The County Line
I was asked the other day if there is another Hamilton County in the country, and the answer is definitely yes. In fact there are 10 Hamilton counties in America. Besides our own, the one best known to us is probably in Ohio where Cincinnati is located. It’s the largest Hamilton County in population with nearly 1 million residents.
Our county is second with at least 300,000; but, the surprise, at least to me, is that Hamilton County, Indiana is the smallest of the 10 in land area. We have 401 square miles of territory, which seems like a pretty good chunk of real estate, but there are several twice as big.
The name Hamilton comes, of course, from Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, Revolutionary War hero, trusted aide to George Washington and the first Secretary of the Treasury who put the nation on a path toward a sound economy.
Hamilton’s name was popular in the early 19th century, especially after he was killed in a duel with Vice President Aaron Burr. Several counties, towns and institutions were named for Hamilton in the years following his death.
Many folks may not know some interesting characteristics of the counties that all bear the same name.
Hamilton County, New York, for example, is home to the popular Adirondack Mountains which take up most of its 1,808 square miles. But, the county’s population is only 4,542.
The famous Suwanee River, subject of Stephen Foster’s folk song, is found in Hamilton County, Florida, and Chattanooga with its famous Lookout Mountain is located in Hamilton County, Tennessee.
The other Hamiltons are located in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and Texas. The one in Kansas is 998 square miles in area, but is least populated with a mere 2,690 residents.
In other words it is more than twice the size of Hamilton County, Indiana in land area, but with a population about the same as Sheridan.
That makes for a lot of wide open space.