Editing Vincennes, Indiana

{{About|the United States city of Vincennes|other uses|Vincennes (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
| official_name      = Vincennes, Indiana
| settlement_type    = [[City]]
| motto              = 
| image_skyline      = George_Rogers_Clark_Memorial_in_Vincennes,_Indiana.jpg
| imagesize          = 
| image_caption      = The George Rogers Clark National Historical Park Rotunda
| image_flag         = Flag of Vincennes, Indiana.svg
| image_seal         = VincennesINseal.png
| image_map          = File:Knox County Indiana Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Vincennes Highlighted 1879208.svg
| mapsize            = 250x200px
| map_caption        = Location of Vincennes in Knox County, Indiana
<!-- Location -->| subdivision_type   = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name   = [[United States]]
| subdivision_type1  = [[U.S. state|State]]
| subdivision_name1  = [[Indiana]]
| subdivision_type2  = [[List of counties in Indiana|County]]
| subdivision_name2  = [[Knox County, Indiana|Knox]]
| subdivision_type3  = [[List of townships in Indiana|Township]]
| subdivision_name3  = [[Vincennes Township, Knox County, Indiana|Vincennes]]
<!-- Government -->| government_type    = 
| leader_title       = [[Mayor]]
| leader_name        = Joe Yochum <ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.vincennes.org/dev/mayors-office/ | title=Mayor's Office &#124; City of Vincennes, IN | date=May 15, 2012 }}</ref>
| established_title  = <!-- Settled -->
| established_date   = 1732
| established_title2 = <!-- Incorporated (town) -->
| established_date2  = 
| established_title3 = <!-- Incorporated (city) -->
| established_date3  = 
| named_for          = [[François-Marie Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes]]
<!-- Area -->| unit_pref          = Imperial
| area_land_km2      = 19.19
| area_water_km2     = 0.18
| area_footnotes     = <ref name="CenPopGazetteer2020">{{cite web|title=2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2020_Gazetteer/2020_gaz_place_18.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=March 16, 2022}}</ref>
| area_total_km2     = 19.37
| area_total_sq_mi   = 7.48
| area_land_sq_mi    = 7.41
| area_water_sq_mi   = 0.07
| area_water_percent = 0.94
| area_urban_sq_mi   = 
| area_metro_sq_mi   = <!-- Population -->
| population_footnotes = 
| population_as_of   = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
| population_total   = 16775
| population_density_km2 = 873.19
| population_density_sq_mi = 2261.67
<!-- General information -->| timezone           = [[Eastern Time Zone|EST]]
| utc_offset         = -5
| timezone_DST       = [[Eastern Time Zone|EDT]]
| utc_offset_DST     = -4
| coordinates        = {{coord|38|40|39|N|87|30|07|W|region:US-IN|display=inline,title}}
| elevation_footnotes = <ref name=gnis/>
| elevation_ft       = 420
<!-- Area/postal codes and others -->| postal_code_type   = [[ZIP Code]]
| postal_code        = 47591
| website            = {{URL|www.vincennes.org}}
| area_code          = [[Area codes 812 and 930|812 and 930]]
| blank_name         = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
| blank_info         = 18-79208<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=January 31, 2008|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref>
| blank1_name        = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
| blank1_info        = 2397143<ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|2397143}}</ref>
| footnotes          = 
}}

'''Vincennes''' is a city in, and the [[county seat]] of, [[Knox County, Indiana]], United States.<ref name="GR6">{{cite web|url=http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx|access-date=June 7, 2011|title=Find a County|publisher=National Association of Counties|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110531210815/http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx|archive-date=May 31, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> It is located on the lower [[Wabash River]] in the [[Southwestern Indiana|southwestern]] part of the state, nearly halfway between [[Evansville, Indiana|Evansville]] and [[Terre Haute, Indiana|Terre Haute]]. It was founded in 1732 by French [[fur trade]]rs, including the namesake [[François-Marie Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes]]. It is the oldest continually inhabited European settlement in Indiana and was its longest serving [[Indiana Territory|territorial]] capital. It is one of the oldest settlements west of the [[Appalachian Mountains|Appalachians]]. The population was 16,759 at the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]].<ref name="2020 census">{{cite web |title=Vincennes city, Indiana - Census Bureau Profile |url=https://data.census.gov/profile/Vincennes_city,_Indiana?g=160XX00US1879208 |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=January 27, 2024}}</ref>

==History==
The vicinity of Vincennes was inhabited for thousands of years by different cultures of [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|indigenous peoples]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Jones|first1=James R. III|author2=Amy L. Johnson|title=Early Peoples of Indiana|url=http://www.in.gov/dnr/historic/files/HP_earlypeoples.pdf|website=IN.gov|publisher=Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology|access-date=June 24, 2015|location=Indianapolis|date=2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626133033/http://www.in.gov/dnr/historic/files/HP_earlypeoples.pdf|archive-date=June 26, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> During the [[Woodland period|Late Woodland period]], some of these peoples used local [[loess]] hills as burial sites; some of the more prominent examples are the Sugar Loaf Mound and the [[Pyramid Mound]].<ref>Stafford, C. Russell. "The Geomorphology of Sugar Loaf Mound: Prehistoric Cemeteries and the Formation of Loess Cones in the Lower Wabash Valley," ''Geoarchaeology: An International Journal'' 13.7 (1998): 649–672.</ref>{{rp|668}}  In [[historic]] times, prominent local Indian groups who drove these people out were the [[Shawnee]], [[Wabash Confederacy|Wabash]], and the [[Miami tribe]].

