Ferdinand, IN

Ferdinand is a Dubois County town named for Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria, settled in 1840 by Father Joseph Kundek, OSB. The 2020 census counted 2,157 residents. German-speaking settlers shaped the early community, and Ferdinand picked up the nickname "wooden shoe village," a nod to the European traditions that stayed visible in the town's old town stories. The place sits in Ferdinand Township, with Jasper close by for larger errands. Ferdinand's local map is compact: town streets, the public library branch, church landmarks, and farm country opening out beyond the center.

ATTRChris Flook / CC BY-SA 4.0

The name on the sign sounds imperial, but the feel is much more small-town Indiana—families, parish life, and a county road network that ties it to the rest of Dubois County. Ferdinand is the kind of place where one unusual nickname does a lot of work: the wooden shoe village tells you that this is a community with a particular immigrant story, not just another dot on the highway.