Orange County

Located in southern Indiana, the county’s largest city and County Seat is Paoli.  The courthouse was built in 1850 and is the second oldest courthouse in the state that has been continuously used since its construction.  The early settlers were mostly Quakers fleeing the slavery of North Carolina.  Bringing many freed slaves with them, they were deeded 200 acres of land in the heart of the dense forest, that land becoming part of the ‘Underground Railroad’ for runaway slaves.  The Hoosier National Forest blankets much of the southern portion of the county as does Patoka Lake.