbn=978-0-8142-0782-6

}} The widespread adoption of the automobile in the 1920s undercut small-town businesses, which were threatened further by the Great Depression of the 1930s.

{{cite book

|editor=Andrew R. L. Cayton

|others=Richard Sisson, Chris Zacher

|title=The American Midwest: An Interpretive Encyclopedia

|publisher=Indiana University Press

|location=Bloomington, Indiana

|year=2006

|isbn=978-0-253-34886-9

|chapter=Small-town life

|pages=1119–1120

|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n3Xn7jMx1RYC&pg=PA1119

|quote=The universal embrace of the automobile in the 1920s contributed to the sharp decline of Main Street's independence and vitality ... The ensuing Great Depression ruthlessly exposed the vulnerability of small-town merchants ... The causes of decline are many and complex, but they are related to the continued accumulation of population, economic strength, political power, and social dominance by regional cities.

}} World War II and the economic revival of the late 1940s and 1950s drew people to better jobs in growing regional cities, and this further diminished small towns. The population shrank again in the 1980s due largely to the effects of the "farm crisis" of low crop prices, high farmer debt and other economic causes.

{{cite web

|publisher=United States Department of Agriculture

|title=A History of American Agriculture: Life of the Farm

|url=http://www.agclassroom.org/gan/timeline/life_farm.htm

|access-date=September 18, 2010

}}{{cite book

|last=Davidson

|first=Osha Gray

|title=Broken Heartland: The Rise of America's Rural Ghetto

|publisher=University of Iowa Press

|location=Iowa City

|year=1996

|isbn=978-0-87745-554-7

}}

The first county fair involved both Fountain and Warren counties and was held in Independence on September 6 and 7, 1853. In following years, the fair was held in Fountain County, and participation by Warren County farmers diminished. In 1856, farmers in the northern part of the county held a fair just east of Pine Village, and this continued each year through 1864. West Lebanon became the next site of the county fair, and it ran successfully through 1883; the fairgrounds just to the northwest of town were well-developed.{{sfn|Goodspeed|1883|pp=68–69}} Later, the fair was held at the county seat of Williamsport, and this continues through the present day; it is now a 4H fair.Warren County Historical Society 1966, p. 144.{{cite web

|url=https://www.extension.purdue.edu/warren/pages/default.aspx

|title=Warren County

|publisher=Purdue University Extension

|access-date=April 12, 2015}}

One location in the county, near the small town of Kramer, once had an international reputation: the Hotel Mudlavia. Built in 1890 at a cost of $250,000,{{refn|A $250,000 capital expense in 1890 would be roughly equivalent to $47,000,000 in 2009.|group="n"}} it drew guests from around the world to nearby natural springs that were said to have healing qualities. People such as James Whitcomb Riley, John L. Sullivan and Harry Lauder are known to have stayed at the hotel, which burned down in 1920.Warren County Historical Society 1966, pp. 157–159. Later, water from the springs was bottled and sold by Indianapolis-based Cameron Springs company, which was acquired by the Perrier Group of America in 2000 for about $10.5 million.

{{cite web

|url = http://www.secinfo.com/dSa65.52q.htm#10thPage

|title = SEC Info – National Wine and Spirits Inc. 10K for 3/31/2000

|access-date = September 30, 2007

|publisher = SEC/National Wine and Spirits Inc.

|page = 10

|date = June 28, 2000}} {{as of|2008}} the water was still being sold and was marketed under a variety of names.{{cite book

|title = Weird Indiana: Your Travel Guide to Indiana's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets

|year = 2008

|publisher = Sterling Publishing Company, Inc

|location = New York

|isbn=978-1-4027-5452-4

|page = 231

|last1 = Marimen

|first1 = Mark

|last2 = Willis

|first2 = James A.

|last3 = Taylor

|first3 = Troy

|last4 = Moran

|first4 = Mark

}}

Image:Map of Warren County, Indiana.svg

The Wabash River, coming out of Tippecanoe County to the east, defines the southeastern border of the county; the terrain here is hilly and wooded areas are common. Fountain County lies across the river. By contrast, the northwest region consists mainly of flat prairie farmland; this continues in Benton County to the north. Along the western side of the county is the border with Vermilion County, Illinois. The small southern border is shared with the north end of the similarly named Indiana county of Vermillion. The state capital of Indianapolis lies about {{convert|70|mi}} to the southeast.{{cite map

|url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/Warren+County,+IN/@40.0578184,-87.2386129,9.75z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x881293fbbf8f8d01:0xf71fdc32583b4cd6

|title=Warren County, Indiana

|publisher=Google

|access-date=December 28, 2015

}}

The highest free-falling waterfall in the state, Williamsport Falls, is located in downtown Williamsport; a stream named Fall Creek flows through the town and falls {{convert|90|ft}} over a sandstone ledge less than {{convert|1000|ft}} from the county courthouse.Warren County Historical Society 2002, p. 165. Northeast of Independence is the Black Rock Barrens Nature Preserve, a rare siltstone glade area that, with the adjacent Weiler-Leopold Nature Reserve, supports a diversity of flora including sessile trillium, phlox and wild hyacinth in the moist lowlands and serviceberry, rue anemone, birdsfoot violet and yellow pimpernel on the drier slopes.

{{cite web

|url=http://www.in.gov/dnr/naturepreserve/files/np-Black_Rock_Barrens.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025134954/http://in.gov/dnr/naturepreserve/files/np-Black_Rock_Barrens.pdf |archive-date=October 25, 2012 |url-status=live

|title=Black Rock Barrens Nature Preserve

|publisher=Indiana Department of Natural Resources

|access-date=August 28, 2010}}

{{cite web

|url=https://nicheslandtrust.org/properties/warren-county/black-rock

|title=Black Rock

|publisher=NICHES Land Trust

|access-date=September 20, 2016}}

{{cite web

|url=https://nicheslandtrust.org/properties/warren-county/weiler-leopold-nature-reserve

|title=Weiler-Leopold Nature Preserve

|publisher=NICHES Land Trust

|access-date=September 20, 2016}} Big Pine Creek is the county's largest waterway after the Wabash River, and {{convert|adj=on|10.5|mi}} segment of it is designated by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources as a state natural and scenic river and passes near Fall Creek Gorge Nature Preserve, an area of cascades and potholes.{{cite web

|url=https://www.in.gov/dnr/water/files/Appdx_E-4.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090316075201/http://www.in.gov/dnr/water/files/Appdx_E-4.pdf |archive-date=March 16, 2009 |url-status=live

|title=IDNR Listing of Indiana Special Streams

|publisher=Indiana Department of Natural Resources

|page=3

|access-date=June 9, 2015}}

Image:Williamsport Falls.png

According to the 2010 census, the county has a total area of {{convert|366.40|sqmi}}, of which {{convert|364.68|sqmi}} (or 99.53%) is land and {{convert|1.72|sqmi}} (or 0.47%) is water. Elevations in the county range from {{convert|480|ft}} above sea level where the Wabash River enters Vermillion County to {{convert|830|ft}} in northeastern Prairie Township.

