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La Porte (French for "The Door") is a city in LaPorte County, Indiana, United States, of which it is the county seat.〔(【引用サイトリンク】accessdate=2011-06-07 )〕 Its population was 22,053 at the 2010 census. It is one of the two principal cities of the Michigan City-La Porte, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City, Illinois-Indiana-Wisconsin Combined Statistical Area. LaPorte is located in northwest Indiana, east of Gary, and west of South Bend and was first settled in 1832. The current mayor of La Porte, Blair Milo, is one of the youngest mayors in the city's history, elected to the position in 2011 at the age of 28. ==History== The settlement of La Porte was established in July 1832. Abraham P. Andrew, one of the purchasers of the site, constructed the first sawmill in that year. The first settler arrived in October, building a permanent cabin just north of what would become the Courthouse square.〔http://www.cityoflaporte.com/vis_history.asp Official Website of the City of La Porte, History of La Porte. Retrieved 03/12/10.〕 In 1833 a Federal Land Office was established in La Porte. People would come to this office from newly established surrounding counties to buy land from the government, including Solon Robinson, founder of Crown Point.〔Moore, Powell A.; The Calumet Region, Indiana’s Last Frontier; Indiana Historical Collections, Vol. XXXIX; Indiana Historical Bureau, Reprint 1977〕 The office was moved to Winamac in 1839.〔http://www.in.gov/icpr/2605.htm Indiana Commission on Public Records. Retrieved 03/12/10.〕 By 1835 the settlement had grown to the extent that it was decided that La Porte should become incorporated as a town. A newspaper was established in 1836 and La Porte Medical School was founded in 1842, the first of its kind in the Midwest. A former graduate of the school William Worrall Mayo established the famed Mayo Clinic in Minnesota in 1889. By 1852 La Porte had become a well established settlement of considerable size for its time and vicinity, with 5,000 residents. In that same year it was granted a city charter by the Indiana General Assembly and the first mayor was elected. La Porte continued to grow, attracting numerous diverse industries, the largest of which became the Advance-Rumely company. Advance-Rumely was responsible for developing the Oil-Pull tractor engine, considered to have played a pivotal role in the agricultural development of the Great Plains. By 1869, Advance-Rumely was the largest employer in La Porte.〔http://www.cityoflaporte.com/vis_history.asp Official Website of the City of LaPorte, History of La Porte. Retrieved 03/12/10.〕 During the 1850s numerous maple trees were planted along Indiana and Michigan avenues in La Porte by local resident Sebastian Lay. Subsequently, La Porte became known as the 'Maple City'. Today, Indiana and Michigan avenues comprise a historic district in the city, containing many homes and other structures of architectural and historical interest. Between 1892 and 1894, the third and current LaPorte county courthouse was erected at a cost of $300,000. The structure is built of red sandstone from Lake Superior, shipped via boat to Michigan City and then by rail to La Porte. The courthouse is considered to be one of La Porte's best known structures.〔http://www.cityoflaporte.com/vis_history.asp Official Website of the City of La Porte, History of La Porte. Retrieved 10/10/10.〕 In 2007 the building had its exterior extensively restored at a cost of $2.9 million.〔http://www.kenherceg.com/pdfs/portfolio_architectural.pdf Ken Herceg & Associates. Retrieved 10/10/10.〕 La Porte is also well known for the area of which Belle Gunness serial murders took place. Belle moved to the United States in 1881 in search of wealth. Belle had posted many notices in lovelorn columns in hopes to attracted wealthy men. She would attract these men to her farmland, and mysteriously they would all disappear. Not only did she murder the wealthy men she attracted, but also her adopted daughter, and her foster children. The remains of over forty men and children were found on her property. Belle eventually burned her own house down, and made it look as if she died inside, although the body found was not hers. Belle withdrew most of her money from her bank accounts, then skipped town. She was never tracked down, and her death has never actually been confirmed. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「La Porte, Indiana」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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