Prairie Creek, Indiana

Prairie Creek
Unincorporated community
Vigo County's location in Indiana
Prairie Creek Prairie Creek's location in Vigo County, Indiana
Coordinates: 39°16′30″N 87°29′50″W / 39.27500°N 87.49722°WCoordinates: 39°16′30″N 87°29′50″W / 39.27500°N 87.49722°W
Country	United States
State	Indiana
County	Vigo
Township	Prairie Creek
Elevation[1]	531 ft (162 m)
ZIP code	47869
GNIS feature ID	447631

Prairie Creek (also Middletown) is an unincorporated community in southeastern Prairie Creek Township, Vigo County, Indiana, United States. It lies at the intersection of State Roads 63 and 246 southwest of the city of Terre Haute, the county seat of Vigo County.^[2] Its elevation is 531 feet (162 m), and it is located at 39°16′30″N 87°29′50″W / 39.27500°N 87.49722°W (39.2750390, -87.4972443). Because the community has had multiple names, the Board on Geographic Names officially decided in favor of "Prairie Creek" in 1959.^[3] Although Prairie Creek is unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP code of 47869.^[4]

The community is part of the Terre Haute Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The town of Middletown was laid out August 24, 1831, by James D. Piety on the old Vincennes Road. The name of the post office was Prairie Creek. Early businesses included Daniel Ryerson's hotel and drug store, Jonas P. Lykins's store, Z. J. Hunt's hotel, and Hiram Hight's steam mill in 1847. Jacob Ernest built the first brick house, in 1849.^[5]

References

1. "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
2. DeLorme. Indiana Atlas & Gazetteer. 3rd ed. Yarmouth: DeLorme, 2004, p. 42. ISBN 0-89933-319-2.
3. Geographic Names Information System Feature Detail Report, Geographic Names Information System, 1982-10-01. Accessed 2008-06-01.
4. Zip Code Lookup
5. Bradsby, H.C. (1891). History of Vigo County, Indiana, with Biographical Selections. Chicago: S. B. Nelson & Co. pp. 476–479.