Formed January 17, 1820 (33rd county)
Martin County (9,806), Shoals (676), Loogootee (2,597)
The Modern concrete courthouse was built in 1981 as a bank becoming the courthouse in 1999. It is located on 2nd Street and Main Street. United States Highway 50 is one blocks northeast. There was an 1876 courthouse in Shoals and an 1845 courthouse in Dover Hill. The architect for the current courthouse is not known. The county was formed on January 17, 1820 from parts of Daviess and Dubois counties as the 33rd county. It is named for Major John Martin. The county seat is a geographical term for its location along the East Fork of the White River. Hindostan (1820), Mount Pleasant (1828), Memphis (1844), Harrisonville (1844), Dover Hill (1845), and Shoals (1869) have all been the county seat.
Martin County government consists of a sheriff, an auditor, a clerk, a coroner, a treasurer, and an assessor (executive). It has 7 Council Members (legislative.) A Circuit Court Judge and a prosecutor serve Martin County (judicial.) The county is in southwest Indiana. Indianapolis, Indiana is northeast and Evansville, Indiana is southwest of the county. The county center is 3.2 miles Northwest of Shoals. The county is surrounded clockwise by Greene, Lawrence, Orange, Dubois, and Daviess counties.
The area of the county is 336 square miles. It is 72 out of 92 in the state. It ranks 87 out of 92 in population in the state. It has a density of 29.2 persons per square mile making it 89 out of 92 in the state. Martin County has 35.1% of its population in its incorporated areas. United States Highway 50 crosses the county from east to west from Lawrence County to Daviess County. United States Highway 150 goes southeast to west from Orange County and joins with United States Highway 50 into Davies County. United States Highway 231 travels north to south from Daviess County to Dubois County. The county is a skinny rectangle is a notch missing in the northwest and a knob added to the southwest. Shoals is in the southern half of the county. The largest city is on the western border. Shoals is the county seat and Loogootee is the largest city. Shoals is 6.9% of the county population while Loogootee is 26.5% of the county population. The county seat is pronounced SHOELZ. The largest city is pronounced LU-GU-TEE.
Crane
Loogootee
Shoals
