Reproduction map of Lafayette, Indiana, published 1868. Named for the famous French hero of the American Revolutionary War, Lafayette was first platted by river trader William Digby in 1825. The town was made the county seat of the newly formed Tippecanoe County in 1826.
Lafayette has the distinction of being the site of the first official air mail delivery in the United States. On August 17, 1859, John Wise piloted a balloon, lifting off from the grounds of the Lafayette Courthouse. While he was headed for New York, bad weather forced Wise to land near Crawfordsville, Indiana and the mail continued to New York by train. The U. S. Postal Service issued an airmail stamp commemorating the event in 1959.
This map was published just one year after the completion of the Temple Israel, which is considered today to be one of the ten oldest synagogue buildings in the United States.
Detailed illustrations of the Court House and the Opera House appear on the lower margin of the map.
Features numbered references to the following locations:
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