La Porte, Indiana

La Porte (French for "The Door") is a city in LaPorte County, Indiana, United States, of which it is the county seat. Its population was 21,621 at the 2000 census. It is one of the two principal cities of the Michigan City-LaPorte, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City, Illinois-Indiana-Wisconsin Combined Statistical Area. LaPorte is located in northwest Indiana, east of Gary, and west of South Bend and was first settled in 1832. The current mayor is Kathy Chroback, a Democrat serving her second term in 12 years. She is LaPorte's first female mayor, and recently replaced Republican Leigh Morris.

History
The city of LaPorte was established in July 1832. Abraham P. Andrew, one of the purchasers of the site, constructed the first sawmill in that year. The first settler arrived in October, building a permanent cabin just north of what would become, and remains to this day, the Courthouse square. In 1833 a Federal Land Office was established in LaPorte. It was to this office that people would come from many newly established surrounding counties to buy land from the government, including Solon Robinson, founder of Crown Point. The office was moved to Winamac in 1839.

By 1835 the settlement had grown to the extent that it was decided necessary that LaPorte should become incorporated as a town. A newspaper was established in 1836 and LaPorte Medical School was founded in 1842, the first of its kind in the Midwest. A former graduate of the school William Worrall Mayo established the famed Mayo Clinic in Minnesota in 1889. By 1852 LaPorte had become a well established settlement of considerable size for its time, with 5,000 residents. In that same year it was granted a city charter by the Indiana General Assembly and the first mayor was elected. In the ensuing years LaPorte continued to grow, attracting numerous diverse industries, the largest of which became the Advance-Rumely company. Advance-Rumely was responsible for developing the Oil-Pull tractor engine, considered to have played a pivotal role in the agricultural development of the Great Plains. In 1869, Advance-Rumely was the largest employer in La Porte.

Geography
LaPorte is located at °N, °W (41.609057, -86.717567).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 12.2 square miles (31.5 km²), of which, 11.5 square miles (29.7 km²) of it is land and 0.7 square miles (1.8 km²) of it (5.83%) is water.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 21,621 people, 8,916 households, and 5,545 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,886.8 people per square mile (728.4/km²). There were 9,667 housing units at an average density of 843.6/sq mi (325.7/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 92.60% White, 1.92% African American, 0.37% Native American, 0.38% Asian, 3.39% from other races, and 1.33% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.52% of the population.

There were 8,916 households out of which 29.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.4% were married couples living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.8% were non-families. 31.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.98.

In the city the population was spread out with 24.5% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 29.1% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 16.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 93.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $35,376, and the median income for a family was $45,784. Males had a median income of $32,319 versus $22,756 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,900. About 7.7% of families and 11.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.2% of those under age 18 and 13.1% of those age 65 or over.

Government
The government consists of a mayor and a city council. The mayor is elected in citywide vote. The city council consists of seven members. Five are elected from individual districts. Two are elected at-large.

Features
The LaPorte Community School Corporation consists of one high school: LaPorte High School; two middle schools: Boston Middle School and Kesling Middle School; and eight elementary schools: Crichfield, Hailmann, Riley, Handley, Indian Trail, Kingsbury, Kingsford Heights and Lincoln. The corporation serves approximately 6,500 students.

At eight state baseball titles, LaPorte High School holds the distinction of winning the greatest number in Indiana.

Radio stations in LaPorte include WCOE, 96.7FM, and WLOI, 1540AM. LaPorte receives television broadcasts and other radio broadcasts from Chicago and South Bend.

The famous Advance-Rumely tractor company was established in La Porte where it developed steam engines and eponymous green kerosene tractors.

LaPorte has been featured in an occasional movie, including Prancer (film) (1989), A Piece of Eden (2000), Treadmill (2006), Providence (2009) and Woman's Prison (2009).

LaPorte was once the home of the world famous Parsons Horological Institute, founded in the 1890's and still extant as part of Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois.

Notable natives or residents

 * Emerson Spartz: Founder of MuggleNet, the most-visited Harry Potter Web site in the world.
 * Harold Handley: the 40th Governor of the State of Indiana and former State Senator
 * Hazel Harrison: American pianist, known as the premiere black pianist of her time
 * William Scholl ( Dr.Scholl): Born: 22-Jun-1882 Died: 29-Mar-1968
 * George Allesee: former pro baseball player
 * Jeffrey Ake: kidnapped while in Iraq in April 2005; he has not yet been found.
 * Abram Andrew: United States Representative from Massachusetts
 * Chuck Baldwin: Baptist minister and 2008 Presidential nominee of the Constitution Party
 * Chris Bootcheck: Major League Baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
 * David J. Cook: western lawman and famous City Marshall
 * Art Cross: former race car driver; first Rookie of the Year at the Indianapolis 500
 * Daniel Edwards: Famous nude artist and erotic sculptor
 * Charlie O. Finley: former owner of the Oakland Athletics, lived in La Porte for most of his life.
 * Belle Gunness: serial killer
 * Rear Admiral Royal R. Ingersoll: famous American military veteran; the USS Ingersoll is named after him.
 * Karl Paul Link: an American biochemist best known for his discovery of the anticoagulant warfarin
 * William Worrall Mayo: the founder of the Mayo Clinic received his medical degree here in 1850.
 * Andrew McKenna: chairman of the Illinois Republican Party; graduated from La Lumiere School, a Catholic boarding school in La Porte.
 * Isamu Noguchi: Japanese-American artist and landscape architect.
 * Tom Nowatzke: former National Football League running back
 * Tony Raines: NASCAR driver
 * Ron Reed: former MLB pitcher
 * John G. Roberts: Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court; was captain of the football team at La Lumiere School
 * Slug Signorino: Commercial artist; illustrator for The Straight Dope
 * E.E. "Doc" Smith : Science fiction writer
 * Scott Skiles: Milwaukee Bucks head coach
 * David Willis: a webcomic writer and artist, most recently the creator of Shortpacked!