Putnamville

History

Putnamville was laid out in 1830. The community took its name from Putnam County. A post office called Putnamville has been in operation since 1832. The community was pioneered by James Townsend and his recently emancipated slaves. Some historians group the early Townsends of Putnamville into the "Black Townsends" (emancipated persons who assumed James Townsend's surname) and the "White Townsends" (biological relatives of James Townsend). According to James Townsend's grandson, James Layman, they included Luke, Hetty, Amy, Tom, Sibley, and others. Layman told historian Jesse Weik that Sibley was the oldest of those who removed to Indiana and that she continued pipe smoking until after the age of 90, recalling her doing so during visits to the residence of his grandmother — James Townsend's wife — Katherine Townsend. Luke Townsend – who was the au pair for James Townsend's daughter, Mary, prior to his emancipation – established the first Sunday School in Putnam County and is credited as the founder of the congregation that eventually became Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Greencastle, Indiana, at one time the largest Black church in Indiana. According to a 1942 article in The Daily Banner of Greencastle, Luke Townsend was after death remembered as "one of the best citizens the county has had." Luke Townsend had five children. Another son was among the witnesses who, in the late 1800s, testified against a man arrested for harassing Black youths playing in a field in Putnam County in what became the first case of a white citizen being criminally convicted on the basis of the testimony of a Black citizen in Putnam County. Among James Townsend's children was John Selby Townsend, who later sat in the Iowa General Assembly and served as county attorney of…

Geography

Putnamville is located along U.S. Route 40 at the intersection of State Road 243.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Cloverdale Distance Learning Academy
  Elementary · Cloverdale · 684 students
• Greencastle High School
  High · Greencastle · 498 students · 15.1:1 ratio
• Cloverdale Elementary School
  Elementary · Cloverdale · 424 students · 17.7:1 ratio
• Tzouanakis Intermediate School
  Elementary · Greencastle · 403 students · 14.9:1 ratio
• Greencastle Middle School
  Middle · Greencastle · 391 students · 13.5:1 ratio
• South Putnam High School
  High · Greencastle · 374 students · 17.8:1 ratio
• Central Elementary School
  Elementary · Greencastle · 339 students · 14.1:1 ratio
• Deer Meadow Primary School
  Elementary · Greencastle · 315 students · 14.3:1 ratio