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Owen County History Pioneers first found their way to Owen County around 1816, the year of statehood. Most were of Scotch-Irish, German and English decent, migrating north from Virginia and the Carolinas. Many were veterans of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. The county was named in honor of a Kentuckian, Abraham Owen, who died in the Battle of Tippecanoe, by fellow soldiers who settled in Owen County. Owen County's ancestors left a legacy rich in both the arts and business, a heritage of creativity and hard work that is still prevalent today. Ban Johnson, founder of American League Baseball, and E. M. Visquesney, sculptor of the bronze "Spirit of the American Doughboy", were residents of Owen County. Hickam Field in Hawaii is named after Owen County native Horace Hickam, a pioneer in aviation. Samuel Ralston practiced law in Spencer before becoming governor of Indiana. Owen County has been the springboard for governors and prime-ministers, authors and actors, aviators and entrepreneurs. Two pioneers companies in Owen county were H. B. Laymon's World's Products and Spencer Wood Products. Laymon's was once the largest distributor of counter display cards in the country and employed over one hundred and twenty-five local people during the depression, as well as hundreds of salesmen. Spencer Wood Products was one of the leading manufactures of wooden clothes pins in the country. The county was also once a major supplier of coal and limestone. Long abandoned, the pits where coal and stone were pulled from the earth now offer some of the best fishing in the southern Indiana. The county was organized in 1818, and was authorized as a county by the state in 1819. Owen County has a population of approximately 24,500 people. The population of Spencer, the county seat, is about 2,700. More information available at County History. Revised: 03/26/04
Owen County Chamber of Commerce & Economic Development Corporation Phone: (812) 829-3245 Fax: (812) 829-0936 Copyright © 2003 All rights reserved.
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