The first European settlers were French, when Vincennes was founded as part of the French colony of [[Illinois Country]], New France. Later on, it would be transferred to the colony of [[Louisiana (New France)|Louisiana]]. Several years later, France lost the [[French and Indian War]] (part of the [[Seven Years' War]]), and as a result ceded territory east of the [[Mississippi River]], including Vincennes, to the [[Great Britain in the Seven Years' War|victorious British]].

Once the area was under [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]] control, it was associated with the [[Province of Quebec (1763-1791)|Province of Quebec]] until after the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]]. It then became part of the [[Illinois County]] of the [[Colony and Dominion of Virginia]]. Next it became part of [[Knox County, Indiana|Knox County]] in the [[Northwest Territory]], and it was later included in the [[Indiana Territory]]. Vincennes served as capital of the Indiana Territory from 1800 until 1813, when the government was moved to [[Corydon, Indiana|Corydon]].
[[File:Vincennes, Indiana map from 1876 atlas.JPG|thumb|left|Map of Vincennes from 1876 atlas]]

===New France===
The first trading post on the [[Wabash River]] was established by Sieur Juchereau, Lieutenant General of [[Montréal]].  With thirty-four [[Canadien]]s, he founded the company post on October 28, 1702, to trade for [[American Bison|Buffalo]] hides with [[Indigenous people of the Americas|American Indians]].  The exact location of Juchereau's trading post is not known, but because the [[Buffalo Trace (road)|Buffalo Trace]] crosses the Wabash at Vincennes, many believe it was here.  The post was a success; in the first two years, the traders collected over 13,000 buffalo hides.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Lasselle |first=Charles B |date=March 1906 |title=The Old Indian Traders of Indiana |journal=The Indiana Magazine of History |volume=II |issue=1 |page=3 |publisher=George S. Cottman |location=Indianapolis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zpwKAAAAIAAJ |access-date=January 11, 2008 }}</ref>  When Juchereau died,{{when|date=April 2022}} the post was abandoned.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}  The French-Canadian settlers left what they considered hostile territory for [[Old Mobile Site|Mobile]] (in present-day Alabama), then the capital of [[Louisiana (New France)|Louisiana]].

The oldest European town in Indiana, Vincennes was officially established in 1732 as a second [[France|French]] [[fur trading]] post in this area. The [[French Indies Company]] commissioned a French officer, [[François-Marie Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes]], to build a post along the Wabash River to discourage local nations from trading with the English.<ref>Derleth, p. 4.</ref> Vincennes founded the new trading post near the meeting points of the [[Wabash River|Wabash]] and [[White River (Indiana)|White]] rivers, and the overland [[Buffalo Trace (road)|Buffalo Trace]].<ref>Derleth, p. 8.</ref> Vincennes, who had lived with his father among the [[Miami tribe]], persuaded the [[Piankeshaw]] to establish a village at his trading post. He also encouraged Canadien settlers to move there, and started his own family to increase the village population.<ref>Derleth, p. 9.</ref> Because the Wabash post was so remote, however, Vincennes had a hard time getting trade supplies from Louisiana for the native nations, who were also being courted by English traders. The boundary between the French colonies of Louisiana and Canada, although inexact in the first years of the settlement, was decreed in 1745 to run between [[Fort Ouiatenon]] (below the site of modern-day [[Lafayette, Indiana]]) and Vincennes.<ref name="Ekberg-French Roots">{{cite book|last=Ekberg|first=Carl|title=French Roots in the Illinois Country: The Mississippi Frontier in Colonial Times|date=2000|publisher=University of Illinois Press|location=Urbana and Chicago, Ill.|isbn=978-0-252-06924-6|page=32|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NOdf3FRXms0C&pg=PA32|access-date=November 29, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160219152958/https://books.google.com/books?id=NOdf3FRXms0C&pg=PA32|archive-date=February 19, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1736, during the French war with the [[Chickasaw]] nation, Vincennes was captured and burned at the stake near the present-day town of [[Fulton, Mississippi]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Indiana Historical Society Publications|volume=VII|year=1923|chapter=Sieur de Vincennes Identified|first=Pierre-Georges|last=Roy|publisher=C. E. Pauley and Company|location=Indianapolis|pages=17–18|chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/sieurdevincennes71royp#page/16/mode/2up/search/burned|access-date=November 21, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160403030924/https://archive.org/stream/sieurdevincennes71royp#page/16/mode/2up/search/burned|archive-date=April 3, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> His settlement on the Wabash was renamed Poste Vincennes in his honor.

Louisiana governor [[Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville]], next appointed [[Louis Groston de Saint-Ange de Bellerive]] to command Poste Vincennes.

