Jasper, Indiana

Jasper, Indiana
City
Dubois County courthouse located on the square in Jasper, Indiana
Nickname(s): "The Nation's Wood Capital"
Jasper's location in Dubois County (left) and the state of Indiana (right).
Coordinates: 38°23′29″N 86°55′51″W / 38.39139°N 86.93083°W / 38.39139; -86.93083Coordinates: 38°23′29″N 86°55′51″W / 38.39139°N 86.93083°W / 38.39139; -86.93083
Country	United States
State	Indiana
County	Dubois
Township	Bainbridge
Founded	1818
Government
• Mayor	Terry R. Seitz (R) (Jan. 2012 - present)
Area[1]
• Total	13.20 sq mi (34.19 km2)
• Land	13.11 sq mi (33.95 km2)
• Water	0.09 sq mi (0.23 km2)
Elevation[2]	466 ft (142 m)
Population (2010)[3]
• Total	15,038
• Estimate (2014[4])	15,325
• Density	1,147.1/sq mi (442.9/km2)
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP codes	47546, 47547, 47549
Area code	812 & 930
FIPS code	18-37782[5]
GNIS feature ID	436944
Website	http://www.jasperindiana.gov

Jasper is a city in, and the county seat^[6] of Bainbridge Township, Dubois County, Indiana, United States, located along the Patoka River. The population was 15,038 at the 2010 census making it the 55th largest city in Indiana. On November 4, 2007, Dubois County returned to the Eastern Time Zone, after having moved to the Central Time Zone the previous year. The land uses are mainly agriculture.

Jasper is a regional center in Southwestern Indiana, noted for its heavily German Catholic ancestral roots.^[7] Jasper has often been called the "Wood Capital of the World", boasting a large number of furniture companies, including Kimball International and Masterbrand Cabinets. Jasper is also home to the Southern Indiana Education Center (SIEC), Jasper Engines & Transmissions (largest re-manufacturer in the market), and to a satellite campus of Vincennes University.

The Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame, which honors players and others associated with the national pastime who were born or lived in Indiana, is located in Jasper.

Jasper also boasts the only municipally supported Arts Council in the state of Indiana; it is part of city government and is supported by the city for its citizens in the same vein as its park board or its street department. The city of Jasper and the Jasper Community Arts Commission have won the Governor's Arts Award twice, once in 1987 and again in 2007, and it is the only group to have garnered this award twice.^[8]

History

Jasper was founded in 1818.^[9] The Enlow family were the first settlers of the town.^[10] Jasper was originally going to be called Eleanor, the wife of settler Joseph Enlow, but she opted to suggest a name herself, and named the city after a passage in the Bible (Revelations 21:19).^[11]

In 1830, Jasper became the new county seat of Dubois County, succeeding Portersville.^[12] The Jasper post office has been in operation since 1832.^[13]

Jasper was incorporated as a town in 1866, and was incorporated into a city in 1915.^[14]

Town Recognition

• Jasper was previously ranked in the top 25 in Norman Crampton's 1992 book 100 Best Small Towns in America.
• In 2005, Jasper was ranked in the ten best places to live in the U.S. by Relocate America.^[15]
• In 2014, movoto.com ranked Jasper fifth on their "10 Best Cities to Live in Indiana" list.^[16]
• A 2014 report by safewise.com placed Jasper 8th on the "50 Safest Cities in Indiana" rankings.^[17]
• According to a study done by NerdWallet.com, Jasper is 9th on the "Best Places to Start a Business in Indiana" list.^[18]

Economy

The largest industry sectors by employment in Jasper are manufacturing, retail, and health care & social services.

Top Employers

According to the Jasper Chamber of Commerce

Geography

Jasper is located at 38°23′29″N 86°55′51″W / 38.39139°N 86.93083°W / 38.39139; -86.93083 (38.391439, -86.930772),^[19] and is roughly:

• 1 hour northeast of Evansville, Indiana.
• 2 1/2 hours southwest of Indianapolis.
• 1 1/2 hours west of Louisville, Kentucky.
• 3 hours east of St. Louis, Missouri.

According to the 2010 census, Jasper has a total area of 13.191 square miles (34.16 km²), of which 13.1 square miles (33.93 km²) (or 99.31%) is land and 0.091 square miles (0.24 km²) (or 0.69%) is water.^[1] City limits extend from Bainbridge Township into Madison and Boone Townships.

Demographics

Location of the Jasper Micropolitan Statistical Area in Indiana

Jasper is the principal city of the Jasper Micropolitan Statistical Area, a micropolitan area that covers Dubois and Pike counties^[21] and had a combined population of 54,734 at the 2010 census.^[5]

2010 census

As of the census^[3] of 2010, the population of Jasper was 15,038 and there were 5,994 households. The gender makeup of the city is 49.2% male and 50.8% female.

Ethnicities

The racial makeup of the city was:

• 93.6% white
• 7.7% Hispanic
• 0.4% Black
• 0.9% Asian
• 0.2% Native American
• 4.0% from other races
• 0.9% from two or more races.

Age

Of the total Jasper population:

• 14.0% were 1-9
• 12.9% were 10-19
• 12.1% were 20-29
• 11.9% were 30-39
• 14.4% were 40-49
• 13.6% were 50-59
• 9.1% were 60-69
• 6.1% were 70-79
• 5.4% were 80 or older
• Median age was 39.3 years. For males it was 36.9 years and for females, 41.6 years.