{{cite web

|url=https://engineering.purdue.edu/SafeWater/watershed/warren.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110617033139/https://engineering.purdue.edu/SafeWater/watershed/warren.pdf |archive-date=June 17, 2011 |url-status=live

|title=Water Resources of Warren County, Indiana

|last1=Frankenberger

|first1=Jane R.

|last2=Carroll

|first2=Natalie

|access-date=August 29, 2010

|publisher=Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service}} The landscape consists mostly of flat or gently sloping moraine overlaying silty and loamy glacial till, except along the Wabash River where sand, gravel, sandstone and shale are exposed.

{{cite report

|title = Soil Survey of Warren County, Indiana

|url = https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/indiana/IN171/0/warren.pdf

|publisher = United States Department of Agriculture's Soil Conservation Service

|year = 1990

|access-date = December 24, 2010

|docket = 1991-281-364/20052}} Various forms of silt loam constitute most of the county's soil and are conducive to agriculture. Forests cover about 14% of the county,

{{cite report

|title = Indiana Statewide Forestry Strategy

|url = https://www.in.gov/dnr/forestry/files/fo-Strategy_6_2010.pdf#page=20

|publisher = Indiana Department of Natural Resources' Division of Forestry

|year = 2010

|format = PDF

|access-date = December 24, 2010

}} mainly around major waterways,{{cite report

|title = Indiana Statewide Forest Assessment

|url = https://www.in.gov/dnr/forestry/files/fo-Assessment_6_2010.pdf#page=13

|publisher = Indiana Department of Natural Resources' Division of Forestry

|year = 2010

|format = PDF

|access-date = December 24, 2010

}} and consist principally of deciduous hardwoods among which maple–beech and oak–hickory forests are the most common.{{cite web

|publisher=USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Area State & Private Forestry

|title=Forests of Indiana: A 1998 Overview

|url=https://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/misc/in98forests/webversion/whatypes.htm

|access-date=December 24, 2010

}} The only coal mines in the county are located in the southeastern part of Steuben Township, near the Wabash River.{{cite web

|url=https://igws.indiana.edu/CMIS/Counties/Warren/Warren_surface_mines_web.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014233854/https://igws.indiana.edu/CMIS/Counties/Warren/Warren_surface_mines_web.pdf |archive-date=October 14, 2017 |url-status=live

|title=Map Showing Surface Coal Mines in Warren County, Indiana

|publisher=Indiana Geological Survey

|access-date=October 22, 2011

}}

When the county was formed in 1827, it was divided into four townships: Medina, Warren, Pike and Mound. Over the following decades, many changes were made to the township borders and eight new townships were created. Pine and Washington were the first of these, in March 1830;Warren County Historical Society 1966, pp. 81, 130. Steuben followed in 1834. Liberty was formed in 1843, Adams in 1848, then Jordan in 1850. Kent and Prairie were the last to be created, in 1864.{{sfn|Goodspeed|1883|pp=61–62}}Warren County Historical Society 1966, pp. 28, 94. {{as of|2010}}, Prairie Township, at {{convert|5.4|PD/sqmi}}, has the lowest population density; it covers more area than any of the other townships—nearly {{convert|50|sqmi}}—and contains no incorporated towns. The highest density is in Washington Township, which has {{convert|120|PD/sqmi}}; it includes Williamsport, the county's largest town, and covers only about {{convert|20|sqmi}}.

There are four incorporated towns in the county. The largest is Williamsport, which is on the western banks of the Wabash River in the eastern part of the county, just downstream of Attica (which is on the east side of the river in Fountain County); in 2010, its population was 1,898—nearly one-fourth of the county's total.{{cite web

|url=https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/cf/1.0/en/place/Williamsport%20town,%20Indiana/POPULATION/DECENNIAL_CNT

|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150412125031/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/cf/1.0/en/place/Williamsport%20town,%20Indiana/POPULATION/DECENNIAL_CNT

|url-status=dead

|archive-date=April 12, 2015

|title=Census data for Williamsport

|access-date=April 12, 2015

|publisher=United States Census Bureau

}} West Lebanon is about {{convert|5|mi}} west of Williamsport on State Road 28, with a population of 723.{{cite web

|url=https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/cf/1.0/en/place/West%20Lebanon%20town,%20Indiana/POPULATION/DECENNIAL_CNT

|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150412125030/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/cf/1.0/en/place/West%20Lebanon%20town,%20Indiana/POPULATION/DECENNIAL_CNT

|url-status=dead

|archive-date=April 12, 2015

|title=Census data for West Lebanon

|access-date=April 12, 2015

|publisher=United States Census Bureau

}} The town of Pine Village lies about {{convert|11|mi}} to the north of Williamsport where State Road 55 intersects State Road 26, near the northern edge of the county; 217 people live in Pine Village.{{cite web

|url=https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/cf/1.0/en/place/Pine%20Village%20town,%20Indiana/POPULATION/DECENNIAL_CNT

|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150412125033/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/cf/1.0/en/place/Pine%20Village%20town,%20Indiana/POPULATION/DECENNIAL_CNT

|url-status=dead

|archive-date=April 12, 2015

|title=Census data for Pine Village

|access-date=April 12, 2015

|publisher=United States Census Bureau

}} State Line City is in the southwestern part of the county and shares its western border with the Illinois state line. A small Illinois community named Illiana lies immediately on the west side of the county road which runs along the state border (and which is also a street between the two communities). State Line City is the smallest of the towns, with a population of 143.{{cite web

|url=https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/cf/1.0/en/place/State%20Line%20City%20town,%20Indiana/POPULATION/DECENNIAL_CNT

|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150412125033/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/cf/1.0/en/place/State%20Line%20City%20town,%20Indiana/POPULATION/DECENNIAL_CNT