As the French colonists pushed north from Louisiana and south from Canada, however, the American colonists to the east continued to push west. In addition, British traders lured away many of Indians who had traded with the Canadiens. This competition escalated in the [[Ohio Country]] until 1754 and the eruption of the [[French and Indian War]] (the North American theater of the [[Seven Years' War]] between Britain and France.){{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

===British America===
[[File:Vincennes Indiana British Fort Diorama.JPG|thumb|right|Diorama of Fort Sackville]]
On February 10, 1763, when [[New France]] was ceded to the [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]] at the conclusion of the [[French and Indian War]], Vincennes fell under the authority of Great Britain. British officer John Ramsey came to Vincennes in 1766.  He took a census of the settlement, built up the fort, and renamed it [[Fort Sackville]].  The population grew quickly in the years that followed, resulting in a unique culture of interdependent [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]], [[French Canadians|Canadien]] settlers and British traders.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

Vincennes was far from centers of British power.  In 1770 and 1772, [[Thomas Gage]], the commander in chief of Britain's North American forces, received warnings that the residents of Vincennes were [[American Revolution|agitating against]] [[the Crown]], and were inciting native tribes along the river trade routes to attack British traders. The [[Secretary of State for the Colonies|Colonial Secretary]], the [[Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire|Earl of Hillsborough]], ordered the residents to be removed from Vincennes in response. Gage demurred while the residents responded to the charges against them, claiming to be "peaceful settlers, cultivating the land which His Most Christian Majesty [meaning the King of France] granted us."  The issue was resolved by Hillsborough's successor, [[William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth|Lord Dartmouth]], who insisted to Gage that the residents were not lawless vagabonds, but British subjects whose rights were protected by the Crown. Gage took no action against the residents of Vincennes.<ref>Barnhart, p. 172–173.</ref> In 1778, residents at Poste Vincennes received word of the [[Treaty of Alliance (1778)|French alliance]] with the American [[Second Continental Congress]] from [[Pierre Gibault|Father Pierre Gibault]] and Dr. Jean Laffont. They mobilized in support of the American revolutionaries, as did the local [[Piankeshaw]], led by Chief [[Young Tobacco]].{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

===Revolutionary War===
{{main|Siege of Fort Vincennes}}
[[File:Clark's march against Vincennes, across the Wabash River through wilderness and flood - NARA - 518211.tif|thumb|upright|''Clark's march against Vincennes, across the Wabash River through wilderness and flood'', artist unknown, is from the [[National Archives and Records Administration]].]]
Lieutenant Colonel [[George Rogers Clark|George R. Clark]], Captain Leonard Helm, and others created a plan to capture the French forts that the British occupied after Louisiana was ceded. After Kaskaskia was captured by Clark, Lieutenant Governor [[Henry Hamilton (governor)|Henry Hamilton]] sent British soldiers and reinforcements from Detroit to Fort Vincennes and helped to rebuild the fort.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

The [[Italians|Italian]] merchant and Patriot [[Francis Vigo]] found Clark and informed the British presence at the fort. Vigo served with the Patriots, ordered war supplies from the Spanish to help, and acted as a secret agent for the Patriots. Clark rounded up enough men to outnumber the British and planned a surprise attack on Fort Vincennes in the heart of winter, a horrible time when no armies were expected to be able to attack due to illness, lack of food, and the flood waters that were high during this time. The Patriots won the Battle of Vincennes on February 23–24, 1779. Hamilton thought of Vincennes as "a refuge for debtors and Vagabonds from Canada." [[George Rogers Clark]] recaptured Fort Sackville in the [[Battle of Vincennes]] without losing a single soldier.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

===Post-Revolution turmoil===
[[File:GRC P8290050 Am Rev Marker.JPG|thumb|upright|This [[American Revolutionary War]] historic memorial plaque is in Vincennes.]]
Although the Americans remained in control of Vincennes, it took years to establish peace. In 1786, Captain [[John Hardin]] led a mounted [[Kentucky]] militia across the [[Ohio River]] and destroyed a friendly Piankeshaw town near Vincennes.  This led to a series of [[Battle of the Embarras River|attacks]] and counter-attacks between Wabash Indians and American settlers.  Finally, on July 15, 1786, the Wabash landed in forty-seven war canoes at Vincennes to drive the Americans back to Kentucky.<ref>Allison, p. 57.</ref> The Indians warned the Canadians in advance of their attack and assured them that they would not be harmed, but the Canadians warned the Americans.  They quickly supplied Fort Patrick Henry and waited out the [[siege]].  One American was killed and four wounded, and the war party left after destroying the Americans' farms.

