Velpen is an unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 in southeastern Marion Township

Marion Township, Pike County, Indiana

Marion Township is one of nine townships in Pike County, Indiana, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 776.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, Marion Township covers an area of ; of this, is land and is water.-Unincorporated towns:* Hartwell Junction at * Survant...

, Pike County

Pike County, Indiana

As of the census of 2000, there were 12,837 people, 5,119 households, and 3,680 families residing in the county. The population density was 38 people per square mile . There were 5,611 housing units at an average density of 17 per square mile...

, 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...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It's name is derived from a German

Germans

The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

 immigrant named "Velpe", who founded the town along the railroad track. The town once had a general store

General store

A general store, general merchandise store, or village shop is a rural or small town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, sometimes in a small space, where people from the town and surrounding rural areas come to purchase all their general...

 before it was closed down and converted to a household. It lies along State Road 257

Indiana State Road 257

State Road 257 is a 31-mile route in Daviess and Pike counties in the U.S. State of Indiana.-Route description:State Road 257 begins in the small town of Stendal. It winds north to pass through Pikeville, Velpen and Otwell. It terminates in Washington....

 southeast of the city of Petersburg

Petersburg, Indiana

Petersburg is a city in Washington Township, Pike County, Indiana, United States. The population was 2,383 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Pike County.Petersburg is part of the Jasper Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

, the county seat

County seat

A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....

 of Pike County. Its elevation is 492 feet (150 m), and it is located at 38°21′19"N 87°6′7"W (38.3553289, -87.1019481). Although Velpen is unincorporated, it formerly consisted of a post office

Post office

A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...

, with the ZIP code

ZIP Code

ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...

of 47590.