Ripley

Formed December 27, 1816 (18^th county)

Ripley County (28,984), Versailles (2,182), Batesville (7,195)

A red/brown brick courthouse was built in 1860 and sits on Main, Tyson, Washington, and 1^st streets.  United States Highway 50 is four blocks to the south.  The building was renovated in 1992.  Thomas Pattison is the architect for this Greek Revival building.  The structure has a clock tower and the grounds have veteran memorials.  A county building is across the street.  The county was formed on December 27, 1816 from parts of Dearborn and Jefferson counties as the 18^th county.  It is named for War of 1812 General Eleazer Wheelock Ripley.  The county seat is named for Versailles, France. 

Ripley County government consists of a sheriff, an auditor, a clerk, a coroner, a treasurer, and an assessor (executive).  It has 7 Council Members (legislative.)  Two Circuit Court Judges, a Superior Court Judge, and a prosecutor serve Ripley County (judicial.) The county is in southeast Indiana.  Indianapolis, Indiana is northwest and Cincinnati, Ohio is southeast of the county.  The county center is 9.1 miles North-Northeast of Versailles nearer Osgood.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Franklin, Dearborn, Ohio, Switzerland, Jefferson, Jennings, and Decatur counties.  New Marion had a courthouse built in 1821. 

The area of the county is 446 square miles.  It is 22 out of 92 in the state.  It ranks 55 out of 92 in population in the state.  It has a density of 65.0 persons per square mile making it 62 out of 92 in the state.  Ripley County has 42.9% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 74 cuts the extreme northern part of the county east to west from Dearborn County to Franklin County.  United States Highway 50 crosses east to west from Dearborn County to Jennings County.  United States Highway 421 goes north to south from Decatur County to Jefferson County.  The county is shaped like a fat wedge.  Versailles is located in the southern third of the county.  Batesville is on the northern border of the county.  Versailles is the county seat and Batesville is the largest city.  Versailles is 7.5% of the county population while Batesville is 24.8% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced VER-SIE.

Batesville