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() is a city in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, 65 miles (105 km) northwest of Indianapolis. Named in honor of General Lafayette, a French military hero who fought with and significantly aided the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. (He was called the Marquis de Lafayette until June 1790, when he permanently renounced both the nobility and aristocratic title).
The population was 28,778 at the 2000 census. It is located across the Wabash River from Lafayette, Indiana and is home to Purdue University. West Lafayette is part of the Lafayette, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The original "West Lafayette" was laid out by Augustus Wylie in 1836 and located in the Wabash River floodplain south of the present Levee. Due to regular flooding of the site, Wylie's town was never built. The present city was formed in 1888 by the merger of the adjacent suburban towns of Chauncey, Oakwood, and Kingston, located on a bluff across the Wabash River from Lafayette, Indiana. The three towns had been small suburban villages which were directly adjacent to one another. Kingston was laid out in 1855 by Jesse B. Lutz. Chauncey was platted in 1860 by the Chauncey family of Philadelphia, wealthy land speculators. Chauncey and Kingston formed a municipal government in 1866 which selected the name “Chauncey.”
The new town of Chauncey remained a small suburban village until Purdue University opened in 1869. In 1871 Chauncey voted to be annexed by Lafayette because it was unable to provide the infrastructure (improved streets, waterworks, police and fire protection). Lafayette voted against annexing Chauncey because of the high cost of the many improvements that the village lacked. By the time of West Lafayette’s formation in 1888, the growth of the university was fueling the growth of the little town. The address of Purdue University was given as "Lafayette, Indiana" until well into the twentieth century. West Lafayette never gained a railroad depot and lagged several years behind Lafayette in the establishment of municipal infrastructure and services. However, by the 1940s, West Lafayette had emerged as an independent suburban city.