Knox

Formed June 6, 1790 (1^st county)

Knox County (36,286), Vincennes (16,768)

The towers on the 1873 masonry building make the facility stand out.  It is sited on a square at Busseron, 7^th, Broadway, and 8^th streets.  United States Highway 50 is one block southwest of the location.  Edwin May provided the European designs.  The county was established on June 6, 1790 as the original county.  There was an 1808 courthouse also in Vincennes, the only county seat.  The county is named for United States Secretary of War Henry Knox.  He is also the namesake of the county seat of Starke County.  The county seat is named for its founder, Francois Morgan de Vincennes. 

Knox 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, Two Superior Court Judges, and a prosecutor serve Knox County (judicial.) The county is in southwest Indiana on the Wabash River border with Illinois.  Indianapolis, Indiana is northeast and Evansville, Indiana is south of the county.  The county center is 6.6 miles East of Vincennes nearer Fritchton.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Sullivan, Greene, Daviess, Pike, and Gibson counties and Illinois. 

The area of the county is 516 square miles.  It is 6 out of 92 in the state.   It ranks 43 out of 92 in population in the state.  It has a density of 70.3 persons per square mile making it 59 out of 92 in the state.  Knox County has 62.2% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 41 travels north to south through the county from Sullivan County to Gibson County.  United States Highway 50 crosses east to west from Daviess County to Illinois.  United States Highway 150 enters joined with United States Highway 50 from Daviess County, splits and joins United States Highway 41 to exit north into Sullivan County.  The county’s shape looks like a lazy capital letter J.  Vincennes is on the central western border of the county.  Vincennes is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 46.2% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced VIN-SENZ.  This county is in the Vincennes Micropolitan Statistical Area.