|url-status=dead

|archive-date=April 12, 2015

|title=Census data for State Line City

|access-date=April 12, 2015

|publisher=United States Census Bureau

}}

Image:Sloan, Indiana.png

In addition to the incorporated towns, there are over a dozen small unincorporated communities in Warren County{{cite web

|url=http://geonames.usgs.gov/apex/f?p=gnispq:2:0::NO::P1_CLASS%2CP1_COUNTY%2CP1_STATE:Populated+Place%2CWarren%2CIndiana

|title=Geographic Names Information System: Populated places in Warren County, Indiana

|publisher=United States Geological Survey

|access-date=September 12, 2010}} that are historical centers of activity. Now they consist mostly of dwellings, though several have churches and some still have small businesses. The small settlements of Hedrick, Pence and Stewart are in Jordan Township; Stewart consists of a grain processing facility and a single residence. In Steuben Township, Johnsonville has a church and a handful of residences. Marshfield has an automotive body repair shop, a grain elevator and a church. Independence, platted in 1832, is located on the site of a trading post set up by Zachariah Cicott. He is buried in a cemetery in Warren Township, just north of town. The township included the small settlement of Winthrop. Liberty Township has three unincorporated communities: Carbondale, Judyville and Kramer (near the site of the Mudlavia Hotel). Several townships contain only a single settlement. Foster is the only one in Mound Township and has a motel and several houses. In the northeast corner of the county, Green Hill is Medina Township's only settlement. Tab is the only settlement in Prairie Township; most of this township is agricultural, and a large grain processing facility is Tab's only remaining business. Pine Township's only community is Rainsville.Warren County Historical Society 2002, p. 102.

Some settlements did not survive. The river town of Baltimore thrived and was a major center of trade until the river was overshadowed by the railroad for purposes of trade and transportation; a single house, built long after the town's heyday, is all that remains.Warren County Historical Society 1966, pp. 56–58. Warrenton had a promising start as the first county seat, but it began to wane after the seat moved, and today no trace is left.Warren County Historical Society 1966, p. 120. Chesapeake was the first settlement in Steuben Township, but it faded away so early that even an 1883 county history has little to say on the subject.{{sfn|Goodspeed|1883|p=114}} Brisco was never large, though it did have a school house from the 1850s through the 1920s. It likewise disappeared by the end of the 20th century. Chatterton had a school, a store and a post office, but it has disappeared even though the name continues to appear on maps.Warren County Historical Society 1966, p. 7. Other communities were planned but did not develop. Dresser was never much more than a collection of houses, though it did have a post office for a few years around the turn of the 20th century. The settlements of Kickapoo, Locust Grove, Sloan and Walnut Grove were similar in this respect. Point Pleasant never developed much beyond the founder's residence and a liquor store, and was later described as a "paper town".{{sfn|Goodspeed|1883|pp=85–114}}

{{clear|left}}

{{climate chart

|Indiana

|34.4|17.7|2.48

|39.8|21.2|2.27

|50.8|30.5|3.36

|62.3|39.8|3.89

|72.8|50.0|4.46

|81.5|59.4|4.19

|85.1|63.4|4.22

|83.2|61.3|3.91

|76.9|53.4|3.12

|65.3|41.9|3.02

|51.4|33.2|3.44

|39.2|23.1|3.13

|float=right

|units=imperial

|clear=both

|source=Indiana State Climate Office{{cite web

|url=https://iclimate.org/climate_fact_sheet/

|title=Climate Fact Sheet

|access-date=June 27, 2017

|publisher=Indiana State Climate Office

}}}}

Warren County is in the humid continental climate region of the United States, as is most of Indiana. Its Köppen climate classification is Dfa,{{cite web

|url=https://www.weather.gov/jetstream/climate_max

|title=Addition Köppen-Geiger Climate Subdivisions

|publisher=National Weather Service

|access-date=April 15, 2018

}} meaning that it is cold, has no dry season, and has a hot summer.{{cite web

|url=http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/11/1633/2007/hess-11-1633-2007.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024063821/http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/11/1633/2007/hess-11-1633-2007.pdf |archive-date=October 24, 2007 |url-status=live

|title=Updated world map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification

|last1=Peel

|first1=M. C.

|last2=Finlayson

|first2=B. L.

|last3=McMahon

|first3=T. A.

|publisher=Copernicus Publications

|year=2007

|page=1636

|access-date=January 23, 2011}} From 1971 to 2000, average temperatures in Indiana have ranged from a low of {{convert|26|°F}} in January to a high of {{convert|74.3|°F}} in July, although a record low of {{convert|-33|°F}} was recorded in 1887 and a record high of {{convert|116|°F}} was recorded in 1936. Average monthly precipitation has ranged from {{convert|2.27|in}} inches in February to {{convert|4.46|in}} inches in May.

On April 17, 1922, a tornado touched down in Warren County. The town of Hedrick in southern Jordan Township was almost entirely destroyed, along with other buildings in the vicinity of the town, and several people were killed.Warren County Historical Society 1966, pp. 18, 26, 39. From 1950 through 2009, ten tornadoes were reported in Warren County; none resulted in any deaths or injuries, but the total estimated property damage was over $3 million.{{cite web

|url=http://www.weather.gov/ind/warren_torn

|title=Warren County Tornadoes, 1950–2014

|publisher=National Weather Service

|access-date=April 12, 2015}}

Warren County was affected by the Great Blizzard of 1978 which covered several states and was the worst blizzard on record for Indiana; in late January, a record of snowfall of over {{convert|20|in|cm}} fell locally, and high winds resulted in snowdrifts as high as {{convert|10|ft}}. Local schools were closed for up to seventeen days, and some residents were snowbound for as many as five days.Warren County Historical Society 2002, p. 201.{{cite web

|title=Blizzard of 1978

|publisher=National Weather Service

|url=http://www.weather.gov/iln/Blizzard1978

|access-date=April 12, 2015}}

There are no interstate highways in Warren County, although Interstate 74 passes less than half a mile (800m) from the southern border.{{cite web

|url=https://data.indot.in.gov/data/FCMaps/Counties/WarrenCounty.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161225003856/https://data.indot.in.gov/data/FCMaps/Counties/WarrenCounty.pdf |archive-date=December 25, 2016 |url-status=live

|title=Functional Class Map, Warren County, Indiana

|publisher=Indiana Department of Transportation

|access-date=September 20, 2016}} About {{convert|20|mi}} of federal highways and {{convert|86|mi}} of state highways cross the county, as do about {{convert|550|mi}} of county roads. Of these, roughly a third are paved and the rest are topped with crushed gravel or packed dirt.U.S. Government Printing Office 1990, p. 4.

