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() is a city in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, U.S., 63 miles (101 km) northwest of Indianapolis. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,397. The city is the county seat of Tippecanoe County. West Lafayette, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, which has a large impact on both communities. Together, Lafayette and West Lafayette form the core of the Lafayette, IN Metropolitan Statistical Area, which, as of the 2000 census, had a total population of 183,340, the 215th largest metropolitan area in the United States.
The area around what is now Tippecanoe County was inhabited by a tribe of Miami Indians known as the Ouiatenon or Weas. The French government established Fort Ouiatenon in 1717 across the Wabash River and three miles (5 km) south of the location of present-day Lafayette. The fort became the center of trade for fur trappers, merchants and Indians. An annual reenactment and festival known as The Feast of the Hunters' Moon takes place there each fall.
Lafayette was platted by the river trader William Digby, in May 1825. The town was made county seat for the newly formed Tippecanoe County soon after in 1826. Like many small frontier towns, Lafayette was officially named for General Lafayette, a French military hero who fought with and significantly aided the American Army during the American Revolutionary War (September 6, 1757—May 20, 1834).
In its earliest days Lafayette was a shipping center on the Wabash River. The Wabash and Erie Canal in the 1840s further cemented Lafayette's regional prominence, which was also escalated by the arrival of the railroads in the 1850s. The Monon Railroad connected Lafayette with other sections of Indiana.
Lafayette was the site of the first official air mail delivery in the United States, which took place on August 17, 1859, when John Wise piloted a balloon starting on the Lafayette courthouse grounds. Wise hoped to reach New York; however, weather conditions forced the balloon down near Crawfordsville, Indiana, and the mail reached its final destination by train. In 1959, the U.S. Postal Service issued a 7¢ airmail stamp commemorating the centennial of the event.
Modern history owes a fair debt to Robert Kriebel, a reporter since retired from the Journal & Courier newspaper. By way of his books and columns the curious are provided a convenient, accessible, and even colorful way to grasp the events around and preceding him.
in two volumes is highly recommended. For further reading, the curious might look into some other notable historians of Lafayette appearing below. These were compiled by Kriebel for his "short list" as provided in the Lafayette Bank & Trust's
Sandford C. Cox, Richard P. DeHart, Sallie Sample, Sarah M. Crockett, Thomas B. Helm, Jesse Henderson Levering, Paul K. Mavity, Logan Esarey, and Herbery H. Heimlich.