Governing Putnam County—Locally: Where Do You Live?

Articles in the Banner Graphic and other news sources often report where the people involved are from. It is not hard to recall headlines such as “Greencastle Family Narrowly Escapes House Fire,” “Cloverdale Woman Injured in Two-Car Crash” or “Roachdale Man Wins County’s Community Service Prize.”

To what are the locations in such news reports referring? A response to this question is not as straightforward as it might at first seem and relates to, you guessed it, local governments in Putnam County.

Typical responses to “Where do you live?” or “Where are you from?” depend primarily on context. An American on a trip abroad would likely respond “the United States.” A Hoosier asked in New York City would likely reply “Indiana.”

In our everyday Putnam County lives, “the U.S.” or “Indiana” responses would generally not be appropriate ones. Indeed, a Putnam County resident in everyday life would usually respond by providing part of their mailing address or by naming one of the several local government units in which they live.

What does all this have to do with local government(s) in Putnam County, in Indiana, and in the United States? Quite a bit, as I hope to show you by treating two issues arising from the “Where do you live?” question.

The first issue arises from a fundamental difference between a “Where do you live?” answer, involving, on the one hand, the U.S. and/or the 50 states, and, on the other, local governments. Unless an individual is literally straddling the boundary lines between two or more countries or states, that person is located in only one country or one state. In contrast, almost every location in the U.S. lies within the boundaries of multiple local governments. Indeed, every square inch of Putnam County is situated in at least three or four different local government jurisdictions. That number — three or four — is fairly typical for most places in the U.S.

Our neighboring state Illinois is one noteworthy outlier to what I have just said. Illinois has more local governments per resident than any other state: About 7,000 local governments for about 12.5 million residents. Indeed, one Illinois location is said to be situated in 11 different local government jurisdictions — Eleven!

At the other extreme from Illinois, some locations in the South and some spots in New England apparently lie within only one or two local government jurisdictions. Indiana has about 6.8 million people and about 2,700 local governments. There are more than 90,000 local governments in the 50 states.

So, two noteworthy points can serve to summarize what I have said about this first issue arising from the “Where do you live?” question. First, the number of local government jurisdictions in which specific places are located varies across the U.S. But, second, our own Putnam County is fairly typical in that most places in the county are situated in three or four different local government jurisdictions.

Let me move now to the second matter to be treated in this column. The location (“Greencastle,” “Bainbridge,” “Fillmore,” etc.) that the U.S. Postal Service uses in a residential address does not necessarily coincide with any of the local government units in which that residence is situated. A Banner Graphic article identifying a “Greencastle man” may well be reporting about a person who lives in neither the City of Greencastle, the Township of Greencastle, nor the Greencastle Community School Corporation, even though he has a “Greencastle” mailing address.

Years ago I had a DePauw student from Putnam County who simply didn’t know, in terms of local governments, where she lived. I happened to know where her family resided, and they lived outside the City of Greencastle, Greencastle Township and the Greencastle Community School Corporation. But she insisted that she lived “in Greencastle.” Why? Presumably because her family’s home mailing address was such-and-such County Road followed by “Greencastle” and “46135.” Another student, a graduate of Plainfield High School, thought that his family home, which had a “Plainfield” mailing address, was in the City of Plainfield — but it wasn’t.

The U.S. Postal Service often uses addresses that depart from relevant local government units because of its mail routes. Some Madison Township residents toward the western edge of Putnam County have had “Brazil” in their mailing addresses because their mail comes through the Brazil Post Office. Yet their kids attended Greencastle schools and they identified very much with Greencastle and very little with the City of Brazil, which is farther from their home than the City of Greencastle is.

As you can well imagine, a large number of people — perhaps even a majority of them — in Putnam County, Ind., and elsewhere simply don’t know all the local government jurisdictions in which they live. For example, a person living a block or two west of the Putnam County Courthouse might not know that he lives in four different local government jurisdictions: the City of Greencastle, the Township of Greencastle, the Greencastle Community School Corporation and Putnam County. Or someone living 10 miles or so north of downtown Greencastle might not know that she lives in the Town of Bainbridge, the Township of Monroe, the North Putnam School Corporation and Putnam County, as well as the Walnut Creek Fire Protection District — that is, in a total of five local government jurisdictions.

So, the next time you read a story in the Banner Graphic about a “Greencastle teenager” or “a Russellville man,” you might want to think about just what is meant by that designation.