Richland Township, Steuben County, Indiana
Encyclopedia
Richland Township is one of twelve townships
in Steuben County
, Indiana
, USA
. As of the 2000 census
, its population was 538, making it the smallest township in the county.
Much of this early community was centered on what came to be the village of Richland Center, where a log cabin schoolhouse as well as a Methodist church were built in 1850. When this village, which was never incorporated, organized a U. S. post office, there was already an Indiana post office named "Richland Center", so this post office was named "Alvardo", which eventually became the name for the village. Like the rest of Richland township, Alvarado slowly lost population during the 20th century and, in the 21st century, is a small collection of dwellings, farm buildings, and the Alvarado United Methodist Church.
Civil township
A civil township is a widely used unit of local government in the United States, subordinate to, and geographic divisions of, a county. Specific responsibilities and the degree of autonomy vary based on each state. Civil townships are distinct from survey townships, but in states that have both,...
in Steuben County
Steuben County, Indiana
Steuben County is a county located in the northeast corner of the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2010, the population was 34,185. The county seat is Angola...
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. As of the 2000 census
United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
, its population was 538, making it the smallest township in the county.
Geography
Richland Township covers an area of 15.6 square miles (40.4 km²), second smallest after Clear Lake township.Cemeteries
The township contains five cemeteries: Alvarado, Amish, Metz, Mount Pleasant, and Bethel.History
The first land registration was made by John Douglas on October 11, 1835 but Robert Jackman and family were the first to settle in the township, in 1836. The 1840 census shows only 16 families, including those of Douglas and Jackman.Much of this early community was centered on what came to be the village of Richland Center, where a log cabin schoolhouse as well as a Methodist church were built in 1850. When this village, which was never incorporated, organized a U. S. post office, there was already an Indiana post office named "Richland Center", so this post office was named "Alvardo", which eventually became the name for the village. Like the rest of Richland township, Alvarado slowly lost population during the 20th century and, in the 21st century, is a small collection of dwellings, farm buildings, and the Alvarado United Methodist Church.
Notable native
- Edgar "Pop" BuellEdgar BuellEdgar “Pop” Buell was a short, bald, profane Indiana farmer born in 1913. Until the age of 47 he resided in Steuben County, Indiana. After his wife died in 1958, he looked for new meaning in his life. He found it with the International Voluntary Services, a precursor to the Peace Corps, which...
(1913–1980), humanitarian aid worker in LaosLaosLaos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
in the 1960s and 1970s, was born in Richland Township and farmed there until he joined International Voluntary ServicesInternational Voluntary ServicesInternational Voluntary Services, Inc., was a private nonprofit organization that placed American volunteers in development projects in Third World countries. IVS had volunteers in Algeria, Bolivia, Ecuador, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Laos, Nepal, South Vietnam and other countries...
in 1960.