Vincennes, << vihn SEHNZ >> (pop. 16,759), was the first permanent settlement in what is now Indiana. The city lies along the Wabash River in southwestern Indiana. French settlers chose the site for a waterfront trading post in the early 1700’s. I n 1732, the French founded a permanent settlement there. The settlement was named after its founder, François Marie Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes.
Today, Vincennes is a center for agriculture, industry, services, and tourism. The area’s major crops include corn, soybeans, wheat, potatoes, and fruits. Its chief industries produce automobile parts, steel products, and glass products. Coal is the area’s leading mined product. Two major highways, rail lines, and the Wabash River link Vincennes with other cities in the Midwest and Southeast. Good Samaritan Hospital helps make Vincennes a regional medical center. The city is the home of Vincennes University, a college founded in 1812. The city’s newspaper, the Vincennes Sun-Commercial, began as the Indiana Gazette in 1804.
The city has many historical buildings and memorials. These include George Rogers Clark National Historical Park, which honors Clark’s victories in the American Revolution (1775-1783). Also in the city are the Territorial Capitol, used by William Henry Harrison while he served as the first governor of the Indiana Territory; Grouseland, a mansion built by Harrison; and the Old Cathedral, Indiana’s oldest Roman Catholic church, built in 1732.
The community established by the French settlers came under British control in 1763 as a result of the French and Indian War. The British built Fort Sackville at Vincennes in 1777, during the Revolutionary War. In 1778, Virginia troops and local French volunteers commanded by George Rogers Clark occupied Fort Sackville. The British recaptured the fort, but Clark attacked again and gained control of Vincennes in 1779. Clark’s efforts in the West helped the United States win a huge area of land between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River called the Northwest Territory.
The Indiana Territory, established in 1800, was formed from part of the Northwest Territory. Vincennes served as its capital from 1800 to 1813. The city was incorporated in 1856. Vincennes is the seat of Knox County and has a mayor-council form of government.
