Lake County, Indiana

Infobox U.S. County
county = Lake County
state = Indiana




map size = 195
founded = 1837
seat = Crown Point | area_total_sq_mi =626
area_land_sq_mi =497
area_water_sq_mi =129
area percentage = 20.65%
census yr = 2007
pop = 492104
time = Central
density_km2 = 376 | density_sq_mi = 990
web = www.lakecountyin.org/index.jsp
|

Lake County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. In 2000, its population was 484,564, making it Indiana's second-most populous county. The county seat is Crown Point.GR|6 This county is part of Northwest Indiana and the Chicago metropolitan area.

History

Lake County was formed in 1837. From 1832 to 1836 the area that was to become Lake County was part of La Porte County. [Calumet Beginnings: Schoon, Kenneth J.] From 1836 to 1837 it was part of Porter County. [Calumet Beginnings: Schoon, Kenneth J.] It was named for its location on Lake Michigan. [cite book|author=De Witt Clinton Goodrich & Charles Richard Tuttle|publisher=R. S. Peale & co.|year=1875|location=Indiana|title=An Illustrated History of the State of Indiana|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=YDIUAAAAYAAJ| pages=565]

Government

The county government is a constitutional body, and is granted specific powers by the Constitution of Indiana, and by the Indiana Code.

County Council: The county council is the legislative branch of the county government and controls all the spending and revenue collection in the county. Representatives are elected from county districts. The council members serve four year terms. They 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, Section 3|accessdate=2008-09-16|publisher=IN.gov] cite web|author= Indiana Code |url= http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title3/ar10/ch2.pdf |title= Title 2, Article 10, Section 2 |accessdate=2008-09-16|publisher=IN.gov]

Board of Commissioners: The executive body of the county is made of a board of commissioners. The commissioners are elected county-wide, in staggered terms, and each serves a four year term. One of the commissioners, typically the most senior, serves as president. The commissioners are charged with executing the acts legislated by the council, the collection of revenue, and managing the day-to-day functions of the county government.

Court: The county maintains a small claims court that can handle some civil cases. The judge on the court is elected to a term of four years and must be a member of the Indiana Bar Association. The judge is assisted by a constable who is also elected to terms of four years. In some cases, court decisions can be appealed to the state level circuit court.

County Officials: The county has several other elected offices, including sheriff, coroner, auditor, treasurer, recorder, surveyor, and circuit court clerk. Each of these elected officers serve terms of four years and oversee different parts of the county government. Members elected to any county government position are required to declare a party affiliation and be a resident of the county.

Lake County is part of Indiana's 1st congressional district and in 2008 was represented by Pete Visclosky in the United States Congress. [cite web|url=http://www.house.gov/visclosky/|title=US Congressman Pete Visclosky|publisher=US Congress|accessdate=2008-10-08]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 626 square miles (1,622 km²), of which 497 square miles (1,287 km²) is land and 129 square miles (335 km²) (20.65%) is water. Most of the county is fairly flat. However, some hills and ridges do exist. There are many remnants of the ancient shorelines of Lake Michigan. Hoosier Prairie, a portion of what once existed, has been preserved and restored.

As you travel south from the southern shore of Lake Michigan (the northern end of the county), the land gradually rises in elevation until the Valparaiso Moraine is reached. This is the highest area in the county. From there the land descends into the Kankakee Outwash Plain until the Kankakee River is reached.

Commercial Airport

*Gary/Chicago International Airport in Gary.

Major highways

Interstate 65 in Lake County is called the Casimir Pulaski Memorial Highway. I-80/94/US 6 is the Frank Borman Expressway from the Illinois state line east to the Indiana Toll Road interchange in the eastern portion of the county. I-94 has been referred to as the Chicago-Detroit Industrial Freeway. US 6 is part of the Grand Army of the Republic Highway. Broadway (Indiana 53) is also the Carolyn Mosby Memorial Highway. Indiana 51 is known for its entire length as the Adam Benjamin Memorial Highway. US 30 is part of the historic Lincoln Highway. US 12 from Gary eastward is part of Dunes Highway. Cline Avenue (Indiana 912) from US 12 north and westward is known as the Highway Construction Workers Memorial Highway.

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Railroads

*Canadian National Railway
*Chicago Fort Wayne and Eastern Railroad
*Chicago, South Shore and South Bend Railroad
*CSX Transportation
*Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway
*Norfolk Southern Railway
*Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad

Adjacent counties

*Cook County, Illinois (west and north, in Lake Michigan)
*Porter County (east)
*Jasper County (southeast)
*Newton County (south)
*Kankakee County, Illinois (southwest)
*Will County, Illinois (west)

National protected area

* Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore (part)

Demographics

USCensusPop
1840= 1468
1850= 3991
1860= 9145
1870= 12339
1880= 15091
1890= 23886
1900= 37892
1910= 82864
1920= 159957
1930= 261310
1940= 293195
1950= 368152
1960= 513269
1970= 546253
1980= 522965
1990= 475594
2000= 484564

As of the censusGR|2 of 2000, there were 484,564 people, 181,633 households, and 126,961 families residing in the county. The population density was 975 people per square mile (376/km²). There were 194,992 housing units at an average density of 392 per square mile (151/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 66.72% White, 25.33% Black or African American, 0.28% Native American, 0.82% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 4.96% from other races, and 1.85% from two or more races. 12.20% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. The most commonly cited national ancestries were German (12.2%), Polish (9.6%) and Irish (7.1%).

In 2000, there were 181,633 households out of which 32.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.70% were married couples living together, 16.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.10% were non-families. 25.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.19.