In response, Virginia governor Patrick Henry authorized George Rogers Clark to raise the Kentucky militia and mount an expedition against the warring tribes. General Clark gathered a force of 1,000 militia and departed [[Clarksville, Indiana|Clarksville]] September 9, 1786, along the [[Buffalo Trace (road)|Buffalo Trace]].<ref>Allison, p. 58.</ref>  The militia spent ten days in Vincennes before marching north along the Wabash, but men deserted by the hundreds.  Clark was soon forced to return to Vincennes without any action taken.  Clark left 150 men to help defend Vincennes, but this force soon turned into a lawless mob, and the citizens of Vincennes petitioned Congress for help.<ref>Allison, p. 58: One resident of Vincennes was heard to pray "Lord, please send the Kentuckians home and bring back the Indians."</ref> Secretary of War [[Henry Knox]] sent Colonel [[Josiah Harmar]] and the [[First American Regiment]] to restore order.  The Kentucky militia fled Vincennes at the approach of [[Regular Army (United States)|U.S. Regulars]].<ref>Allison, p. 61.</ref>

Colonel Harmar left 100 regulars under Major [[Jean François Hamtramck]] and directed them to build a fort, [[Forts of Vincennes, Indiana#Fort Knox abandoned|Fort Knox]].<ref>Allison, p. 62.</ref> Vincennes remained an isolated town, difficult to supply due to its position deep within Indian territory.  Secure transport to and from Vincennes meant travelling with a large, armed party, whether over land or via the Wabash River.  On September 30, 1790, Major Hamtramck led 350 men from Vincennes as far north as the [[Vermilion River (Wabash River tributary)|Vermillion River]], to engage some of the Indian villages which had been at war with Vincennes.  The [[Kickapoo people|Kickapoo]] tracked the party, however, and evacuated every village along the way before the Americans arrived.<ref>Allison, p. 68.</ref>  Hamtramck destroyed some abandoned villages, but he did not engage any war parties.  Faced with desertions from Kentucky militia, Hamtramck returned to Vincennes.  The expedition had done no serious harm to the enemies of Vincennes, but it distracted some of the Wabash villages while Josiah Harmar, now a General, led a much larger [[Harmar's Defeat|expedition]] up through Ohio country towards ''[[Kekionga]]''.

===The Vincennes Tract===
The earliest land claims by inhabitants of Vincennes were based on a sale by the Indians to the French in 1742 of a tract of land containing 1.6 million acres, known as the Vincennes Tract. It was a rectangular block lying at right angles to the course of the Wabash River at Vincennes. The tract was ceded by France to Britain by treaty in 1763 after the French and Indian War.  On October 18, 1775, an agent for the Wabash Company purchased two tracts of land along the Wabash River from the Piankeshaw tribe called the 'Plankashaw Deed'.  In these deeds, the Vincennes Tract was excepted, and it was the first recognition of the tract in period documents. Eventually, the United States Supreme Court invalidated the deeds.

The claims based on French sovereignty or individual deeds issued under it were eventually rejected by congress, because if there were such grants, they passed to the United States by the Treaty of Paris 1783.

By right of conquest, George Rogers Clark secured this land for the United States in 1779 and the Land Act of 1796 honored its boundaries.

The Vincennes Donation Lands were embodied in ''An Act for granting lands to the Inhabitants and settlers at Vincennes and the Illinois country, in the territory northwest of the Ohio, and for confirming them in their possessions (1791)''.

===Growth===
By 1798, the population had reached 2,500.  Vincennes was no longer considered a trading outpost, but a thriving city.<ref>Allison, p. 87.</ref>

Elihu Stout published the first newspaper in the Indiana Territory in 1804 at Vincennes.  The ''Indiana Gazette'' debuted on July 31, 1804.  Fire destroyed the printing presses in 1806, but Stout revived the newspaper as the ''Western Sun'' in 1807.<ref name="blog.newspapers.library.in.gov">{{cite web|url=http://blog.newspapers.library.in.gov/vincennes-gazette/|title=Indiana Historic Newspaper Digitization Project Blog|work=Hoosier State Chronicles: Indiana's Digital Newspaper Program |date=July 31, 2014 |access-date=July 31, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808045445/http://blog.newspapers.library.in.gov/vincennes-gazette/|archive-date=August 8, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>John W. Miller, ''Indiana Newspaper Bibliography'' (Indiana Historical Society, 1982), 210–13.</ref>

Vincennes served as the first capital of [[Indiana Territory]] until it was moved to [[Corydon, Indiana|Corydon]] on May 1, 1813.

In 1826, "A party of [[Shawnee|Shawnee Indians]] ... in men, women, and children, to 500, passed through this place [Vincennes] ... from their reservation at [[Wapakoneta, Ohio|Wapaghkonetta]], moving to the [[Mississippi River|Mississippi]]. The celebrated [[Tenskwatawa|Indian prophet]], and a son of the great [[Tecumseh]], were in the company."<ref>{{Cite news
| page = 3
| title = Shawnee Indians – Wapakoneta Ohio – Vincennes Indiana
| work = Boston Reporter and Telegraph
| access-date = February 18, 2013
| date = December 15, 1826
| url = http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/shawnee-indians-wapakoneta-oh-1826-newspaper
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130605161415/http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/shawnee-indians-wapakoneta-oh-1826-newspaper
| archive-date = June 5, 2013
| url-status = live
}}</ref>

