Lafayette Map
Lafayette is a city in and the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, 63 miles (101 km) northwest of Indianapolis. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 67,140. West Lafayette, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, which has a large impact on both communities. Together, Lafayette and West Lafayette form the core of the Lafayette, IN Metropolitan Statistical Area, which – as of the 2010 census – had a total population of 201,789, the 208th largest metropolitan area in the United States.
When European explorers first reached the area around what is now Tippecanoe County, it was inhabited by a tribe of Miami Indians known as the Ouiatenon or Weas. In 1717 the French government established Fort Ouiatenon across the Wabash River and three miles (5 km) south of the location of present-day Lafayette. The fort became the center of trade for fur trappers, merchants and Indians. An annual reenactment and festival known as The Feast of the Hunters' Moon takes place there each autumn.
The town of Lafayette was platted in May 1825 by a river trader William Digby. It was made county seat fof the newly formed Tippecanoe County the following year. Like many frontier towns, Lafayette was named for General Lafayette, a French soldier who significantly aided George Washington's Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Lafayette toured the United States in 1824 and 1825
Nearby cities include Otterbein, Brookston, Mulberry, Clarks Hill, Rossville.