Williamsport is a town in
Washington TownshipWashington Township is one of twelve townships in Warren County, Indiana, USA. It is the most populous township in the county; its population is 2,351 according to the 2000 census, with 1,935 of those living in Williamsport...
,
Warren CountyWarren County lies in western Indiana between the Illinois border and the Wabash River in the United States. Before the arrival of non-indigenous settlers in the early 19th century, the area was inhabited by several Native American tribes. The county was officially established in 1827 and...
,
IndianaIndiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
,
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 1,898 at the 2010 census. It is the
county seatA county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of Warren County and is the largest of the four incorporated towns in the county.
Williamsport FallsWilliamsport Falls is a waterfall near the center of the town of Williamsport where Fall Creek flows over a sandstone ledge, in Warren County, Indiana. With a height of , it is the highest free-falling waterfall in the state of Indiana....
, the highest waterfall in the state, is located in downtown Williamsport.
History
Williamsport was
platA plat in the U.S. is a map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. Other English-speaking countries generally call such documents a cadastral map or plan....
ted by (and named for) William Harrison on December 11, 1828, on the south end of the eastern fractional part of the northeast quarter of section 11, township 21, range 8. Harrison was the first to occupy the town in the fall of 1828; he built a log house at the east end of Main Street near the river and operated a ferry crossing there for several years. Though located on the opposite side of the river from the
Wabash and Erie CanalThe Wabash and Erie Canal was a shipping canal that linked the Great Lakes to the Ohio River via an artificial waterway. The canal provided traders with access from the Great Lakes all the way to the Gulf of Mexico...
, Williamsport sought to draw shipping traffic by constructing a short cut-off canal. Finished around 1852, the project led to the nickname "Side-Cut City".
Williamsport became the county seat in June 1829, taking the title away from short-lived
WarrentonWarrenton is an extinct town in Warren County, Indiana, and was Warren's original county seat.- History :Warrenton was selected as the Warren County seat in March 1828 by commissioners appointed under the act forming the county...
. Its post office was the first in the county and has operated since September 28, 1829. The town was incorporated in March 1854, at which time its population was 552.
James Frank Hanly, who was the Governor of Indiana from 1905 to 1909, lived and practiced law here from 1879 to 1896; he is buried at Hillside Cemetery, on the northeast side of town.
The
Williamsport-Washington Township Public LibraryThe Williamsport-Washington Township Public Library in Williamsport, Washington Township, Warren County, Indiana was established in 1914 in a borrowed space in a downtown office building...
opened in 1917 as a
Carnegie libraryA Carnegie library is a library built with money donated by Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. 2,509 Carnegie libraries were built between 1883 and 1929, including some belonging to public and university library systems...
, and moved to a new facility in 2002.
Historic Places
The Williamsport
Presbyterian ChurchThe Presbyterian Church , or PC, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. Part of the Reformed tradition, it is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the U.S...
at 15 Fall Street, built in 1889, appears on the
Indiana Register of Historic Sites and StructuresThe Indiana Register of Historic Sites and Structures was created in 1981 by the Indiana General Assembly. The Survey and Registration Section of the Indiana Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology oversees this state register. All places within Indiana that are listed on the National...
. It was closed in 1964 and stood vacant until 1991, when a non-profit corporation was set up to support the restoration effort. It was listed in 1998 after having received a new slate roof and other repairs. The building contains the original stained glass windows, bell, pulpit, and pews.
The "Tower House" can be found at 303 Lincoln Street and was constructed in 1845. The house was nicknamed due to its 3 story tower on the northeast corner of the building. The house was originally constructed as a mirrored twin; the twin house was destroyed by a fire in the 1990s. The house has changed from its original construction. An enclosed front porch and side porch has been retooled to serve as the current family's kitchen area. The house originally contained two large rooms upstairs, and three rooms downstairs. What appears to be the summer kitchen and original carriage house still stand. The house now has five bedrooms, one bath upstairs and seven rooms, an enclosed porch, and a bath downstairs.
The
Warren County CourthouseThe Warren County Courthouse is a stone building constructed in 1908 in Williamsport, Indiana. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 19, 2008.- History :...
at 125 North Monroe Street was built in 1907-1908 and is on the United States
National Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. It is the fourth purpose-built court house in the county's history.
Geography
Williamsport is located along
State Road 28State Road 28 is an east–west road in central Indiana in the United States that crosses the entire state from east to west, covering a distance of about and passing about to the north of the state capitol of Indianapolis.-Route description:...
near the shores of the
Wabash RiverThe Wabash River is a river in the Midwestern United States that flows southwest from northwest Ohio near Fort Recovery across northern Indiana to southern Illinois, where it forms the Illinois-Indiana border before draining into the Ohio River, of which it is the largest northern tributary...
which forms the eastern border of the county. Its most striking natural feature is
Williamsport FallsWilliamsport Falls is a waterfall near the center of the town of Williamsport where Fall Creek flows over a sandstone ledge, in Warren County, Indiana. With a height of , it is the highest free-falling waterfall in the state of Indiana....
, a 90-foot
waterfallA waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff.-Formation:Waterfalls are commonly formed when a river is young. At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens...
near the center of town and Indiana's tallest. Williamsport's original section ("Old Town") is in bottom land next to the river; "New Town" was built on the hill above it to be closer to the railroad. The rail line through town is currently operated by
Norfolk Southern RailwayThe Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I railroad in the United States, owned by the Norfolk Southern Corporation. With headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, the company operates 21,500 route miles in 22 eastern states, the District of Columbia and the province of Ontario, Canada...
.
According to the
United States Census BureauThe United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the town has a total area of 1.05 square miles (2.7 km²), all of it land.