Wayne County, Indiana: The Battles for the Courthouse

The residents of Wayne County, Indiana, have battled about the county seat location since its formation in 1810. There have been three county seats and six courthouses. The disagreement-started between settlers from Salisbury and Centerville-was bitterly debated in the Indiana Territory legislature. Although Salisbury was the first county seat, it was moved to Centerville soon after Indiana’s ratification as a state, and Salisbury faded into a lost town. For fifty-two years, Centerville maintained power, building two courthouses and a jail, until Richmond asserted its dominance in the state legislature. The struggle for the reins of power in Wayne County was Indiana’s longest-running feud, igniting untold amounts of community pride. Join Wayne County historian Carolyn Lafever as she shares this story of conflict and courthouses, from tumultuous beginning to peaceful end.