Income

• Overall median household income in Jasper is $53,968
• Median income for a family is $65,903
• Males had a median income of $37,432
• Females had a median income of $32,218
• The per capita income for the city is $28,540
• About 5.7% of families and 7.6% of the population are below the poverty line, including 8.2% of those under age 18 and 3.9% of those age 65 and over.

Sister City

Jasper participates in the sister cities program, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI).^[22]

• Pfaffenweiler, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Arts and culture

The Jasper Strassenfest is a four-day event held annually during the first weekend in August. The "Fest" is a celebration between Jasper and its German sister-city Pfaffenweiler, a small village in southwest Germany. Many citizens of Pfaffenweiler travel to Jasper around this time of year. The street festival encompasses the entire city square, complete with numerous food stands, rides, and a very large Biergarten. On average, over 1,300 pounds of bratwurst are consumed during the four-day event. The Strassenfest culminates in a Sunday parade and evening fireworks. The festival also incorporates a golf tournament, beauty pageant (Miss Strassenfest), box parade, fishing tournament, and a network of German "Polka Masses" at the three Roman Catholic parishes: St. Joseph's, Holy Family, and Precious Blood.

Media

Newspapers

Jasper has had several newspapers during its history.

• The American Eagle was the town's first newspaper, and operated 1846–1848.
• The Jasper Weekly Courier, a Democratic newspaper, was one of the longest running newspapers in the town's history, serving Dubois County residents 1858–1921.^[23]
• The Dubois County Herald has been published from 1895 to the present and circulates over 11,300 copies per day to residents of Dubois, Spencer, and Pike counties. The Herald is one of only 300 independently owned newspapers in the United States.^[24]

Other newspapers published in Jasper included the Democrat (1857), the Times (1865), and another Times (1879–1891).^[25]

Radio

The following stations are licensed in the city of Jasper

• 91.7 FM WJPR
• 93.7 FM WJWS "JHS The Scratch"
• 104.7 FM WITZ-FM

Infrastructure

• U.S. Route 231
• Indiana State Road 164
• Indiana State Road 162
• Indiana State Road 56

Notable People

• Daniel M. Buechlein, former Roman Catholic Archbishop of Indianapolis
• Scott Rolen, Major League Baseball player
• Gilbert R. Tredway, historian
• Wilfrid Worland, Washington, D.C.–area architect
• Paul Hoffman, Purdue All-American, NBA Rookie of the Year, NBA Champion
• Matt Mauck, National Football League quarterback; led the Bayou Bengals to the 2003 national championship
• Spike Gehlhausen, Indy car driver
• William J. Schroeder, longest lived person on a Jarvik-7
• Bernard V. Vonderschmitt, most noted as a co-founder of leading FPGA producer Xilinx.
• Former U.S. Army civilian employee and current Jasper resident, James N. Emmons, was sentenced to prison for 18 months after being convicted of stealing $159,000 from the U.S. Government. The theft occurred between January 2010 and September 2012 by using a government purchase card to purchase for himself: weapons, computer equipment, audio equipment, and other numerous personal items.^[26][27][28]

National Register of Historic Places

There are 12 Dubois County locations or buildings listed on the NRHS with 5 being in Jasper.

Side view of St. Joseph Catholic Church

• Dubois County Courthouse
• Gramelspacher-Gutzweiler House
• John Opel House
• St. Joseph Catholic Church
• Louis H. Sturm Hardware Store

Education

In 1970, the school system of Ireland, an unincorporated town west of Jasper along State Route 56, was consolidated into that of Jasper.

Front entrance to Jasper High School

• Vincennes University (Jasper Campus)
• Jasper High School (Public 9-12)
• Jasper Middle School (Public 6-8)
• Ireland Elementary School (Public PreK-5)
• Tenth Street School (Public 3-5)
• Fifth Street School (Public PreK-2)

Holy Trinity

• Holy Family School (Catholic 3-8)
• Precious Blood School (Catholic PreK-2)

See also

• List of public art in Jasper, Indiana
• List of mayors of Jasper, Indiana
• List of city parks in Jasper, Indiana

References

External links

Wikisource has the text of a 1920 Encyclopedia Americana article about Jasper, Indiana.

• Jasper, Indiana travel guide from Wikivoyage
• City of Jasper, Indiana website
• Jasper Chamber of Commerce
• Jasper German Club
• Jasper Strassenfest
• Jasper Weekly Courier (1858–1922) available through Chronicling America at Library of Congress

	Otwell, Petersburg	Haysville, Loogootee	Dubois, Crystal
	Ireland		Celestine, Patoka Lake
		Jasper, Indiana
	Duff, Holland	Huntingburg, Dale	St. Anthony, Ferdinand

Municipalities and communities of Dubois County, Indiana, United States
County seat: Jasper
Cities	Huntingburg Jasper
Towns	Birdseye Ferdinand Holland
Townships	Bainbridge Boone Cass Columbia Ferdinand Hall Harbison Jackson Jefferson Madison Marion Patoka
CDP	Dubois
Other unincorporated communities	Bretzville Celestine Crystal Cuzco Dubois Crossroads Duff Haysville Hillham Ireland Johnsburg Kellerville Kyana Maltersville Mentor Millersport Norton‡ Portersville Saint Anthony Saint Henry Saint Marks Schnellville Thales Zoar‡
Ghost town	Ellsworth
Footnotes	‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties