Paoli ( ) is a town within Paoli Township and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...

of Orange County, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

. The population was 3,677 at the 2010 census.

History

Paoli was laid out and

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Surveys to show the distance and bea ...

ted in 1816. It was named for Pasquale Paoli Ash, the son of North Carolina governor Samuel Ashe. A post office has been in operation at Paoli since 1817. In its first decades, it was noted as a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

town that played a role in the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. ...

by transporting enslaved people from the South to Canada. In the 1900s it became known as the site of the

Pioneer Mothers Memorial Forest The Pioneer Mothers Memorial Forest is an 88-acre oak-hickory forest located in Orange County, Indiana, near Paoli. Identified as a surviving fragment of virgin Central Hardwood forest, a woodland type that largely vanished in the 1800s, it is ...

, a surviving fragment of the once-extensive virgin oak forest of southern Indiana.

Thomas Newby Braxtan House Thomas Newby Braxtan House, also known as the Braxtan Inn, is a historic home located at Paoli, Orange County, Indiana. It was built in 1893, and is a -story, Queen Anne style frame dwelling. It sits on a sandstone foundation and has a semi-o ...

, Orange County Courthouse, and Paoli Historic District are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

Geography

Paoli is located at (38.557681, -86.469209). According to the 2010 census, Paoli has a total area of , of which (or 99.73%) is land and (or 0.27%) is water.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

system, Paoli has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

of 2010, there were 3,677 people, 1,484 households, and 923 families living in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

was . There were 1,645 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 97.7%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 0.3%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.2% Native American, 0.3% Asian, 0.5% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 1.0% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 1.3% of the population. There were 1,484 households, of which 31.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.2% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

living together, 15.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.0% had a male householder with no wife present, and 37.8% were non-families. 32.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.97. The median age in the town was 39.7 years. 23.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 25.5% were from 25 to 44; 25% were from 45 to 64; and 17.5% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 48.3% male and 51.7% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 3,844 people, 1,581 households, and 1,013 families living in the town. The population density was . There were 1,725 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 98.34%

, 0.21%

, 0.23% Native American, 0.18% Asian, 0.18% from

, and 0.86% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.70% of the population. There were 1,581 households, out of which 31.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.7% were

living together, 11.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.9% were non-families. 32.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.90. In the town, the population was spread out, with 23.7% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 21.5% from 45 to 64, and 18.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.2 males. The median income for a household in the town was $26,962, and the median income for a family was $34,412. Males had a median income of $28,566 versus $20,110 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the town was $14,313. About 12.8% of families and 15.1% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 15.2% of those under age 18 and 13.3% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The town has a lending library, the Paoli Public Library.

Media

The Paoli ''News-Republican'' is a newspaper published weekly in Paoli. It debuted in 1875 and has been printed by Orange County Publishing since its founding. That company was sold to Shurz Communications in August 2018 in a multi-paper acquisition.

Parks and recreation

Paoli Peaks is a

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In Nort ...

located in Paoli.

Notable people

* Sandra Blanton, Democratic member of the

Indiana House of Representatives The Indiana House of Representatives is the lower house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The House is composed of 100 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. House me ...

from 2007 to 2011 * Margaret Hamilton, developed on-board flight software for the Apollo program *

Ken Trinkle Kenneth Wayne Trinkle (December 15, 1919 – May 10, 1976) was an American professional baseball player, a relief pitcher, in Major League Baseball. He played with the New York Giants from 1943–48, and the Philadelphia Phillies in 1949. As a r ...

, right-handed relief pitcher in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

from 1943 to 1949.

References

External links

Paoli information

Paoli News Online Edition
{{authority control Towns in Orange County, Indiana Towns in Indiana County seats in Indiana Populated places on the Underground Railroad