===Slavery===
{{quote box|align=right|width=250px|Those who were pro-slavery tried to perform an end run around the Indiana constitution by putting in place indentured servitude under which slaves, in theory, appeared to be able earn their freedom. However, the terms often placed on indentured servants were so excessive, many never actually never were able to achieve freedom.|—Rebecca R. Bibbs, ''It took two Supreme Court cases to end slavery in Indiana''<ref name="Bibbs">{{Cite news |last=Bibbs  |first=Rebecca R.  |date=February 2, 2020 |title=Hidden History: It took two Supreme Court cases to end slavery in Indiana |language=en |work=The Herald |url=https://www.heraldbulletin.com/news/local_news/it-took-two-supreme-court-cases-to-end-slavery-in-indiana/article_3ed8c74a-44ba-11ea-9414-c71f02845816.html |access-date=2022-02-23}}</ref>}}
Slavery was practiced in the 16th century, when the present-day state of Indiana was part of [[New France]] (1534–1763), by the French and Native Americans. When the area became part of the [[Northwest Territory]], slavery was banned by the [[Northwest Ordinance]] of 1787, but slavery and [[indentured servitude]] continued.
<ref name="Keierleber">{{Cite news |last=Keierleber |first=Mark |date=February 16, 2013 |title=Woman's battle helped end slavery in Indiana |work=The Herald-Tribune}}</ref><ref name="IR">{{Cite news |date=August 9, 2021 |title=Mary Bateman Clark helped end slavery, indentured servitude in Indiana |language=en-US |work=Indianapolis Recorder |url=https://indianapolisrecorder.com/mary-bateman-clark-helped-end-slavery-indentured-servitude-in-indiana/ |access-date=February 21, 2022}}</ref> Slaveholders created a "loophole", that the provision did not apply to African Americans who were already enslaved in the state.<ref name="Johnson">{{Cite news |last=Johnson |first=Taylor |date=February 9, 2021 |title=Polly Strong & Mary Clark remembered as 'pioneers in this ongoing struggle for freedom' |language=en-US |work=My Wabash Valley, WTWO-TV, Nexstar Media |url=https://www.mywabashvalley.com/hidden-history/black-history-month/polly-strong-mary-clark-remembered-as-pioneers-in-this-ongoing-struggle-for-freedom/ |access-date=February 21, 2022}}</ref> In 1816, the [[Constitution of Indiana]] made forced labor illegal, stating that  "there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in this state."<ref name="Keierleber" />

[[Polly Strong]], an enslaved woman of Vincennes, was the plaintiff in a case that argued that she should be free. After losing in the Harrison County Circuit Court, she won the case at the [[Indiana Supreme Court]] on July 22, 1820, and she was freed.<ref name="IR" /> In the case of 
Clark's attorney appealed the decision with the Indiana Supreme Court in the case of ''[[Mary Bateman Clark#Court cases|Mary Clark v. G.W. Johnston]]'' was a former slave who was made an [[indentured servitude|indentured servant]] and lived in Vincennes. She won her freedom on November 6, 1821, when the Indiana Supreme Court ruled that servitude violated the state's 1816 Constitution.<ref name="Williams SB">{{Cite journal |last=Williams |first=Sandra Boyd |year=1997 |title=The Indiana Supreme Court and the Struggle Against Slavery |journal=Indiana Law Review |series=Symposium: The History of Indiana Courts: People, Legacy and Defining Moments |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=307–310 }}</ref> This was a landmark contract law case for indentured servants and foretold the end of [[wikt:bondservant|forced labor]] in Indiana.<ref name="IBC">{{Cite web |title=Mary Bateman Clark Project |url=https://www.in.gov/ibc/legacyprojects/2770.htm |access-date=February 25, 2022 |website=Indiana Bicentennial Commission, Indiana state government}}</ref>

===Time zone controversy===
On November 4, 2007, Knox County joined [[Daviess County, Indiana|Daviess]], [[Martin County, Indiana|Martin]], [[Pike County, Indiana|Pike]], and [[Dubois County, Indiana|Dubois]] counties in returning to the [[Eastern Time zone]]. Controversy concerning [[time in Indiana]] has caused a change in the time zone of Vincennes on three different occasions since the [[Standard Time Act of 1918]].

==Geography==
Vincennes is located on the banks of the Wabash River at the western edge of Knox County. This is also the western edge of the state of Indiana, and Illinois is across the river to the west.  The city lies about {{convert|100|mi}} southwest of [[Indianapolis]]. [[U.S. Route 41 in Indiana|U.S. Route 41]] passes through the city from north to south, and [[U.S. Route 50 in Indiana|U.S. Route 50]] passes just to the north of the city from east to west.

According to the 2010 census, Vincennes has a total area of {{convert|7.478|sqmi|sqkm|2}}, of which {{convert|7.41|sqmi|sqkm|2}} (or 99.09%) is land and {{convert|0.068|sqmi|sqkm|2}} (or 0.91%) is water.<ref name="census-g001">{{cite web
  |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/G001/1600000US1879208
  |title=G001 - Geographic Identifiers - 2010 Census Summary File 1
  |access-date=July 29, 2015
  |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]
  |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213082731/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/G001/1600000US1879208
  |archive-date=February 13, 2020
  
  }}</ref>

===Climate===
Vincennes has a humid subtropical climate with hot summers and cool winters with heavy rainfall at times throughout much of the year. There are an average of 53.1 days with highs of {{convert|90|F|C}} or higher and an average of 101.5 days with lows of {{convert|32|F|C}} or lower.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://qwikcast.weatherbase.com/weather/weatherall.php3?s=15357&refer= | title=VINCENNES, INDIANA Travel Weather | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130719120205/http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weatherall.php3?s=15357&refer= | archive-date=July 19, 2013}}</ref> Average January temperatures are a high of {{convert|36.3|F|C}} and a low of {{convert|18.3|F|C}}. Average July temperatures are a high of {{convert|87.7|F|C}} and a low of {{convert|64.8|F|C}}. The record high temperature was {{convert|104|F|C}} on June 26, 1988. The record low temperature was {{convert|-26|F|C}} on January 19, 1994.

