Fountain, Indiana

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Fountain
settlement_type = Town
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subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = United States
subdivision_type1 = State
subdivision_name1 = Indiana
subdivision_type2 = County
subdivision_name2 = Fountain
subdivision_type3 = Township
subdivision_name3 = Shawnee
established_title =
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latd = 40
latm = 13
lats = 23
latNS = N
longd = 87
longm = 20
longs = 07
longEW = W
elevation_footnotes = GR|3
elevation_ft = 551
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postal_code_type = ZIP code
postal_code = 47932
area_code =
blank_name = GNIS feature ID
blank_info = [http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:434710 434710]
website =
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Fountain (originally named Portland) is an unincorporated town in Shawnee Township, Fountain County, Indiana in the United States. The Wabash and Erie Canal used to pass through the community.

History

Portland was laid out in April 1828 by surveyor William Miller, Barnard Preble and Major Whitlocke. Keep's store, an early trading point at Portland, supplied goods to people along a lengthy stretch of the Wabash River. Sandford C. Cox in "Personal Recollections of Early Settlements" writes that "powder, lead, salt, iron, whiskey and leather were the staples of the trade in those days, and were exchanged for the productions of the country, such as beeswax, tallow, feathers, ginseng, furs, deer-skins, wild hops, etc." Portland grew to include 11 stores, a hotel, six physicians, various craftsmen and a "considerable population." [cite book
last = Beckwith
first = H. W.
title = History of Fountain County
year = 1881
publisher = H. H. Hill and N. Iddings
location = Chicago
pages = p. 343
chapter = Shawnee Township ]

Geography

Fountain is located at coor dms|40|13|23|N|87|20|07|W|city on the southeastern banks of the Wabash River, at an elevation of approximately 560 feet. To the south is Bear Creek, which joins the Wabash on the western edge of town, and the wooded Portland Arch Nature Preserve.

References