U.S. Route 41 enters from Benton County to the north and runs through the center of Warren County, veering to the east and crossing the Wabash River between Williamsport and Attica before continuing south. {{nowrap|U.S. Route 136}} passes through the far southern part of the county on its route between Covington and Danville, Illinois.

Image:Pine Village, Indiana.png

In the northern part of the county, {{nowrap|Indiana State Road 26}} begins at the Illinois border and passes through the town of Pine Village, where it intersects {{nowrap|State Road 55}} on its way from Oxford in the north to Attica in the south; State Road 26 continues east through Lafayette and on to the Ohio border. Likewise, State Road 28 runs across the state from Illinois to Ohio; it connects West Lebanon with Williamsport and continues east through Attica.

The four-lane divided State Road 63 runs south from its northern terminus at U.S. Route 41 near the center of the county; both reach Terre Haute about {{convert|60|mi}} to the south, but while Route 41 crosses to the east side of the river, State Road 63 remains on the west side. Construction on the current State Road 63, which replaced the older two-lane road and streamlined its route, began in the late 1960s and was completed by the early 1980s. The current two-lane {{nowrap|State Road 263}} is a part of the original route of State Road 63 and forms a {{convert|13|mi|adj=on}} business route that leaves its parent route, passes through West Lebanon and along the river, then rejoins its parent near the south edge of the county. A small portion of {{nowrap|State Road 352}} lies in the far northwestern corner of the county, following the county and state border north from State Road 26 for only about {{convert|1|mi}} before leaving Warren County and entering Benton County on its way through the small town of Ambia.

A Norfolk Southern Railway route connecting Danville, Illinois, with the city of Lafayette is the county's busiest rail line, carrying about 45 freight trains each day.{{cite web

|url=http://www.warrenadvantage.com/Transportation_Utilities/default.htm

|title=Warren County Transportation/Utilities

|publisher=Warren County Local Economic Development Organization

|access-date=September 12, 2010

|archive-date=November 13, 2010

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101113034847/http://www.warrenadvantage.com/Transportation_Utilities/default.htm

|url-status=dead

}} It enters Warren County at State Line City and passes northeast through the communities of Johnsonville, Marshfield, West Lebanon and Williamsport before exiting the county at Attica.

{{cite web

|url=http://www.nscorp.com/nscportal/nscorp/pdf/systemmap2008.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517020814/http://www.nscorp.com/nscportal/nscorp/pdf/systemmap2008.pdf |archive-date=May 17, 2008 |url-status=live

|title=Northfolk Southern System Map 2008

|publisher=Norfolk Southern Railway

|year=2008

|access-date=August 28, 2008}} Two short-line railroads operate less frequently. The Bee Line Railroad is used principally for agricultural transportation and runs approximately {{convert|10|mi}} from Stewart north through Tab and into southern Benton County where it joins the Kankakee, Beaverville and Southern.

{{cite web

|url=http://www.illinirail.com/kbsr/history.htm

|title=Kankakee, Beaverville and Southern Railroad history

|publisher=Illini Rail

|access-date=August 28, 2010}} The {{convert|6|mi|km|-1|adj=on}} Vermilion Valley Railroad serves the Flex-N-Gate factory near Covington and runs west from the plant through the town of Foster to meet a CSX line in Danville.

{{cite web

|url=https://secure.rrb.gov/pdf/bcd/bcd03-61.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014182814/https://secure.rrb.gov/pdf/bcd/bcd03-61.pdf |archive-date=October 14, 2017 |url-status=live

|title=Employer Status Determination: Vermilion Valley Railroad Company, Inc.

|publisher=Railroad Retirement Board

|date=June 30, 2003

|access-date=August 28, 2010}}

The nearest airport is the small Vermilion Regional Airport, located {{convert|4|NM}} northeast of Danville, Illinois. Purdue University Airport is Indiana's second busiest airport and is operated by Purdue University in neighboring Tippecanoe County to the northeast.{{cite web

|url=https://www.purdue.edu/airport/

|title=The Purdue University Airport

|publisher=Purdue University

|access-date=September 20, 2016

}} Indianapolis International Airport is located about {{convert|90|mi}} to the southeast.{{cite web

|url=https://www.in.gov/indot/2806.htm

|title=Indiana Public Use Airports

|publisher=Indiana Department of Transportation

|access-date=February 1, 2011

}}

Image:State Line elevator.png

Warren County's economy is supported by a labor force of approximately 4,815 workers with an unemployment rate in July 2010 of 8.8%.

{{cite web

|author=STATS Indiana

|url=http://www.stats.indiana.edu/profiles/profiles.asp?scope_choice=a&county_changer=18171&button1=Get+Profile&id=2&page_path=Area+Profiles&path_id=11&panel_number=1

|title=InDepth Profile: Warren County, Indiana

|access-date=September 12, 2010

|publisher=Indiana Business Research Center}} Farming is a significant part of the economy, employing approximately 14% of the county's workers and supporting grain elevators in most towns. In some cases, the elevator is the town's only formal business. The county's farmland is highly productive and is among the top 10% of Indiana counties in terms of crop yield per acre.

{{cite web

|publisher=United States Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service

|title=Indiana - County Estimates

|url=https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Indiana/Publications/County_Estimates/

|access-date=June 27, 2017

}} In 2009, {{convert|94700|acre|ha}} of corn was planted and {{convert|93100|acre|ha}} acres harvested, yielding an average of 187 bushels per acre (11.7 metric tons per hectare) for a total corn production of 17.4 million bushels (441,980 metric tons). Approximately {{convert|72000|acre|ha}} of soybeans were planted, yielding 55 bushels per acre (3.7 metric tons per hectare) for a total of 3.96 million bushels (107,774 metric tons). Farmers also grew small amounts of hay ({{convert|3700|acre|ha}}) and winter wheat, and held 3,600 head of cattle. Roughly 86% of the county's {{convert|234413|acre|ha}} is cropland.U.S. Government Printing Office 1990, p. 1.

About 14% of the labor force works in the government sector for state and county services and schools; in the non-government sector, manufacturing is the largest industry at about 17% of the labor force. The county has several industrial employers. Flex-N-Gate, an automobile parts assembly and warehouse facility, occupies the {{convert|750|acre|ha|adj=on}} former Olin factory complex west of Covington.