Average annual precipitation is {{convert|44.43|in|cm}}. Measurable precipitation occurs on an average of 105.6 days each year. The wettest year was 1990 with {{convert|60.08|in|cm}} and the dryest year was 1988 with {{convert|36.02|in|cm}}. The most precipitation in one month was {{convert|11.18|in|cm}} in November 1985. The most precipitation in 24 hours was {{convert|5.07|in|cm}}.

Average annual snowfall is {{convert|5.8|in|cm}}. Measurable snowfall occurs on only 2.6 days. The snowiest season was 1989–90 when {{convert|16.4|in|cm}} fell. The most snow in one month was {{convert|8.5|in|cm}} in December 1990. The most snow in 24 hours was {{convert|8.0|in|cm}} on March 24, 1990.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://mrcc.isws.illinois.edu/climate_midwest/historical/temp/in/129113_tsum.html |title=Temperature Summary - 129113 VINCENNES 5 NE, IN |access-date=October 12, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719211745/http://mrcc.isws.illinois.edu/climate_midwest/historical/temp/in/129113_tsum.html |archive-date=July 19, 2011  }}</ref>

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
| 1850 = 2070
| 1860 = 3960
| 1870 = 5440
| 1880 = 7680
| 1890 = 8853
| 1900 = 10249
| 1910 = 14895
| 1920 = 17160
| 1930 = 17564
| 1940 = 18228
| 1950 = 18831
| 1960 = 18046
| 1970 = 19867
| 1980 = 20857
| 1990 = 19859
| 2000 = 18701
| 2010 = 18423
| 2020 = 16759
| footnote = U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=June 4, 2015}}</ref>
}}

===2010 census===
As of the [[census]]<ref name="wwwcensusgov">{{cite web|title=U.S. Census website|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=December 11, 2012}}</ref> of 2010, there were 18,423 people, 7,407 households, and 4,108 families residing in the city. The [[population density]] was {{convert|2486.2|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|1}}. There were 8,259 housing units at an average density of {{convert|1114.6|/sqmi|/km2|1}}. The racial makeup of the city was 91.9% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 4.7% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.3% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.7% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.7% from [[Race (U.S. Census)|other races]], and 1.7% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 1.9% of the population.

There were 7,407 households, of which 26.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.8% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 14.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.5% had a male householder with no wife present, and 44.5% were non-families. 36.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.19 and the average family size was 2.83.

The median age in the city was 33 years. 19.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 20.8% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 21.4% were from 25 to 44; 23.6% were from 45 to 64; and 15% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 50.3% male and 49.7% female.

===2000 census===
As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2" /> of 2000, there were 18,701 people, 7,614 households, and 4,332 families residing in the city. The population density was {{convert|2,620.3|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 8,574 housing units at an average density of {{convert|1,201.4|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the city was 94.34% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 3.28% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.25% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.72% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.06% [[Pacific Islander (U.S. Census)|Pacific Islander]], 0.48% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 0.88% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 1.02% of the population.

There were 7,614 households, out of which 26.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.8% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 12.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.1% were non-families. 35.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.85.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 20.0% under the age of 18, 20.5% from 18 to 24, 24.0% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 15.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $26,289, and the median income for a family was $35,424. Males had a median income of $27,029 versus $20,254 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the city was $14,993. About 15.0% of families and 20.7% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 25.9% of those under age 18 and 12.7% of those age 65 or over.

==Education==
[[File:Knox County Courthhouse, Vincennes.JPG|thumb|right|Knox County Courthouse]]

===Public schools===
*South Knox Elementary School
*Tecumseh – Harrison Elementary
*Franklin Elementary
*Vigo Elementary
*Riley Elementary
*Washington Elementary (Decommissioned in May 2010)
*South Knox Middle-Highschool
*Clark Middle School
*South Knox Middle-Highschool
*[[Lincoln High School (Vincennes)|Lincoln High School]]

===Parochial schools===
*Flaget Elementary (K–5)
*[[Vincennes Rivet High School]] (6–12)

===Other private schools===
*Southwestern Indiana Youth Village (4–12)

===Higher education===
*[[Vincennes University]] was established in 1801 as Jefferson Academy. It is the oldest college of higher learning in Indiana.
*[[Purdue Polytechnic Institute]] maintains a satellite campus in Vincennes in a partnership with Vincennes University.

==Government==
The city government consists of a seven-member city council. Five of whom are elected from districts the other two are elected at large. The mayor is elected in a citywide vote.

