Adams County administrative offices are located at 313 West Jefferson Street, Decatur, IN 46733. Phone: 260-724-5300.
TOWNS
Adams County [†] was created from Alien County's Root Township by an act of the Indiana General Assembly on January 23,1836. The county's first elections were held that spring, and one of the first acts of the county commissioners was to determine the location of the county seat.
Immigration to Adams County increased significantly in the 1840s, especially following the opening of the Wabash and Erie Canal in 1843 and the Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad (now Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne, and Chicago RR), in 1855.
Immigration to Adams County increased significantly in the 1840s, especially following the opening of the Wabash and Erie Canal in 1843 and the Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad (now Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne, and Chicago RR), in 1855. These improvements linked northeastern Indiana to national markets, greatly improving the economic viability of the area. According the 1849 Indiana Gazetteer, "the surplus products consist of wheat, corn and hay, and horses, cattle and hogs, in considerable numbers, are raised for exportation." Most settlers to the region expected to make a living from such agricultural pursuits. They came from Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, traveling west across the National Road and then northwest across the Piqua, Fort Recovery, and Huntington Roads to Adams County. As their numbers increased, so too did the amount of business conducted by the county's courts and officers.
† Adapted from: Elizabeth Gallow and Beth Suilebarger, BHE Environmental. Adams County, Indiana, Courthouse, nomination document, 2008, National Register of Historic Places, Washington, D.C.
HISTORIC SITES