{{cite web

|url=https://www.tradeandindustrydev.com/Industry/Automotive/news/global-automotive-manufacturer-plans-warren-county-6132

|title=Global Automotive Manufacturer Plans Warren County Expansion

|publisher=Trade and Industry Development

|access-date=September 20, 2016}} In Williamsport, industry includes TMF Center, which manufactures parts for construction equipment and trucking; GL Technologies, which procures industrial tooling; and Kuri-Tec, which manufactures industrial hoses and accessories. Tru-Flex Metal Hose in West Lebanon has made stripwound and corrugated flexible metal hose since 1962; Dyna-Fab, also in West Lebanon, specializes in metal stampings and weldments.{{cite web

|publisher=Warren County Local Economic Development Organization

|url=http://www.warrenadvantage.com/Business_Directory/business.php

|title=Business Directory

|access-date=September 18, 2010

|archive-date=January 19, 2009

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090119175933/http://www.warrenadvantage.com/Business_Directory/business.php

|url-status=dead

}} St. Vincent Hospital and a nursing home in Williamsport are also important local employers; 9.8% of the county's jobs relate to health care and social services.

Larger local economies in the more populous counties to the east and west offer additional employment and commerce, particularly in the cities of Lafayette and West Lafayette in Tippecanoe County{{cite web

|author=STATS Indiana

|url=http://www.stats.indiana.edu/profiles/profiles.asp?scope_choice=a&county_changer=18157&button1=Get+Profile&id=2&page_path=Area+Profiles&path_id=11&panel_number=1

|title=InDepth Profile: Tippecanoe County, Indiana

|access-date=December 16, 2010

|publisher=Indiana Business Research Center}} and the city of Danville in Vermilion County, Illinois.{{cite web

|url=http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/ENU1718310510

|title=Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages for Vermilion County

|publisher=United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics

|access-date=December 16, 2010

}}

Electricity in the county comes from three providers. Duke Energy and the Warren County Rural Electric Membership Cooperative (REMC) serve most of the county, while the northern edge of the county receives power from NIPSCO.{{cite web

|url=http://www.warrenadvantage.com/Transportation_Utilities/Utilities.htm

|title=Warren County Transportation/Utilities

|publisher=Warren County Local Economic Development Organization

|access-date=January 21, 2012}}

There are three school districts with territory in the county: Metropolitan School District of Warren County, Benton Community School Corporation, and Covington Community School Corporation.{{cite map|author=Geography Division|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st18_in/schooldistrict_maps/c18171_warren/DC20SD_C18171.pdf|title=2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Warren County, IN|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|date=December 18, 2020|access-date=2025-06-06}} - [https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st18_in/schooldistrict_maps/c18171_warren/DC20SD_C18171_SD2MS.txt Text list] The four public schools within the county limits are administered by the Warren County Metropolitan school district. There is one junior–senior school in that system: Seeger Memorial Junior-Senior High School north of West Lebanon, which was built in 1957 as part of the school consolidation effort. Seeger had an enrollment of 557 students during the 2014–15 school year and graduated 90 students the previous year.

{{cite web

|url=https://compass.doe.in.gov/dashboard/overview.aspx?type=school&id=8737

|title=Indiana K-12 Education Data for Seeger Memorial Junior-Senior High School

|publisher=Indiana Department of Education

|access-date=December 28, 2015}} Warren Central Elementary School is co-located with Seeger and served 305 students during the 2014–15 school year,

{{cite web

|url=https://compass.doe.in.gov/dashboard/overview.aspx?type=school&id=8744

|title=Indiana K-12 Education Data for Warren Central Elementary School

|publisher=Indiana Department of Education

|access-date=December 28, 2015}} while Williamsport Elementary School served 168 students

{{cite web

|url=https://compass.doe.in.gov/dashboard/overview.aspx?type=school&id=8729

|title=Indiana K-12 Education Data for Williamsport Elementary School

|publisher=Indiana Department of Education

|access-date=December 28, 2015}} and Pine Village Elementary School served 117 students.

{{cite web

|url=https://compass.doe.in.gov/dashboard/overview.aspx?type=school&id=8733

|title=Indiana K-12 Education Data for Pine Village Elementary School

|publisher=Indiana Department of Education

|access-date=December 28, 2015}}

There are no colleges or universities within Warren County, but there are several in nearby counties. Purdue University is a major undergraduate and graduate land-grant university in West Lafayette, approximately {{convert|20|mi|km}} northeast in Tippecanoe County. The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, another major research land-grant university, is about {{convert|50|mi|km}} to the west. Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana has 23 campuses throughout the state; the closest to Warren County is in Lafayette. Danville Area Community College is a public two-year college located in neighboring Vermilion County, Illinois, about {{convert|20|mi|km}} southwest of Williamsport. Indiana State University is located about 60 miles south of West Lebanon, in Terre Haute, IN. ISU is one of the Princeton Review's "Best in the Midwest," and holds Carnegie classification as a research/doctoral university.

The towns of Williamsport and West Lebanon both have public libraries. The Williamsport-Washington Township Public Library was built in 2002 and replaced the town's 1917 Carnegie library;Warren County Historical Society 2002, p. 169. the West Lebanon-Pike Township Public Library is housed in the original 1916 Carnegie building, which was expanded in 2006.Warren County Historical Society 2002, p. 81.

The county's single hospital is St. Vincent Williamsport Hospital, a 16-bed acute care facility operated by Indianapolis-based St. Vincent Health. The hospital includes a 24-hour emergency medical service and ambulance service.{{cite web

|url=https://www.stvincent.org/locations/hospitals/williamsport

|title=St. Vincent Williamsport

|publisher=St. Vincent

|access-date=June 27, 2017

}} Williamsport also has a nursing home that provides health care and rehabilitation services primarily for seniors.{{cite web

|url=http://www.ascseniorcare.com/location/williamsport-nursing-rehabilitation/

|title=Williamsport Nursing and Rehabilitation

|publisher=American Senior Communities

|access-date=June 14, 2015

}}

Image:J. Frank Hanly, 1908.jpg

Image:Vernon Lee Burge in 1913.jpg

Image:Williams-de.jpg

George D. Wagner was raised on a farm near Green Hill in Medina Township, where his family moved when he was four years old. As an adult he became a prosperous farmer; in 1856 he was elected to the Indiana House of Representatives, and he later served in the Indiana Senate. He fought in the Civil War on the Union side and was promoted to brigadier general in 1863. After the war, he moved to Williamsport and practiced law; he died in 1869 at age 39 and is buried in Armstrong Cemetery north of Green Hill, near the farm where he was raised.Warren County Historical Society 1966, pp. 47–48.

