Monticello

Monticello was founded by the White County commissioners in 1834 on a bluff above the Tippecanoe River. They named it after the mansion ofThomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States. It was incorporated as a town in 1862. The county seat grew more rapidly when the railroads cameto town before the Civil War. Then the town grew large enough to become a city in 1909, and a mayor was elected. The area around the city became atourist destination in the 1920s after dams created the twin lakes,Shafer and Freeman,and Ideal Beach was conceived. It was renamed Indiana Beach in the 1950s and became the largest entertainment park in the state. In 1974, a devastating tornado roared through downtown Monticello, killing eight people and destroying a large part of the city. However, the people of Monticello banded together to reconstruct a stronger community. Today the city of Monticello is a thriving, progressive community growing in population and size. About a milliontourists come to the area each summer to relax and have fun.