==Media==

===Television===
* [[WVUT]] [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] (22) – 22.1 / 22.2 / 22.3 – [[Vincennes University]]

===Radio===
* 91.1 [[FM broadcasting|FM]] [[WVUB]] "Blazer 91-1" – [[Vincennes University]]
* 92.1 [[FM broadcasting|FM]] [[WZDM]] "Wisdom 92-1" – [[The Original Company]]
* 96.7 [[FM broadcasting|FM]] [[WFML]] –
* 1450 [[AM broadcasting|AM]] [[WAOV]] – [[The Original Company]]

===Newspaper===
* ''[[Vincennes Sun-Commercial]]''

==Legacy==
The Revolutionary War battle at Vincennes was featured in the 1901 novel ''Alice of Old Vincennes'' by [[Maurice Thompson]].<ref>[http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/4/0/9/4097/4097.txt Alice of Old Vincennes]</ref>  Four ships have also been named {{USS|Vincennes||6}} in honor of this battle; as well as for the city. The first {{USS|Vincennes|1826|2}} was an 18-gun sloop-of-war commissioned in 1826 and sold in 1867. The second {{USS|Vincennes|CA-44|2}} was a {{Sclass|New Orleans|cruiser|4}} heavy cruiser commissioned in 1937 and lost in the Battle of Savo Island in 1942. The third {{USS|Vincennes|CL-64|2}} was a {{Sclass|Cleveland|cruiser|4}} light cruiser commissioned in 1944 and decommissioned in 1946. The fourth and most recent {{USS|Vincennes|CG-49|2}} was a {{Sclass|Ticonderoga|cruiser|4}} guided missile cruiser commissioned in 1985 which was decommissioned and scrapped in 2005.

{{multiple image
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 | total_width = 920

 | image1 = Vincennes (color).jpg
 | width1 = 800 | height1 = 528
 | alt1 = 
 | caption1 =

 | image2 = USS Vincennes (CA-44) in Panama Canal 1938.jpg
 | width2 = 740 | height2 = 549
 | alt2 = 
 | caption2 =

 | image3 = USS Vincennes (CL-64) underway in San Francisco Bay on 29 August 1945 (NH 98189).jpg
 |width3 = 740 | height3 = 596 
 |alt3 = 
 |caption3 =

 | image4 = USS Vincennes returns to San Diego Oct 1988.jpg
 |width4 = 800| height4 = 520
 |alt4 = 
 |caption4 =

 | footer = The four US Navy ships named ''Vincennes''
 | footer_align = center
}}

==Notable people==
* [[Bruce Barmes]] (1929–2014), [[baseball]] player, [[History of the Washington Senators (1901–1960)|Washington Senators]]
* [[Clint Barmes]] (b. 1979), [[baseball]] player, [[San Diego Padres]]
* [[David Carter (offensive lineman)|David Carter]], retired [[American Football|football]] player, center and guard [[Houston Oilers]]
*[[E. Wallace Chadwick]] (1884–1969), [[U.S. congressman]] for [[Pennsylvania's 7th congressional district]] from 1947 to 1949
* [[Albert K. Dawson]] (1885–1967), photographer, film correspondent in World War I
* [[James C. Denny]] (1829–1887), [[Indiana Attorney General]] (1872–1874)
* [[Henry Dodge]] (1782–1867), U.S. senator from [[Wisconsin]]
* [[Mike Eskew]], former [[chairman]] and [[CEO]] of [[United Parcel Service|UPS]]
* [[James Freeman Gilbert]], geophysicist
* [[Bruce Bouillet]], guitarist for [[Racer X (band)|Racer X]]
* [[David Goodnow]], [[television]] news broadcaster
* [[William Henry Harrison]] (1773–1841), Indiana Territorial Governor and [[9th President of the United States]]
* [[Mitch Henderson]], basketball head coach, [[Princeton Tigers men's basketball|Princeton]]
* [[Charles T. Hinde]], businessman and riverboat captain; briefly lived in Vincennes
* [[Jane Jarvis]], (1915–2010), organist for the [[New York Mets]] and [[jazz]] musician
* [[Buck Jones]] (1891–1942), actor, silent and 1930s film star
* [[John Rice Jones]], politician and jurist
* [[Stanislaus P. La Lumiere]], president of [[Marquette University]]
* [[Julian Morgenstern]] (1881–1976), rabbi, professor, and president of [[Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion|Hebrew Union College]]
* [[Alvy Moore]] (1921–1997), actor
* [[Curtis Painter]] (b. 1985) [[American Football|football]] player, quarterback [[Purdue University]], [[Indianapolis Colts]], [[Baltimore Ravens]], [[New York Giants]]
* [[William Edward Phipps]], film and television actor, born in Vincennes
* [[Ollie Pickering]] (1870–1952), first batter in MLB [[American League]] history; lived and died in Vincennes
* [[Red Skelton]] (1913–1997), comedian and film actor, star of ''[[The Red Skelton Show]]''
* [[Richard L. Stevens]], brigadier general, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
* [[Dan Stryzinski]], [[American Football|football]] player, punter for [[Indiana University]] and eight NFL teams
* [[Sarah Knox Taylor]] (1814–1835), daughter of [[Zachary Taylor]] and first wife of [[Jefferson Davis]]
* [[Waller Taylor]], lawyer, [[Adjutant General]], [[United States Senator]] from Indiana
* [[Alice Terry]] (1899–1987), actress and director, silent films; wife of director [[Rex Ingram (director)|Rex Ingram]]
* [[Samuel Williams (American politician)|Samuel Williams]] (1851–1913), judge and politician
* [[Benjamin Willoughby]] (1855–1940), Justice of the [[Indiana Supreme Court]]