James Frank Hanly was born in Champaign County, Illinois in 1863. He moved to Warren County in 1879 and worked as a school teacher from 1881 to 1889, when he joined a local law office.{{cite book

|editor=Gugin, Linda C.

|editor2=St. Clair, James E.

|title=The Governors of Indiana

|publisher=Indiana Historical Society Press

|location=Indianapolis, Indiana

|year=2006

|isbn=0-87195-196-7

|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780871951960/page/225 225]

|url-access=registration

|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780871951960/page/225

}} He entered politics and served as Governor of Indiana from 1905 to 1909. He was a strong supporter of prohibition and lectured widely on the subject after his time as governor. While traveling to such a lecture in 1920, he died in an automobile accident in Ohio and is buried at Hillside Cemetery on the northeast side of Williamsport.{{cite web

|url=https://www.nga.org/governor/james-frank-hanly/

|title=Indiana Governor James Frank Hanly

|publisher=National Governors Association

|access-date=September 21, 2010}}

Fremont Goodwine was born in West Lafayette in 1857. He attended Purdue University and was part of the original freshman class in 1874, graduating in 1878. He became a teacher, and later lived in Williamsport and served as the superintendent of education for Warren County, starting in 1887. He was elected to a seat in the state senate in 1897 and continued there for 12 years; he served as President pro tem of the senate for one session. He died in 1956 at the age of 99.{{cite web

|url=http://www4.lib.purdue.edu/archon/?p=creators/creator&id=626

|title=Goodwine, Fremont (1857–1956)

|publisher=Purdue University

|access-date=February 12, 2012}}{{cite news

|title=Senator Fremont Goodwine

|newspaper=The Bluffton Chronicle

|date=February 26, 1908

|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2331&dat=19080226&id=txcoAAAAIBAJ&pg=4232,2511961

|access-date=February 12, 2012}}

Albert Lee Stephens Sr. was born in State Line City in 1874. He studied law in California and set up a private practice there, and later served in several legal positions before becoming a judge in 1919. In 1935 he was nominated by Franklin D. Roosevelt to serve as a United States District Court judge in California. Two years later Roosevelt nominated him to a new seat as judge in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and in 1957 he became chief judge. He died while still serving in 1965, at age 91.{{cite web

|url=https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/stephens-albert-lee-sr.

|title=Stephens, Albert Lee Sr.

|publisher=Federal Judicial Center

|access-date=June 27, 2017

}}

Vernon Burge attended school in West Lebanon, where his father worked as a blacksmith. After graduation, he enlisted in the United States Army in 1907 and was assigned to the Balloon Attachment of the Signal Corps. He later became part of the first United States military aviation unit, and in 1912 he became the first American enlisted man to be certified as a military pilot.Warren County Historical Society 2002, pp. 190–191.{{cite web

|url=https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/196648/cpl-vernon-l-burge/

|title=Cpl. Vernon L. Burge

|publisher=National Museum of the US Air Force

|access-date=December 15, 2010

}}

Like George Wagner, Donald E. Williams grew up in Green Hill. He studied mechanical engineering at Purdue University, served as a pilot during the Vietnam War, then as a test pilot, and became a NASA astronaut in 1979; he flew on two Space Shuttle missions in the 1980s.

{{cite web

|url=http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/williams-de.html

|title=Astronaut Bio: Donald E. Williams

|publisher=National Aeronautics and Space Administration

|access-date=December 15, 2010

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070602060901/http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/williams-de.html

|archive-date=June 2, 2007

|url-status=dead

}}

Stephanie White-McCarty attended Seeger Memorial High School and was named 1995 Indiana Miss Basketball after setting a state scoring record while playing on the Seeger team. She went on to be part of Purdue University's first NCAA women's basketball championship team in 1999, then began a five-year career in the Women's National Basketball Association. She is currently the head coach of the Vanderbilt Commodores women's basketball team.Warren County Historical Society 2002, pp. 92–93.

The first newspaper in the county was The Wabash Commercial, which was printed in Williamsport and started publication in the 1850s. A new owner changed the name to The Warren Republican in 1854, the same year that the Republican Party was formed. It had several different owners until 1870; it was then published by a single owner for the next 40 years. Another paper called The Warren Review was started in 1891 and also had several owners until the two papers combined in 1914 as The Review Republican, which is now billed as "Warren County's only newspaper".Warren County Historical Society 1966, p. 142. It is now owned by Community Media Group which produces newspapers and other print distribution products in six states.{{cite web

|url=http://www.communitymediagroup.com/

|title=Community Media Group

|access-date=December 16, 2010

}} West Lebanon also had several newspapers which began publication around the time of the Civil War. The most recent was The Gazette, which was printed from the late 1800s into the early 1900s; before this there were several other papers printed under several different names as owners changed. As of 1912, Pine Village had a newspaper called the Sentinel-News.{{sfn|Clifton|1913|pp=249–252}} The Neighbor is a weekly paper serving Fountain and Warren counties.

The nearest major television market area is based in Indianapolis. The smaller Lafayette market area is closer and includes several broadcast stations that can be received in much of Warren County; the Champaign, Illinois market area is closer to the southwestern portions of the county and is also in broadcast range.{{cite web

|url=http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=645713201b4928eb0299b9c4bec7734b&mc=true&node=sp47.4.76.d&rgn=div6

|title=Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, Title 47: Telecommunication

|publisher=United States Government Printing Office

|access-date=February 1, 2011

}}{{cite web

|url=http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?state=&call=&arn=&city=&chan=&cha2=69&serv=&type=0&facid=&list=1&dist=100&dlat2=40&mlat2=18&slat2=7.57&dlon2=87&mlon2=18&slon2=41.89&size=9

|title=TV Query Results

|publisher=Federal Communications Commission

|access-date=February 1, 2011}} There are no radio stations based in Warren County, but several nearby areas have AM and FM stations that are in broadcast range. This includes Lafayette and Terre Haute in Indiana, and Danville and Champaign-Urbana in Illinois.{{cite web

|url=http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/amq?state=&call=&arn=&city=&freq=530&fre2=1700&type=0&facid=&class=&list=1&dist=100&dlat2=40&mlat2=18&slat2=7.57&NS=N&dlon2=87&mlon2=18&slon2=41.89&EW=W&size=9

|title=AM Query Results

|publisher=Federal Communications Commission

|access-date=February 1, 2011}}{{cite web

|url=http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?state=&call=&city=&arn=&serv=&vac=&freq=0.0&fre2=107.9&facid=&class=&dkt=&list=1&dist=100&dlat2=40&mlat2=18&slat2=7.57&NS=N&dlon2=87&mlon2=18&slon2=41.89&EW=W&size=9

|title=FM Query Results

|publisher=Federal Communications Commission

|access-date=February 1, 2011}}

{{See also|Government of Indiana}}

{{PresHead|place=Warren County, Indiana|source={{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS|publisher=David Leip|title=Atlas of U. S. Presidential Elections|access-date=July 20, 2017}}}}

