BlockFortville, Indiana
10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1952 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Vernon Township. It lies in ZIP code area 46040. The Survey maps it on the Ingalls quadrangle. 4,784 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 856 feet above sea level.
On record in Fortville
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 3 records
Browne-Rafert Houselisted 2015- Fortville Carnegie Librarylisted 2024
- Fortville Methodist Episcopal Churchlisted 2024
Population over time
2 figuresFortville grew from 3,929 to 4,784 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 3,929 | |
| 2020 | 4,784 | +855 (+22%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 10 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1952 USGS Ingalls quadrangle1:24000
- 1953 USGS Cincinnati quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Cincinnati quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS Ingalls quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1986 USGS New Castle quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
In the county-history sources
4,977 words on this townshipHistory of Hancock County, Indiana; Its People, Industries and Institutions, published 1916 names this settlement in its chapter on Vernon Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
The surface of Vernon township, like that of Buck Creek township, is exceedingly level except along the creek in the northwest corner, above Fortville, where it is rolling. Sugar creek crosses the extreme southeast corner of the township. Flat Fork creek rises near the southeast corner and flows in a northwesterly direction south of Fortville. Buck creek rises near the center of the township and flows in a southwesterly direction. Both Buck creek and Flat Fork creek, however, are simply large open ditches. The difficulty of draining Buck Creek has been discussed in the history of Buck Creek township. A Flat Fork drainage company was also organized in 1874 for the purpose of improving the outlet of Flat Fork creek. Many covered ditches have been constructed since that time, and at present the township is well drained.
Passage source: History of Hancock County, Indiana; Its People, Industries and Institutions, published 1916.
One of the first school houses in Vernon township was located at the northwest corner of section 36, township 17, range 5, or just one mile south of McCordsville. It was known as school district No. 1. Another was located where Fortville now stands. School No. 9 was located at the northwest corner of the southwest quarter of section 16, township 17, range 6, or just one mile south of Fortville. School No. 11 stood at the northeast corner of the northwest quarter of section 14, township 17, range 6: school No. 5, at the southeast corner of the west half .of the northwest quarter of section 23, township 17, range 6; school No. 4, on the east side of the Greenfield and Fortville pike, near the south line of the west half of the southwest quarter of section 26, township 17, range 6; school No. 3, at the southwest corner of the southeast quarter of section 28, township 17, range 6; school No. 2, at the southwest corner of section 29, township 17, range 6; school No. 7, at the southeast corner of section i8> township 17, range 6. All of these schools have been abandoned at this time except . school No. 4, known as Denny's, and another school known as Cook's, which stands on the west side of the Greenfield and Fortville pike near the center of section 22, township 17, range 6. The pupils from the other districts now attend either at McCordsville or Fortville.
Passage source: History of Hancock County, Indiana; Its People, Industries and Institutions, published 1916.
Vernon township, including Fortville, has a population of 2,447, as shown by the census of 1910. There were enumerated in the township, not including Fortville, in the spring of 191 5, 354 children between the ages of six and twenty-one years; of these, 212 were enrolled in the schools of the township, not including the pupils of Fortville or those of the township who were transferred to Fortville ; 26 were in the high school and 186 in the elementary grades. The average daily attendance in the elementary grades was 154; in the high school, 25. The total cost of maintaining the elementary schools during the year was $8,245.62; the total cost of maintaining the high school, $3,200.96. The total amount paid teachers for the year was $6,824.08. The estimated value of all school property, as shown by the report of the trustee made August 1, 191 5, was $16,000. The total assessment of taxables in the township, as reported by the assessor in 1914, was $1,524,930. The transportation of pupils cost the township $2,498.50 for the term closing in the spring of 191 5.
Passage source: History of Hancock County, Indiana; Its People, Industries and Institutions, published 1916.
Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.
Read the whole chapter on Vernon Township - it names this place 9 more 9 times.
Fires near this place
1 since 2004Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Fortville in 2004, burning under an acre in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 April 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Indiana State Fire Marshal's Office | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Fortville: 2 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mccordsville Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Mccordsville Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer |
Storms near this place
16 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Fortville in 16 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 11 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 1 lightning. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fortville | $147,000 | Downburst straight-line wind damage in the form of downed trees, limbs and power lines occurred on State Road 67 in Fortville at Motel Road, Industrial Drive and just north and west of the downtown area. Roofs were also blown off homes and a semi-truck was blown over as well. Two garages were reported to have collapsed also. |
| December 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fortville | $12,000 | A semi truck was blown over due to damaging thunderstorm wind gusts. |
| June 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fortville | $10,000 | Numerous trees and power lines were down across Fortville due to damaging thunderstorm wind gusts. |
| June 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fortville | $7,000 | Thunderstorm wind gusts downed six healthy trees. |
| August 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fortville | $5,000 | Trees were reported down in this location due to damaging thunderstorm wind gusts. |
| May 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fortville | $2,000 | There were reports of several 6 to 10 inch tree limbs snapped on the east side of Fortville due to damaging thunderstorm wind gusts. |
| July 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fortville | $2,000 | A one foot diameter tree was downed at Poplar and Pearl Streets due to damaging thunderstorm wind gusts. Street flooding up to 6 inches was also observed. |
| June 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fortville | $1,000 | Tree downed across road by thunderstorm wind gusts. Additonal reports of related power outages across town. |
| January 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fortville | $1,000 | A large tree was blown down due to damaging thunderstorm wind gusts. |
| August 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fortville | - | An estimated 60 mph thunderstorm wind gust was observed in this location. |
| August 2018 | Hail | Fortville | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | Fortville | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | Fortville | - | no account filed |
| May 2005 | Hail | Fortville | - | no account filed |
| May 1996 | Lightning | Fortville | - | no account filed |
| June 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fortville | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Helmcrest | 0.7 miles | 10 | |
| Colonial Village | 0.8 miles | 10 | |
| Eastgate | 1.0 miles | 10 | |
| Woodbury | 3.0 miles | 12 | |
| Denny Corner | 3.5 miles | 10 | |
| McCordsville | 4.3 miles | 12 | |
| Eden | 4.5 miles | 10 | |
| Sugar Hills | 5.1 miles | 12 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Fortville | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q3293398 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 434692. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.