==Points of interest==
* [[George Rogers Clark National Historical Park]], the memorial and park built for the war hero George Rogers Clark.
[[File:Vincennes Indiana Cathedral.JPG|thumb|Xavier Cathedral]]
* [[St. Francis Xavier Cathedral and Library]], the oldest Catholic church in the state of Indiana and Indiana's oldest library.
* [[Grand Rapids Dam]] was once a dam on the [[Wabash River]] near present-day Vincennes; its remains are still visible.
* [[Grouseland]], the mansion home of [[William Henry Harrison]], 9th United States president.
* [[Forts of Vincennes, Indiana#Fort Knox II|Fort Knox II]]: Operated by the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites Corp, Fort Knox was the jumping off point for the Tippecanoe Campaign in 1811.  Outline of the fort is marked for self-guided tours.
* Fort Sackville, one of the forts of Vincennes.
* The [[U.S. Navy]] has named four [[USS Vincennes|ships]] in honor of Vincennes.
* The Servant of God, Bishop [[Simon Bruté]] de Remur, first Catholic Bishop of the [[Diocese of Vincennes]].
* The [[Indiana Territorial Capitol]].  Is the primary site owned by the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites Corp in Vincennes.  The building was once the center of government for the Indiana Territory from 1800 to 1813.
* The [[Indiana Military Museum]] (indianamilitarymuseum.org)
* [[Pantheon Theatre]]
* The [[Red Skelton]] Museum of American Comedy on the campus of Vincennes University contains memorabilia of radio, TV, and movie star Red Skelton, who was born in Vincennes. As of 2017, his birth home still exists, but is in private hands.
* In addition to the George Rogers Clark National Historical Park, St. Francis Xavier Cathedral and Library, Grouseland, Fort Knox II, and Indiana Territorial Capitol, [[Gregg Park]], [[Hack and Simon Office Building]], [[Kimmell Park]], [[Old State Bank (Vincennes, Indiana)|Old State Bank]], [[Pyramid Mound]], [[Vincennes Fortnightly Club]], and the [[Vincennes Historic District]] are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref><ref name="nps">{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/weekly-list-2013-national-register-of-historic-places.pdf|title=National Register of Historic Places Listings|date=October 18, 2013|work=Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 9/16/13 through 9/30/13|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=May 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312121947/http://www.nps.gov/nr/listings/20131018.htm|archive-date=March 12, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Indiana}}
*[[Indiana Territory]]
*[[Forts of Vincennes, Indiana]]
*[[Grand Rapids Dam]]
*[[Grand Rapids Hotel]]
*[[Piankashaw]] Indians
*[[USS Vincennes|USS ''Vincennes'']], 4 ships

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* {{cite book|author=Allison, Harold|title=The Tragic Saga of the Indiana Indians|year=1986|publisher=Turner Publishing Company, Paducah|isbn=0-938021-07-9}}
* {{cite book|author=Barnhart, John D.|author2=Riker, Dorothy L. |title=Indiana to 1816. The Colonial Period |year=1971|publisher=Indiana Historical Society|isbn=0-87195-109-6}}
* {{cite book|author=Derleth, August|title=Vincennes: Portal to the West|url=https://archive.org/details/vincennesportalt00derl|url-access=registration|year=1968|publisher=[[Prentice-Hall]], Inc|location= Englewood Cliffs, NJ|lccn=68020537}}
* [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/629338/Vincennes Vincennes]. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Retrieved May 2, 2011.
* {{cite book|author=Nolan, John Matthew|title=2,543 Days: A History of the Hotel at Grand Rapids Dam on the Wabash River|year=2011|publisher=J.M. Nolan |isbn=978-1-257-04152-7}}

==External links==
{{wikivoyage|Vincennes}}
* [http://www.vincennescvb.org Vincennes, Knox County Convention and Visitors Bureau, Indiana]
* [http://www.vincennes.org City of Vincennes, Indiana]
* [http://www.vinu.edu/ Vincennes University]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928061430/http://rking.vinu.edu/vinbrief.htm Vincennes brief history (Vincennes University)]
* [http://www.vcsc.k12.in.us Vincennes School Corporation]
* [https://www.nps.gov/gero/index.htm George Rogers Clark National Park]
* [http://www.in.gov/ism/StateHistoricSites/VincennesSites/vin_itc.aspx Indiana Territorial Capitol]
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20071118161701/http://revolutionarywararchives.org/vincennes.html Revolutionary War Archives&nbsp;– Battle of Vincennes]}}
* [https://www.vincennes.org/dev/mayors-office/ Vincennes Mayors Office]

{{Knox County, Indiana}}
{{County Seats of Indiana}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Vincennes, Indiana| ]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1732]]
[[Category:1732 establishments in the French colonial empire]]