{{PresRow|2024|Republican|3,402|898|70|Indiana}}

{{PresRow|2020|Republican|3,401|974|98|Indiana}}

{{PresRow|2016|Republican|2,898|839|216|Indiana}}

{{PresRow|2012|Republican|2,377|1,324|99|Indiana}}

{{PresRow|2008|Republican|2,166|1,755|77|Indiana}}

{{PresRow|2004|Republican|2,565|1,356|39|Indiana}}

{{PresRow|2000|Republican|2,218|1,471|79|Indiana}}

{{PresRow|1996|Republican|1,678|1,394|575|Indiana}}

{{PresRow|1992|Republican|1,601|1,367|1,035|Indiana}}

{{PresRow|1988|Republican|2,243|1,542|14|Indiana}}

{{PresRow|1984|Republican|2,525|1,309|28|Indiana}}

{{PresRow|1980|Republican|2,665|1,287|205|Indiana}}

{{PresRow|1976|Republican|2,377|1,906|29|Indiana}}

{{PresRow|1972|Republican|2,746|1,164|15|Indiana}}

{{PresRow|1968|Republican|2,475|1,375|492|Indiana}}

{{PresRow|1964|Democratic|2,154|2,261|10|Indiana}}

{{PresRow|1960|Republican|2,870|1,574|20|Indiana}}

{{PresRow|1956|Republican|2,979|1,408|19|Indiana}}

{{PresRow|1952|Republican|3,191|1,332|25|Indiana}}

{{PresRow|1948|Republican|2,444|1,391|34|Indiana}}

{{PresRow|1944|Republican|2,870|1,555|9|Indiana}}

{{PresRow|1940|Republican|2,999|1,927|14|Indiana}}

{{PresRow|1936|Republican|2,780|2,242|23|Indiana}}

{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|2,223|2,256|65|Indiana}}

{{PresRow|1928|Republican|2,644|1,188|24|Indiana}}

{{PresRow|1924|Republican|3,035|1,150|172|Indiana}}

{{PresRow|1920|Republican|3,337|1,311|59|Indiana}}

{{PresRow|1916|Republican|1,823|1,011|122|Indiana}}

{{PresRow|1912|Republican|1,183|872|805|Indiana}}

{{PresRow|1908|Republican|2,092|1,045|77|Indiana}}

{{PresRow|1904|Republican|2,208|964|135|Indiana}}

{{PresRow|1900|Republican|2,167|1,117|71|Indiana}}

{{PresRow|1896|Republican|2,045|1,100|37|Indiana}}

{{PresRow|1892|Republican|1,849|979|94|Indiana}}

{{PresFoot|1888|Republican|1,847|1,017|53|Indiana}}

The county government is a constitutional body granted specific powers by the Constitution of Indiana and the Indiana Code. The seven-member county council is the legislative branch of the county government and controls all spending and revenue collection. Representatives are elected from county districts. The council members serve four-year terms and are responsible for setting salaries, the annual budget and special spending. The council also has limited authority to impose local taxes, in the form of an income and property tax that is subject to state level approval, excise taxes and service taxes.{{cite web

|author=Indiana Code

|url=http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title36/ar2/ch3.html

|title=Title 36, Article 2, Chapter 3 – County Fiscal Body

|access-date=February 27, 2012

|publisher=Government of Indiana}}{{cite web

|author=Indiana Code

|url=http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title3/ar10/ch2.html

|title=Title 3, Article 10, Chapter 2 – General Elections

|access-date=February 27, 2012

|publisher=Government of Indiana}} In 2010, the county budgeted approximately $2.2 million for the district's schools and $2.8 million for other county operations and services, for a total annual budget of approximately $5 million.{{cite web

|publisher=State of Indiana Department of Local Government Finance

|title=2010 Budget Order (Warren County, Indiana)

|url=https://in.gov/dlgf/files/BudgetOrder_2010_WarrenCounty.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100419224312/http://www.in.gov/dlgf/files/BudgetOrder_2010_WarrenCounty.pdf |archive-date=April 19, 2010 |url-status=live

|access-date=September 19, 2010

}}

The executive body of the county consists of a board of commissioners. The three commissioners are elected from county districts in staggered four-year terms. 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.{{cite web

|author=Indiana Code

|url=http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title36/ar2/ch2.html

|title=Title 36, Article 2, Chapter 2 – County Executive

|access-date=February 27, 2012

|publisher=Government of Indiana}}

The Warren Circuit Court serves as a trial court of general jurisdiction. It hears original disputes in civil, criminal, probate, juvenile, traffic and small claims cases.{{cite web

|author=Indiana Code

|url=http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/2010/title33/ar28/ch1.html

|title=Title 33, Article 28, Chapter 1 – Circuit Courts – Jurisdiction, Duties, and Powers

|access-date=February 27, 2012

|publisher=Government of Indiana}} In most cases, court decisions can be appealed to the Indiana Court of Appeals or Supreme Court.{{cite web

|author=Indiana Supreme Court

|url=https://www.in.gov/judiciary/rules/appellate/index.html

|title=Indiana Rules of Court – Rules of Appellate Procedure

|access-date=February 28, 2012

|publisher=IN Supreme Court}} The judge is elected to a term of six years, and is assisted by a clerk who is elected to a term of four years.{{cite web

|author=Indiana Code

|url=http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title33/ar32/ch2.html

|title=Title 33, Article 32, Chapter 2 – Circuit Court Clerks – General Powers and Duties

|access-date=February 27, 2012

|publisher=Government of Indiana}}{{cite web

|url=https://www.in.gov/judiciary/2885.htm

|title=Warren County Courts and Clerk

|publisher=State of Indiana

|access-date=February 27, 2012}}

The county has several other elected offices, including sheriff, coroner, auditor, treasurer, recorder, surveyor and circuit court clerk. Each of these elected officers serves a term of four years and oversees a different part of county government. Members elected to county government positions are required to declare party affiliations and be residents of the county.

