Russiaville, Indiana
| Russiaville, Indiana | |
|---|---|
| Town | |
Along Main Street in Russiaville
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 Location of Russiaville in the state of Indiana |
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| Coordinates: 40°25′8″N 86°16′19″W / 40.41889°N 86.27194°WCoordinates: 40°25′8″N 86°16′19″W / 40.41889°N 86.27194°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Indiana |
| County | Howard |
| Township | Honey Creek |
| Named for | Jean Baptiste Richardville |
| Area | |
| • Total | 0.81 sq mi (2.10 km2) |
| • Land | 0.81 sq mi (2.10 km2) |
| • Water | 0 sq mi (0 km2) |
| Elevation | 843 ft (257 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 1,094 |
| • Estimate (2012) | 1,096 |
| • Density | 1,350.6/sq mi (521.5/km2) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 46979 |
| Area code(s) | 765 |
| FIPS code | 18-66546 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0442420 |
| Website | http://www.townofrussiaville.com |
Russiaville (/ˈruːʃəvɪl/) is a town in Honey Creek Township, Howard County, Indiana, United States. The population was 1,094 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Kokomo Metropolitan Statistical Area. Russiaville was incorporated sometime between the 1860 and 1870 US Census.
The town was named for Jean Baptiste de Richardville (whose father's surname was Richerville), a Miami chief of French-Miami descent who had relations with the United States government in treaty making in the early nineteenth century. Through the French pronunciation of "Ri-shar-ville," the name was gradually corrupted and changed to the current spelling; it has been pronounced "Roo-sha-ville" through much of its history.
The apparent association with Russia led to the town high school's naming its athletic teams the “Cossacks” until 1949, when county consolidation changed Russiaville High School to Western High School. Some theorize an alternate history, that during the Cold War, residents consciously changed the pronunciation of Russiaville's name in order to disassociate their town from Russia, the leading state of the Soviet Union, however, the pronunciation, Roo-sha-ville precedes the cold war by many, many years. A map from the 1840s to the 1850s in the Quaker Collection of Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, clearly shows a county named Richardville, and a town Richardville, at the site of present-day Russiaville. Some local history has suggested "Rouchardville" as the earlier spelling, but Richardville is correct.
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