Riley Map
Riley, once known as Lockport, is a town in Riley Township, Vigo County, Indiana, United States. The population was 221 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Terre Haute Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The original town of Lockport was platted November 23, 1836, by Nathaniel Donham. It was known as Lockport due to its importance during the building of the Wabash and Erie Canal from 1847-1850. The canal town became a significant trading point along the waterway. Though the canal closed in 1873, the building of several different railroads kept the community as a place for trade. The town originally had various mills, sawmills, and tanneries, but all were burned at different times. It also proved notable in the grain market.
In 1911 the town took the name of its post office and became Riley. For several decades, Riley sustained a healthy coal mining industry including a strip mine just south of town operated by the Maumee Colleries Company as late as 1936. In the second half of the twentieth century, Riley included a small suburban residential community.
Nearby cities include Farmersburg, Clay City, Brazil, Hymera, Shelburn.