Montgomery County

The earliest know inhabitants of the area were the Mound Builders, Native Americans who built large earthen mounds, however research in the late 1900’s has shown that these mounds were natural and not  man made.  The county was founded in 1823 and was named in honor of Richard Montgomery, an American Revolutionary War General.  While the first courthouse was made of 26 foot hewed logs, the current courthouse made of limestone contains an embedded copper box of memorable items, including the key to the old courthouse and a Henry VIII coin, in it Cornerstone.  The county is surrounded by rich forests and and nearby Sugar Creek, a southern tributary of the Wabash River.  Crawfordsville is the home of Wabash College.  Lew Wallace, author of Ben Hur,  and  Union general in the Civil War, lived in Crawfordsville and attended Wabash College.