Town file
Lafayette, Indiana
Lafayette, Indiana (Tippecanoe County, Indiana) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 195, "The Head Of The Serpent" (29 October 2020). Lafayette, Indiana, sits in Tippecanoe County in the west central part of the state, about an hour from Indianapolis and two hours from Chicago.
- Town
- Lafayette
- County
- Tippecanoe County
- State
- Indiana
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 195
- Approximate location
- 40.399, -86.863
Episode 195 / 29 October 2020 / 166 min / full
The Head Of The Serpent
"This is Lafayette, Indiana ... it's west central Indiana ... Tippacano County" about 0:05:33
The case: Murder of Shelley Smith (August 2nd, 1982). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2020
- Population
- 72,174
- Median age
- 32.4
- Median household income
- $44,000 a year
- Median home value
- $136,800
- Two-bedroom rent
- $750 a month
- Cost of living
- 78 out of 100
- Religious
- 33%
- Property crime
- ▲ almost double the national average
- Violent crime
- ▲ about 20% higher
History, in brief
- The Miami Indians were living in the area when European explorers arrived. about 0:08:33
- In 1717 the French government established a fort across the Wabash River. about 0:08:33
- The fort became the centre of trade for trappers, merchants and Indians, who all got along. about 0:08:33
- An annual reenactment of the trading period is held as the Feast of the Hunter's Moon. about 0:09:00
- Lafayette was platted in about 1825 by William Digby. about 0:10:08
- It was designated the county seat of Tippecanoe County. about 0:10:26
- Lafayette was named for General Lafayette, a French officer who helped George Washington's army in the Revolution. about 0:10:26
- Henry Levitt Ellsworth purchased 93,000 acres of land. about 0:13:50
- Ellsworth published a booklet titled Valley of the Upper Wabash Indiana, with hints on its agricultural advantages, to attract settlers. about 0:13:53
- Lafayette was the site of the first official airmail delivery in the United States, on August 17th, 1859. about 0:14:52
- John Wise piloted a balloon from the Lafayette courthouse grounds and made an air drop; weather forced him down near Crawfordsville, Indiana. about 0:14:57
- In 1959 the US Postal Service issued a seven cent airmail stamp commemorating the centennial of the balloon flight. about 0:15:56
- The Feast of the Hunter's Moon has been held each fall on the first weekend of October since 1968, at the site of a replica 18th century French military and trading post. about 0:26:35
- The town's motto is the Star City. about 0:07:03
The reviews read out
3 stars
"Lists several ethnic restaurants such as Mongolian, Chinese, Greek and authentic Italian, plus fast food and chain restaurants such as Bob Evans and Richards; says the local places have small menus but do them well."about 0:16:21
"Says it is normally not too bad except in the summer, when traffic and rude people increase, and would not live there again because a trailer park down the road has a large number of paedophiles and child molesters."about 0:17:16
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Carmel, Indiana48 miles
- Peru, Indiana48 miles
- Marion, Indiana64 miles
- Kankakee, Illinois71 miles
- Middlebury, Indiana80 miles
- La Porte, Indiana84 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.