Clark County, Indiana - Chapter 41: Industries and Statistics, 1909

Chapter 41: Industries and Statistics

That Clark county has within her borders industries of importance, possibihties of great value, and undeveloped resources of promise, only the most bilious hypochondriac will deny. The industrial and agricultural statistics of the county compare most favorably with other counties of similar size in the state. In 1903, the date of the last report of the Department of Statistics, there were eighty-five factories in Clark county, producing everything from steamboats to sewing machines. Although the Indiana Refonnatory and the United States Quartermaster's depot are not industries per se, yet they are important industrially and add materially to the commercial importance of the county.

In Jeffersonville and the various towns of Clark county are manufactured castings, ice, bread, cruppers, lumber, saddle trees, cement, hominy, harness, flour, meal, spokes, grist, baking powder, extracts, carriages, wagons, cigars, canned goods, steamboats, small boats, chains, stoves, hollow ware, brick, kitchen cabinets, porch columns, wall plaster, brooms, tin and iron ware goods, fruit boxes, lard-oil, tile, wooden novelties, staves, cheese, hoops, electrical devices, steam engines, rattan and reed furniture, sewing machines and many other articles and commodities which a progressive and thriving county needs.

Her agricultural statistics show conditions and possibilities not realized by the average citizen. With an area of three hundred sixty-eight sqviare miles, or of two hundred thirty-five thousand five hundred and sixteen acres, she has two thousand sixty-seven farms, of an average size of one hundred four and eight-tenths acres, and of an aggregate acreage of two hundred sixteen thousand five hundred twenty-six acres. Two thousand fifty-three farms are of less than five hundred acres, and fourteen are larger.

In 1906 Clark county was the largest tomato producer in the state - nine hundred seventy-four acres producing one hundred twenty-two thousand three hundred fifteen bushels.

^^'ithin the last few years the adaptability of the soil in certain parts of the county for tobacco culture has resulted in an increased acreage. In 1900 seventy-nine acres produced fifty-nine thousand five hundred fifty pounds of

Baird S History Of Clark Co., Ind

In 1900 there were eight hundred sixty-one acres in potatoes, and one thousand seventy-one acres in other vegetables. Seventeen acres in alfalfa, thirty thousand nine hundred two acres in com, twenty-four thousand thirtytwo acres in wheat, and one hundred six acres in strawberries.

The value of her yield of small fruits in 1900 was seventeen thousand five hundred and ninety-one dollars, and of her dairy products, one hundred sixty-one thousand ten dollars.

In 1900 the population of the county was thirty-one thousand eight hundred thirty-five, of which ten thousand seven hundred and seventy-four were residents of Jefifersonville, two thousand three hundred seventy in Clarksville, one thousand one hundred one in Port Fulton, nine hundred fifteen in Charlestown, seven hundred sixty-one in Sellersburg and one hundred sixteen in Claysburg.

There are fifty-eight saloons in the county, of which forty-three are in Jefifersonville, but the jail statistics for 1905 showing the ten counties with largest jail incarcerations do not include Clark county.

The value of her taxable property in 1905 was twelve million six hundred forty-three thousand nine hundred sixty-five dollars ; that of her schools was two hundred forty thousand eight hundred fifty dollars, and her debt thirty thousand dollars.

There are twenty-one post-ofifices in Clark county and the intermediate points are well served by a rural free delivery. The old county seat town of Charlestown is one of the most interesting in the state. Historic memories of early state and territorial periods lend an attractiveiiess to the little town and her situation on the rolling hills of Pleasant Run make Charlestown an ideal spot. With all the inviting allurements of a quiet country town she has the advantages of being so closely connected with Jefifersonville and Louisville by traction lines that the advantages of the city are at her door. Charlestown promises to be one of the coming residental suburbs of Louisville.

JefTersonville from her advantages needs but to possess energetic and progressive business men to develop the city into one of more than double the size.

With a natural deep water harbor on her side of the river she has unexcelled facilities for water shipments. The largest interurban center in Southern Indiana at present, she will constitute the junction point for a vast system of interurban diverging to every part of the state. Three tnmk railroads enter the city and competitive freight rates with the river transportation, to-

A pubhc school system second to none, and wholly out of politics, a modem public library, many churches, many improved streets, a good sewer system, a police force and fire department, excellent in every detail, reasonable rents, moderate living expenses, fifteen minutes from the center of Louisville, with a five-cent fare, many desirable building lots in the city and many magnificent residence sites above the city overlooking the river, an abundant supply of clear, pure water, and a good health record, the city of Jeffersonville offers a multitude of inducements to those seeking a location either to engage in business or to reside. The Car \\'orks, the Ship Yards, the United States Quartermaster's Depot and many other industries employ a large number of men. and it is a fact'that all the wealthy men in the city made their fortunes at home.

An enthusiastic commercial club is aiding materially in advancing the interests of Jeffersonville and in advertising her attractions. The rich farming and daily lands adjacent by reason of the excellent transportation facilities are just beginning to feel their natural development, and their proximity to the markets of Louisville give promise of large returns to those who develop them. The agricultural values of the northern and western parts of the county, the urban attractions of the southern part, the transportation and manufacturing advantages of the southern and souheastern parts, the intimate relations of all parts by means of the interurbans. the steam roads, the rural free delivery and the telephone make Clark county, as a county, one of the most desirable in the state, and her people, contented and prosperous and proud of her past history, her present advancement and her future possibilities.