Blackford County, Indiana THE INDIANA PREVENTION RESOURCE CENTER GIS in Prevention County Profiles Series, No. 3 Blackford 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 Blackford 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 Blackford County is located in east central Indiana. It is bordered by Jay County to the east, Wells County to the north, Grant County to the west, and Wells County to the north. State Highways 3 and 26 intersect in Blackford County. The landscape features oak, elm, ash, cottonwood, birch, beech, maple and hickory. This county is part of the Indiana and Ohio Till Plain land resource area. The landscape is nearly flat across almost all of the county, but slopes slightly along areas of the Big Lick Creek (south) and the Salamonie River (northeast). This county is in Eastern Time Zone and observes DST. Average daily January temperatures are 16٥/36٥ in January and 60٥/87٥ in July. Annual precipitation is 35-38 and snowfall 30-40 inches. Typically the first freeze of the season is around October 5-10 (except in the southwest corner, October 10-15) and the last freeze is around May 1-5 (except northeast corner, May 5-10). The growing season lasts about 153-168 days. Main agricultural activities are diversified and crops include oats and winter wheat. Main natural resources include construction sand and gravel, crushed stone, petroleum, and commercial forestland. Cities include Hartford City, the county seat, Dunkirk (which extends into Jay county), and Montpelier. Towns include Shamrock Lakes. Townships include Harrison, Jackson, Licking, and Washington. Sources: Map from PCensus for MapInfo; Notes from Indiana Facts: Flying the Colors by John Clements, 1995.

Blackford 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 Blackford 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. Blackford 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)

Blackford County Slide #1 Block Groups

Blackford County Slide #2 Block Groups