Driving Around Downtown Terre Haute, Indiana in 4k Video

Filmed on Tuesday, March 28, 2023, I drive around Terre Haute, IN to see what's happening. I start downtown, and then drive around some neighborhoods.

Terre Haute is a city in and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, about 5 miles east of the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a population of 170,943.

Located along the Wabash River, Terre Haute is one of the largest cities in the Wabash Valley and is known as the Queen City of the Wabash. The city is home to multiple higher-education institutions, including Indiana State University, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, and Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana.

Terre Haute's name is derived from the French phrase terre haute, meaning "highland". It was named by French-Canadian explorers and fur trappers to the area in the early 18th century to describe the unique location above the Wabash River.

Early Terre Haute was a center of farming, milling, and pork processing. However, the city's pre-1960 business and industrial expansion occurred largely due to transportation. The Wabash River, the building of the National Road (now US 40), and the Wabash and Erie Canal linked Terre Haute to the world and broadened the city's range of influence. The economy was based on iron and steel mills, hominy plants, and late in the 19th century, distilleries, breweries, and bottle makers. Coal mines and coal operating companies developed to support the railroads, yet agriculture remained predominant, largely due to the role of corn in making alcoholic beverages and food items.

Terre Haute's position as an educational hub was fostered as several institutions of higher education were established. The city developed a reputation for its arts and entertainment offerings. Grand opera houses were built that hosted hundreds of operas and theatrical performances. It became a stop on the popular vaudeville circuit. The development of the streetcar system and later the electric-powered trolleys in the 1890s allowed residents to travel with ease to baseball games, picnics, river excursions, amusement parks, and even horse racing. The famous "Four-Cornered" Racetrack, now the site of Memorial Stadium, was laid out in 1886 and drew the best of the country's trotters and drivers.

Like all U.S. communities, Terre Haute experienced economic swings as the country's economic base evolved. Before the Great Depression brought the U.S. economy to a near halt, influences such as Prohibition and the decline of the country's railroads had a negative effect on two of Terre Haute's major industries - distilleries/breweries and railroad repair works.

World War II brought an economic upswing with the development of three ordnance plants in the county and the revitalization of the coal, railroad, and agriculture industries. Terre Haute remained dependent on consumer manufacturers such as Quaker Maid, the world's largest food processing factory under one roof. The city was an enthusiastic participant in the war effort with troop send-offs, victory gardens, bond sales, civil defense drills, parades, and ceremonies.

Following the war, Terre Haute gained several new factories: Pfizer (1948), Allis-Chalmers (1951), Columbia Records (1954), and Anaconda Aluminum (1959).

Like other Midwest manufacturing cities, Terre Haute faced daunting challenges as it neared the end of the 20th century, including the outmigration of the population and the closure of long-time manufacturing operations.

Much of the city's resiliency can be attributed to the diversity of the local economy. Manufacturing continues to be an important part of that, due to the formation of the Vigo County Industrial Park. The efforts of the Terre Haute Economic Development Corporation, in cooperation with city and county government, have made the industrial park home to some of the world's leading companies – Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional’s cold-rolled steel-processing facility, Staples Corporation’s Midwest Distribution Center, Advics automotive brake systems manufacturing facility, ThyssenKrupp Presta’s automotive steering systems manufacturing facility, and CertainTeed’s fiber cement board manufacturing plant.

Terre Haute has made an effort to revitalize the businesses and culture in its downtown district. Festivals, museums, restaurants, shopping, and the addition of multiple hotels in the area have greatly improved the overall image of downtown Terre Haute.

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