Fountain, Indiana

This article is about the town in Fountain County formerly named Portland. For the city in Jay County, see Portland, Indiana. For the Vigo County community also known as Fountain, see Fontanet, Indiana.
Fountain, Indiana
Unincorporated community

Fountain County's location in Indiana
Fountain

Fountain's location in Fountain County

Coordinates: 40°13′23″N 87°20′07″W / 40.22306°N 87.33528°W / 40.22306; -87.33528Coordinates: 40°13′23″N 87°20′07″W / 40.22306°N 87.33528°W / 40.22306; -87.33528
Country United States
State Indiana
County Fountain
Township Shawnee
Elevation 551 ft (168 m)
ZIP code 47932
GNIS feature ID 434710[1]

Fountain (originally named Portland) is an unincorporated community in Shawnee Township, Fountain County, Indiana, United States. The Wabash and Erie Canal formerly passed through the community.

History

Portland was laid out in April 1828 by surveyor William Miller, Barnard Preble and Major Whitlocke. Keep's store, an early trading point at Portland, supplied goods to people along a lengthy stretch of the Wabash River. Sandford C. Cox in Personal Recollections of Early Settlements writes that "powder, lead, salt, iron, whiskey and leather were the staples of the trade in those days, and were exchanged for the productions of the country, such as beeswax, tallow, feathers, ginseng, furs, deer-skins, wild hops, etc." Portland grew to include 11 stores, a hotel, six physicians, various craftsmen and a "considerable population."[2]

The post office Fountain once contained was called Portland from 1828 until 1868.[3] The post office operated under the new name of Fountain from 1868 until it was discontinued in 1905.[4]

Geography

Fountain is located at 40°13′23″N 87°20′07″W / 40.22306°N 87.33528°W / 40.22306; -87.33528 on the southeastern banks of the Wabash River, at an elevation of approximately 560 feet. To the south is Bear Creek, which joins the Wabash on the western edge of town, and the wooded Portland Arch Nature Preserve.

References

  1. ↑ "Fountain, Indiana". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2009-10-17.
  2. ↑ Beckwith, H. W. (1881). "Shawnee Township". History of Fountain County. Chicago: H. H. Hill and N. Iddings. p. 343.
  3. ↑ Baker, Ronald L. (October 1995). From Needmore to Prosperity: Hoosier Place Names in Folklore and History. Indiana University Press. p. 136. ISBN 978-0-253-32866-3.
  4. ↑ "Fountain County". Jim Forte Postal History. Retrieved 7 September 2014.


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