Elkhart

History

In 1829, the Village of Pulaski was established, consisting of a post office, mill, and a few houses on the north side of the St. Joseph River. Dr. Havilah Beardsley moved westward from Ohio, and on August 9, 1821, purchased one square mile of land from Pierre Moran (a half-French, half-Native American Potawatomi Chief) in order to establish a rival town named Elkhart. The town of Elkhart was first plotted with 48 lots on April 30, 1832. In 1839, the Pulaski Post Office was officially changed to Elkhart. Elkhart was incorporated as a town in 1858 and in 1875 as a city. Elkhart County was founded exclusively by immigrants from New England. These were old-stock "Yankee" immigrants, that is to say, they were descended from the English Puritans who settled New England in the 1600s. The completion of the Erie Canal caused a surge in New England immigration to what was then the Northwest Territory. The end of the Black Hawk War led to an additional surge of immigration, once again coming almost exclusively from the six New England states as a result of overpopulation combined with land shortages in that region. Some of these later settlers were from upstate New York and had parents who had moved to that region from New England shortly after the Revolutionary War. New Englanders and New England transplants from upstate New York were the vast majority of Elkhart County's inhabitants during the first several decades of its history. These settlers were primarily members of various Protestant religions. Many inhabitants of Elkhart County fought in the Union Army during the Civil War. In the late 1880s and early 1890s Irish and German migrants began moving into Elkhart County. Most of these later immigrants did not move directly from Ireland and Germany, but rather from…

Geography

According to the 2010 census, Elkhart has a total area of , of which (or 96.04%) is land and (or 3.96%) is water. The city sits on the St. Joseph and Elkhart Rivers. The Elkhart River drains into the St. Joseph at Island Park just north of downtown. There are also numerous small lakes around the city. Elkhart has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa), with cold, snowy winters and warm, humid summers. |date=November 2011 }}

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  15,781
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  14,550
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  11,743
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  10,525
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  10,448
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  10,192
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  9,902
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  9,715

Largest nearby schools

• Elkhart High School
  High · Elkhart · 3,325 students · 17:1 ratio
• Concord Community High School
  High · Elkhart · 1,785 students · 17.3:1 ratio
• Goshen Intermediate School
  Middle · Goshen · 933 students · 15.8:1 ratio
• Concord Junior High School
  Middle · Elkhart · 841 students · 16.2:1 ratio
• Concord Intermediate School
  Middle · Elkhart · 816 students · 16.3:1 ratio
• North Side Middle School
  Middle · Elkhart · 627 students · 16.1:1 ratio
• West Side Middle School
  Middle · Elkhart · 582 students · 17.6:1 ratio
• Jimtown Intermediate School
  Elementary · Elkhart · 576 students · 18:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3.3 — 2015-06-30
  5 km NNE of Burlington, Michigan
• M 4.2 — 2015-05-02
  5 km S of Galesburg, Michigan
• M 3 — 2012-01-26
  5 km NE of Topeka, Indiana