to
Update
is a town in Paoli Township, Orange County, Indiana, United States. The population was 3,844 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Orange County.
The town of Paoli purchased part of the land for the county seat from Jonathan Lindley (see The Lindley House) for $800 and part from Thomas Hopper for $500. Mrs. Rebecca Hopper, who probably opposed selling the land, is said to have submitted gracefully to the signing of the deed after she was paid $5.
Paoli was given its name just as Indiana became a state. It was derived from Pasquale Paoli Ash, the 12-year-old son of North Carolina’s governor at the time, and shortly thereafter chosen as the seat of justice for the county. This name also refers to Pasquale Paoli, political leader of the island of Corsica, the first democratic republic of the modern age, in the 18th century.
During the Civil War, Paoli was briefly entered by a Confederate scouting party under the command of Captain Thomas Hines. Hines' men briefly captured some Home Guards in Paoli, and then quickly left.