Starke County, Indiana THE INDIANA PREVENTION RESOURCE CENTER GIS in Prevention County Profiles Series, No. 3 Starke County, Indiana Barbara Seitz de Martinez, PhD, MLS, CPP The Indiana Prevention Resource Center at Indiana University is funded, in part, by a contract with the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, financially supported through HHS/Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant. The IPRC is operated by the Department of Applied Health Science and The School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation.

GIS in Prevention County Profile Series, No. 3 Starke County, Indiana Barbara Seitz de Martinez, PhD, MLS, CPP Project Staff: Ritika Bhawal, MPH Solomon Briggs Kyoungsun Heo, MPA Srinivasa Konchada Indiana Prevention Resource Center Opinions expressed herein are those of the authors, and not necessarily those of the Trustees of Indiana University or the Division of Mental Health and Addiction. Indiana University accepts full Responsibility for the content of this publication. ©2005 The Trustees of Indiana University. Permission is extended to reproduce this County Profile for non-profit educational purposes. All other rights reserved.

3. Geographic and Historical Notes Starke County is located in Northwestern Indiana and is bordered by the following counties: La Porte to the north, St. Joseph to the north and northeast, Marshall to the east and northeast, Fulton to the southeast, Pulaski to the south, Jasper to the west and southwest, and Porter to the northwest. U.S. Highways 30 and 35 and State Highway 23 cross the county. Elevation is 650 to 750 feet. The landscape is nearly flat, except in the southeast where it slopes slightly. The landscape features hickory and oak trees. The county pertains to the Southern Michigan and Northern Indiana Drift Plain land resource area. Starke county is in the Ceantral Time Zone and observes DST. Average daily temperatures are 15٥/34٥ in January and 60٥/87٥ in July. Annual precipitation is about 36 and snowfall about 30-40 inches. The first freeze is usually between October 5-10, and the last freeze is May 5 to 10. The growing season lasts about 148-158 days. Agricultural activity is mainly in corn for grain, soybeans, and mint. Irish potatoes are an important vegetable crop. An additional crop is hay. Livestock include cattle/calves and hogs/pigs. Mint is a special and important crop. About two-thirds of the land is in farms and three-fourths of that is in cash crops. Important natural resources include construction sand and gravel, and forestland. Water resources include lake/reservoirs (Bass, Eagle, Hartz, Koontz, Skitz, Langenbaum, and Round lakes) and the Yellow and Kankakee rivers. Communities include the city of Knox, which is the county seat; and the towns of Hamlet and North Judson. Sources: Map from PCensus for MapInfo; Geographic Notes from Indiana Facts: Flying the Colors by John Clements, 1995.

Starke County The maps and tables in this publication were prepared using PCensus 7.06 for MapInfo and MapInfo Professional 7.0.

3. Location and Historical Notes Starke County is not a tobacco-producing county, according to the Strategic Development Group’s “Alternative Agricultural Strategy” (Bloomington, March 15, 2001) report, which is part of Governor Joseph E. Kernan’s “Recipient Final Reports for Office of the Commissioner of Agriculture Grant Programs” (http://www.in.gov/oca/grants/valueadd/VAFinalReports.html):

Don’t Know Your Block Group Number? 3. Starke County Block Group Maps Don’t Know Your Block Group Number? You can find it easily at the American Factfinder Web Site (www.census.gov)

Starke County Block Groups