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Biennial Report of the Department of Statistics for 1887-88.
By Indiana Department. of Statistics
Published by The Department, 1888

DEARBORN COUNTY
LAWRENCEBURG

Lawrenceburg, the county seat of Dearborn County, is a well built and nicely located city of 5,500 inhabitants, situated on the Ohio River and the Ohio & Mississippi and Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis & Chicago railroads, eighty-nine miles southeast of the State capital and twenty-five miles from Cincinnati. The country surrounding is hilly, but the bottom lands are fertile and productive. The blue limestone found here is used for rough wall, but is too thin for cutting and dressing. The public buildings, residences and business houses are substantial and each of the several religious denominations has a commodious church edifice. In the extent and importance of its manufacturing interests Lawrenceburg is unsurpassed by any city of its size in the State, and the manufactured products arc sold in all parts of the Union. The proximity of the river and the excellent transportation facilities which it furnishes are advantages which capital has appreciated and which have led to large investments here. The industries give employment to about 1,400 hands and include one carriage factory, four distilleries of large capacity, three cooper shops, three furniture factories, one stove foundry, one brewery, one hub and spoke factory, one coffin manufactory, two planing and saw mills, one flouring mill and one brick manufactory.

Lawrenceburg has a bonded indebtedness of $65,000, but no floating debt, and the total rate of taxation on each $100 in 1887 was $1.35. The real estate of the city is assessed at $858,430 and the personal property at $383,465, and the city has gas and a fire department. There are thirty-three retail business establishments with 125 persons engaged in commercial pursuits, and the sales in 1887 reached $800,000. The estimated number of persons engaged in the building trades is 125, and these include carpenters, bricklayers and stonemasons. The press is represented by two weekly papers.

The public school property of the city is valued at $15,000, and the schools are graded throughout. Seventeen teachers are engaged in the work of instruction, and 564 pupils were enrolled in 1887. The high school graduates are admitted to the freshman class of Indiana University, Purdue University or the State Normal School upon the required certificate of scholarship from the Superintendent.

AURORA.

The city of Aurora contains 5,200 inhabitants and is located on the Ohio River and Ohio & Mississippi Railroad, four miles below Lawrenceburg. This is, like the county seat, a flourishing manufacturing city, well built and advantageously located, and is growing steadily in population and importance. The residence properties, public, buildings and business houses are alike substantial, and in many instances above the average of cities of its size. About 600 hands are employed in its several industries, and the wages paid average $1.50 per day. The most important manufacturing establishments are two rolling mills, one nail mill, one iron foundry, one cooper shop, one brewery, one distillery, one furniture factory, one chair factory, one stave and heading factory, one wrought iron works, one hay press factory, machine shops, two planing and saw mills and one flouring mill. The advantage derived from river freight rates on fuel as well as in shipping the manufactured product and obtaining raw material adds materially to the profits arising from the operation of these industries.

The assessed value of the real estate of Aurora is $670,000, and of the personal property $833,095 and the total tax on each $100 is ninety cents. The city has a bonded indebtedness of $21,000, but no floating debt; a fire department is maintained, and the buildings, residence properties and streets are lit with gas. In 1887 the number of polls listed for taxation was 644, representing the voting population between the ages of twenty-one and fifty years. The retail business is carried on in thirty-nine establishments, whose sales in 1887 aggregated $810,000, and 150 persons are engaged in commercial pursuits. The number of men employed in the building trades is estimated at 100. Two weekly newspapers are published.

The public schools of Aurora are graded in their several departments, and the school houses and grounds are valued at $30,000. Nineteen teachers are engaged in the work of instruction, and the enrollment of pupils in 1887 was 752. The graduates of the high school, like those in a number of cities in the State, are entitled to enter the freshman class of either of the State institutions upon a certificate of scholarship from the Superintendent.

Moore's Hill, the location of Moore's Hill College, a prosperous institution of learning, is situated sixteen miles west of Lawrenceburg, the county seat, and contains 500 inhabitants. The town is incorporated and has a graded school.

Cochran, another incorporated town of the same county, contains 1,200 inhabitants and is situated five miles .southwest of the county seat on the Ohio it Mississippi Railroad. Its industries include one chair factory, one broom factory, a pottery and wagon factory. It also has a graded public school.

Greendale, St. Leon and West Harrison are also incorporated towns of Dearborn County, having graded schools but no industries of importance.