History

Photo courtesy of LaGrange Co. Historical Society

Once home to the Potawatomi Indians, LaGrange County saw its first white settlers in the early 1830s, as folks came from the east to establish communities in this Midwestern wilderness. It has continued to grow ever since, attracting modern-day pioneers with its beautifully preserved landscape and natural areas.

Shipshewana, named for Potawatomi chief, Shipshewana, is said to have welcomed the first white settler in 1831. The first recorded land certificate was issued in 1835 and by 1844 a group of Amish settlers from Pennsylvania called this area home. By 1854, German Baptist and Mennonite churches were built. Shipshewana was first platted in 1889 and officially incorporated in 1916.

In 1832, two French traders arrived in Wolcottville and soon a log cabin, a dam and sawmill, a general store and gristmill were built, making Wolcottville one of the area’s first settlements. George Wolcott, who arrived in 1837, was responsible for starting a number of the businesses that served settlers’ needs; the town was named after him in 1848.

First settled in 1832, Topeka was officially named in 1893. Previously called Haw Patch and Slabtown, Topeka is said to have been named by Kansas railroad workers who constructed the tracks for the Wabash Railroad in 1891. Sycamore Hall, home to the Sycamore Literary Society, was built in Topeka and dedicated in 1905.

Plans for LaGrange, platted in 1836 by Rueben J. Dawson, William F. Beavers, George F. Whittaker, and James McConnell, included a public square, which is now home to the LaGrange County Seat. Due to LaGrange’s central location, the county seat was moved from Lima (now Howe) to the city of LaGrange in 1843.

Howe, the former county seat, was settled in 1834 and became the first formalized white settlement in the county. First called Mongoquinong, the town later was called Lima and then changed to Howe, after John B. Howe, one of the founders of the community’s first bank. The Howe mansion is located on West Union Street.

Remnants of the area’s old historic past remain. Brighton is home to the 150-year-old English Prairie Church of the Brethren and remains one of the area’s first one-room schoolhouses.

Originally settled as farming villages, Mongo, Stroh and South Milford remain active as residents and visitors take advantage of the lakes and rivers surrounding the communities.

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