Parke

Formed January 9, 1821 (37^th county)

Parke County (16,154), Rockville (2,511)

The Second Empire classic masonry and rock 1870 courthouse is in a square surrounded by Market, Ohio, Jefferson, and High streets.  United States Highway 36 is Ohio Street in the town.  Thomas J. Tolan and Brentwood Tolan were the designers.  The courthouse was renovated in 2002.  The building features a working clock tower.  The grounds have military guns and veteran memorials.  There was an 1829 courthouse also in Rockville.  The county was created on January 9, 1821 from Vigo County as the 37^th county.  Roseville (1821), Armiesburg (1822), and Rockville (1824) have all served as county seat.  The county is named for Battle of Tippecanoe hero Benjamin Parke.  The county seat was named by its original settlers for the number of large boulders at the town site. 

Parke 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 Parke County (judicial.) Parke County is in the western part of the state.  Terre Haute, Indiana is directly south and Indianapolis, Indiana is east of the county.  The county center is in Rockville .7 miles East-Northeast of the city center.  Rockville is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 15.5% of the county population.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Fountain, Montgomery, Putnam, Clay, Vigo, and Vermillion counties. 

The area of the county is 445 square miles.  It is 23 out of 92 in the state. It ranks 78 out of 92 in population in the state.  It has a density of 36.3 persons per square mile making it 86 out of 92 in the state.  Parke County has 30.2% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 36 crosses the county east to west from Putnam County to Vermillion County.  United States Highway 41 enters from the north, Fountain County, and exits to the southwest, Vermillion County.  The county’s shape resembles a small letter f facing backward.  Rockville is west and south of center in the county.  The Wabash River forms the western border of the county.