Huntington

Huntington, city, seat (1834) of Huntington county, central Indiana, U.S. It is located on the Little Wabash River, near its juncture with the Wabash, 24 miles (39 km) southwest of Fort Wayne. The original site (Forks of the Wabash) was a Miami village (home of the Miami chief Jean Baptiste Richardville and his successor, Francis La Fontaine), where many treaties with Native Americans were signed; it was known as Wepecheange (“Place of Flints”). The settlement that developed there was renamed in 1831 to honour Samuel Huntington, a member of the First Continental Congress. The city is now an agricultural trade centre with limestone quarrying in the vicinity. Its light manufactures include metal products, electronics, motor vehicle parts, and air-conditioning equipment. Huntington University (Church of the United Brethren in Christ, USA) was established in 1897. The Huntington County Historical Museum and a botanical garden and arboretum are in the city, as is the Dan Quayle Center (1993); Quayle, a former U.S. vice president, grew up in Huntington. Chief Richardville’s two-story frame house (1834) has been restored to its original appearance and is headquarters for Forks of the Wabash Historic Park, just west of the city. Nearby are Huntington and Salamonie lakes, dammed for flood control and recreation. Inc. town, 1848; city, 1873. Pop. (2000) 17,450; (2010) 17,391.