In the county the population was spread out with 26.80% under the age of 18, 9.30% from 18 to 24, 28.30% from 25 to 44, 22.60% from 45 to 64, and 13.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 92.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.00 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $41,829, and the median income for a family was $50,131. Males had a median income of $41,986 versus $26,393 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,639. About 9.70% of families and 12.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.80% of those under age 18 and 8.00% of those age 65 or over.

Municipalities

Cities

*Crown Point
*East Chicago
*Gary
*Hammond
*Hobart
*Lake Station
*Whiting

Towns

*Cedar Lake
*Dyer
*Griffith
*Highland
*Lowell
*Merrillville
*Munster
*New Chicago
*Schererville
*Schneider
*St. John
*Winfield

Unicorporated Areas

*Lake Dalecarlia
*Lakes of the Four Seasons
*Shelby

Townships

*Calumet
*Cedar Creek
*Center
*Eagle Creek
*Hanover
*Hobart
*North
*Ross
*St. John
*West Creek
*Winfield

Education

The administration of public schools in Lake County is divided among 16 corporations and governing bodies, more than any other Indiana county. [http://www.stats.indiana.edu/imagemapper/school_districts/]
*Crown Point Community School Corporation – [http://www.cps.k12.in.us/ Web site]
*Gary Community School Corporation – [http://www.garycsc.k12.in.us/ Web site]
*Griffith Public Schools – [http://165.138.244.1/ Web site]
*Hanover Community School Corporation – [http://www.hanover.k12.in.us/ Web site]
*Lake Central School Corporation – [http://www.lakecentral.k12.in.us/ Web site]
*Lake Ridge Schools Corporation – [http://www.lakeridge.k12.in.us/ Web site]
*Lake Station Community Schools – [http://www.lakes.k12.in.us/ Web site]
*Merrillville Community School Corporation – [http://www.mvsc.k12.in.us/index.htm Web site]
*River Forest Community School Corporation – [http://www.rfcsc.k12.in.us/ Web site]
*School City of East Chicago – [http://www.ecps.org/ Web site]
*School City of Hammond – [http://hammond.k12.in.us/ Web site]
*School City of Hobart – [http://www.hobart.k12.in.us/ Web site]
*School City of Whiting – [http://www.whiting.k12.in.us/ Web site]
*School Town of Highland – [http://stoh.highland.k12.in.us/ Web site]
*School Town of Munster – [http://www.munster.k12.in.us/ Web site]
*Tri-Creek School Corporation – [http://www.tricreek.k12.in.us/ Web site]

Colleges and Universities
*Calumet College of St. Joseph
*Hyles-Anderson College
*Indiana University Northwest
*Ivy Tech Northwest
*Purdue University Calumet
*Kaplan College

Major businesses

*BP
*Cargill
*Commonwealth Edison (coal fired powerplant)
*Dietrich Industries (steel framing)
*Ameristar Casino
*Horseshoe Casino
*Lear Corporation (auto interiors)
*Majestic Star Casino
*Mittal Steel
*NiSource
*PepsiAmericas
*Unilever
*US Steel

Newspapers

"The Times" is the largest daily newspaper Lake County and Northwest Indiana, and the second largest in the state. Lake County is also served by the "Post-Tribune", a daily newspaper based in Merrillville.

Indiana State Quarter

The northwest tip of Lake County is seemingly missing from the state outline on the Indiana state quarter. The outline of the state on the quarter shows the Lake Michigan shore line continuing in a southwest direction from the Porter/Lake County line to the Illinois-Indiana state line, showing Lake Michigan where Gary and Hammond are located. Unlike the similar occurrence with Dade County, Georgia on the Georgia state quarter, fewer complaints were made concerning the omission.

2008 Presidential Primary

In the 2008 Democratic presidential primary on May 6, 2008, Lake County was one of the last counties to report results. [ [http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/05/06/awaiting-one-county/ CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - Awaiting one county « - Blogs from CNN.com ] ] Lake County had reported no results at 11 p.m. ET, [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/primary_lake_county;_ylt=AlM5ecPVe3b188Lss2jVzQ1h24cA Indiana's Lake County has tradition of late vote tallies] ] and at midnight ET, only 28% of Lake County's vote had been reported. [ [http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/05/06/primaries.change/index.html Races tightens in Indiana] ] A large number of absentee ballots and a record turnout delayed the tallies, and polls closed an hour later than much of the state because Lake County is in the Central Time Zone. Early returns showed Senator Barack Obama leading by a potentially lead-changing margin, leaving the race between Senator Hilary Clinton and Obama "too close to call" until final tallies were reported.

Rudy Clay, the mayor of Gary, the largest city in Lake County, predicted the bizarre events, telling CNN, "They are going to point at Indiana and say Hillary Clinton is leading by one point but Gary ain't come in yet." [ [http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/05/06/gary_mayor_predicts_possible_i.html Gary Mayor Predicts Possible Indiana Shocker - The Trail: Washingtonpost.com] ]

See also

*Lake County Indiana Sheriff's Department

External links

* [http://www.lakecountyin.org/index.jsp Lake County official website]
* [http://www.lakecountysheriff.com/ Lake County Sheriff's Department]
* [http://www.alllake.org/ Lake County Convention and Visitors Bureau]
* [http://www.lakenetnwi.org/ LakeNET, The Information Connection for Lake County, IN]
* [http://www.in.gov/isp/ Indiana State Police]

References

*cite book
first = Richard L. (editor)
last = Forstall
year = 1996
title = Population of states and counties of the United States: 1790 to 1990 : from the twenty-one decennial censuses
publisher = United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Population Division
id = ISBN 0-934213-48-83. Kenneth J. Schoon, Calumet Beginnings, 2003, p. 20-23----