Welcome to the Hoosier State

Nicknamed “The Hoosier State,” Indiana was 19th to enter the Union. It joined December 11, 1816 and is located in the Great Lakes region. Indianapolis, its largest city, serves as the capital. The state is made up of a number of large metropolitan areas, as well as several small towns and industrial cities. The population of Indiana is approximately 6.3 million.

State Bird
The cardinal was adopted as the state bird of Indiana in 1933. Indiana shares the state bird with six other states, including: Kentucky, Illinois, Ohio, North Carolina, Virginia  and West Virginia.

State Flower
On March 13, 1957, the peony was adopted as Indiana’s state flower. Previously, the zinnia served as the state flower from 1931 to 1957. The zinnia was preceded by the carnation, which had been adopted on March 15, 1913. Prior to that, the tulip tree was commonly linked to Indiana.

The Making of a State
In November 1787, present-day Indiana became a part of the Northwest Territory. However, when Ohio separated in 1800, the remaining land was established as the Indiana Territory. The name Indiana means “Land of the Indians,” and was dubbed as such because of the Native American Indians that had primarily inhabited the land prior to the establishment of the territory. Vincennes was determined the first capital of the Indiana Territory and President Thomas Jefferson selected William Henry Harrison as governor.

In 1810, led by Shawnee chief Tecumseh, Native American tribes in the territory resisted European advancement and formed Prophetstown. William Henry Harrison built Fort Harrison in response to the resistance, which was subsequently attacked numerous times by Prophetstown. These attacks led to The Battle of Tippecanoe on November 7, 1811, in which Harrison defeated Tecumseh and his followers. For the following two years, numerous Native American attacks were carried out on settlers in the territory. In The Battle of Thames in 1813, Tecumseh was killed and the attacks ceased.

 In December 1813, Corydon was established as the Indiana Territory’s new capital, and a petition for statehood was sent to Congress two years later. On June 10, 1816, delegates gathered at the capital of Corydon to write Indiana’s constitution. On December 11, 1816, President James Madison admitted the new State of Indiana into the Union. 26 years later, in 1825, the capital city of Indiana was moved from Corydon to Indianapolis, which still serves as Indiana’s capital today.

National Historic Landmarks
Indiana boasts 32 national historic landmarks located in 22 of its 92 counties. Among these landmarks are the birthplace of William Henry Harrison, located at Vincennes, and the Tippecanoe Battlefield at Lafayette.