Nappanee, Indiana
Encyclopedia
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 6,710 people, 2,521 households, and 1,792 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 1,818.9 people per square mile (702.1/km²). There were 2,647 housing units at an average density of 717.5 per square mile (277.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 95.48% White, 0.28% African American, 0.22% Native American, 0.34% Asian, 2.52% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 1.15% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.98% of the population.
There were 2,521 households out of which 39.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.1% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 9.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.9% were non-families. 23.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.15.
In the city the population was spread out with 29.7% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 30.9% from 25 to 44, 17.9% from 45 to 64, and 11.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 99.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $45,988, and the median income for a family was $53,329. Males had a median income of $36,200 versus $21,733 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $19,229. About 4.5% of families and 4.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.9% of those under age 18 and 8.4% of those age 65 or over.
Economy
Nappanee is a regional center for both the RV manufacturing industry and the AmishAmish
The Amish , sometimes referred to as Amish Mennonites, are a group of Christian church fellowships that form a subgroup of the Mennonite churches...
craft and tourism industry. Many Amish and Mennonite
Mennonite
The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...
families live in the area, often farming as well as working in the RV industry or woodworking trade. Since the storms and sluggish economy, Nappanee has experienced a high rate of job loss. Until it stopped running on March 7, 2005 Nappanee was a stop on Amtrak's Three Rivers
Three Rivers (Amtrak)
The Three Rivers was a daily Amtrak train running between New York, New York and Chicago, Illinois. It operated via Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Akron, Ohio. The Three Rivers replaced the Broadway Limited in 1995...
train with service to Chicago and New York.
Notable residents
- Lt. Colonel (Ret) Todd Beer, United States Air ForceUnited States Air ForceThe United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
, an Air Force OneAir Force OneAir Force One is the official air traffic control call sign of any United States Air Force aircraft carrying the President of the United States. In common parlance the term refers to those Air Force aircraft whose primary mission is to transport the president; however, any U.S. Air Force aircraft...
pilot, is from Nappanee; he graduated from the United States Air Force AcademyUnited States Air Force AcademyThe United States Air Force Academy is an accredited college for the undergraduate education of officer candidates for the United States Air Force. Its campus is located immediately north of Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, United States...
where he was recruited to play basketball. He has flown Air Force One for President Bill ClintonBill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
and President George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
. - Vance GeorgeVance GeorgeVance George is an American choral conductor from Nappanee, Indiana.A protege of Margaret Hillis, Vance George served as choral director of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus for 23 years ....
, conductor of the San Francisco Symphony ChorusSan Francisco Symphony ChorusThe San Francisco Symphony Chorus is the resident chorus of the San Francisco Symphony .-Background:Established in 1972 at the request of Seiji Ozawa, then the San Francisco Symphony's music director, the chorus first performed in the 1973-74 Symphony season. the SFS Chorus today gives a minimum of...
from 1982-2006. - Rob Rensberger (1921–2007), a professional basketball player for the Chicago StagsChicago StagsThe Chicago Stags were a National Basketball Association team based in Chicago, Illinois, U.S..- Franchise history :The Chicago Stags were founded in 1946 and folded in 1950. Despite their short history, they were able to acquire the draft rights to a young Bob Cousy in a trade with the Tri-Cities...
. - James L. Weygand (1919–2003), a lifelong resident of Nappanee, was a writer and publisher of miniature books who also wrote a definitive town history They Called It Nappanee: A History 1874-1974 Collections of his miniature books are held at The Lilly Library, Indiana UniversityIndiana UniversityIndiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
http://www.indiana.edu/~liblilly/miniatures/indianakid.shtml and at the University of IowaUniversity of IowaThe University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
. The University of FloridaUniversity of FloridaThe University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
has digitized his three books on printers' devices - Six successful cartoonists lived in Nappanee as children:
- Merrill BlosserMerrill BlosserMerrill Blosser was the creator of the comic strip Freckles and His Friends, which had a long run . Although his strip was set in the small town of Shadyside, it was obviously based on Blosser's hometown of Nappanee, Indiana, since Blosser often referenced real Nappanee locations, such as...
(Freckles and His FriendsFreckles and His FriendsFreckles and his Friends was a popular American comic strip set in the peaceful small town of Shadyside where young Freckles McGoosey and his friends live...
) - Max Gwin (Slim and Spud in Prairie Farmer)
- Bill HolmanBill Holman (cartoonist)Bill Holman was an American cartoonist who drew the classic comic strip Smokey Stover from 1935 until he retired in 1973. Distributed through the Chicago Tribune, it had the longest run of any strip in the screwball genre...
(Smokey StoverSmokey StoverSmokey Stover is an American comic strip written and drawn by cartoonist Bill Holman, from 1935 until he retired in 1973. Distributed through the Chicago Tribune, it features the wacky misadventures of the titular fireman, and had the longest run of any comic strip in the "screwball comics"...
) - Henry Maust, advertising artist and cartoonist
- Fred NeherFred NeherFred Neher was an American cartoonist best known for his syndicated gag panel, Life’s Like That, which offered a humorous look at human nature, with a focus on American society and family life, for more than five decades....
(Life’s Like ThatLife’s Like ThatLife’s Like That was a gag panel by Fred Neher which found humor in life's foibles. Spanning five decades, the series was initially distributed by the Bell Syndicate and later by Consolidated News Features and the United Features Syndicate....
) - Francis "Mike" Parks, political cartoonist
- Merrill Blosser
Sources
- They Called It Nappanee: A History 1874-1974 by James L Weygand. (Nappanee, Indiana, 1974)
External links
- City of Nappanee, Indiana website
- Amish Acres Historic Farm and Heritage Resort - Listed in the National Register of Historic Places
- Nappanee Missionary Church - Largest church in the area
- Nappanee Amish community