Each of the townships has a trustee who administers rural fire protection and ambulance service, provides poor relief and manages cemetery care, among other duties. The trustee is assisted in these duties by a three-member township board. The trustees and board members are elected to four-year terms.{{cite web

|url=http://unitedtownships.org/?page_id=95

|title=Government

|publisher=United Township Association of Indiana

|access-date=January 6, 2011

}}

Based on 2000 census results, Warren County is part of Indiana's 8th congressional district. Most of the county is in the 38th Indiana Senate district; the exceptions are Warren and Washington townships, which are in the 23rd.{{cite web

|url=https://www.in.gov/sos/elections/3006.htm

|title=Indiana Senate Districts

|publisher=State of Indiana

|access-date=June 19, 2011

}} The western portion of the county is in the 42nd Indiana House of Representatives district; the eastern townships of Adams, Medina and Warren are in the 26th.{{cite web

|url=https://www.in.gov/sos/elections/3005.htm

|title=Indiana House Districts

|publisher=State of Indiana

|access-date=June 19, 2011

}}

{{US Census population

|1830= 2861

|1840= 5656

|1850= 7387

|1860= 10057

|1870= 10204

|1880= 11497

|1890= 10955

|1900= 11371

|1910= 10899

|1920= 9699

|1930= 9167

|1940= 9055

|1950= 8535

|1960= 8545

|1970= 8705

|1980= 8976

|1990= 8176

|2000= 8419

|2010= 8508

|2020= 8440

|estyear=2023

|estimate=8518

|estref={{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/data/tables.html|title=Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=April 2, 2024}}

|align-fn=center

|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=U.S. Decennial Census|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=July 10, 2014}}
1790–1960{{cite web|url=http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu|title=Historical Census Browser|publisher=University of Virginia Library|access-date=July 10, 2014}} 1900–1990{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/in190090.txt|title=Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=July 10, 2014}}
1990–2000{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327165705/http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf |archive-date=March 27, 2010 |url-status=live|title=Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=July 10, 2014}} 2010–2020

}}

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 8,508 people, 3,337 households, and 2,416 families residing in the county.{{cite web

|url=https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/DPDP1/0500000US18171

|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213020229/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/DPDP1/0500000US18171

|url-status=dead

|archive-date=February 13, 2020

|title=DP-1 Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data

|access-date=June 10, 2015

|publisher=United States Census Bureau

}} The population density was {{convert|23.3|PD/sqmi}}. There were 3,680 housing units at an average density of {{convert|10.1|/sqmi}}. The racial makeup of the county was 98.3% white, 0.1% black or African American, 0.2% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.2% from other races, and 0.7% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 0.8% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 27.7% were German, 11.3% were English, 10.9% were Irish, and 9.2% were American.{{cite web

|url=https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP02/0400000US18%7c0500000US18171

|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200214002324/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP02/0400000US18%7C0500000US18171

|url-status=dead

|archive-date=February 14, 2020

|title=DP02 SELECTED SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS IN THE UNITED STATES – 2006–2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates

|access-date=June 10, 2015

|publisher=United States Census Bureau

}}

There were 3,337 households, of which 31.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.4% were married couples living together, 8.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.6% were non-families. 23.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 2.94. The median age was 42.4 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $49,238, and the median income for a family was $57,990. Males had a median income of $46,731 versus $31,064 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,670. About 6.9% of families and 8.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.9% of those under age 18 and 6.3% of those age 65 or over.{{cite web

|url=https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP03/0400000US18%7c0500000US18171

|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200214003052/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP03/0400000US18%7C0500000US18171

|url-status=dead

|archive-date=February 14, 2020

|title=DP03 SELECTED ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS – 2006–2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates

|access-date=June 10, 2015

|publisher=United States Census Bureau

}}

{{clear}}

{{Portal|Indiana}}

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Warren County, Indiana

{{Clear}}

{{Reflist|group="n"}}

{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

• {{cite book

|title=Counties of Warren, Benton, Jasper and Newton, Indiana

|chapter=Part II. History of Warren County

|publisher=F. A. Battey and Company

|location=Chicago

|year=1883

|editor1-first=Weston Arthur

|editor1-last=Goodspeed

|author1-first=Weston Arthur

|author1-last=Goodspeed

|pages=31–156

|chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/cu31924028850010#page/n33/mode/2up

}} ({{Internet Archive|id=cu31924028850010|name=Counties of Warren, Benton, Jasper and Newton, Indiana}})

• {{cite book

|editor-last=Clifton

|editor-first=Thomas

|title=Past and Present of Fountain and Warren Counties Indiana

|publisher=B. F. Bowen and Company

|year=1913

|location=Indianapolis

|pages=201–335

|url=https://archive.org/stream/pastpresentoffou01clif#page/346/mode/2up

}}

• {{cite book

|title=A History of Warren County, Indiana

|author=Warren County Historical Society

|location=Williamsport, Indiana

|year=1966

}}

• {{cite book

|title=A History of Warren County, Indiana

|author=Warren County Historical Society

|location=Williamsport, Indiana

|year=2002

|edition=175th Anniversary

}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book|title=Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana|year=1899|location=Chicago|publisher=The Lewis Publishing Company|oclc=3790650|ref={{harvid|TLPC|1899}}}} ({{HathiTrust Catalog|id=008652160|title=Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana}})

{{refend}}

{{Commons category|Warren County, Indiana}}

• [http://www.warrencounty.in.gov/ Warren County Indiana Government]
• [http://www.warrenadvantage.com/ Warren County Indiana Local Economic Development Organization]
• [https://www.warrencountyfoundation.com/ Warren County Community Foundation]

{{Geographic Location

|Centre = Warren County, Indiana

|North = Benton County

|Northeast =

|East = Tippecanoe County

|Southeast = Fountain County

|South = Vermillion County

|Southwest =

|West = Vermilion County, Illinois

|Northwest =

}}

{{Warren County, Indiana}}

{{Indiana}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Coord|40.35|-87.36|display=title|type:adm2nd_region:US-IN_source:UScensus1990}}

Category:1827 establishments in Indiana

Category:Populated places established in 1827

Category:Indiana counties