Kingman, IN

Kingman is a Millcreek Township town in Fountain County, Indiana, sitting on State Road 234 about two miles west of U.S. 41. The town was incorporated in 1900 after Kingman and the nearby village of Fountainville were combined, and its post office dates to 1886. The most distinctive building in the center is the Kingman-Millcreek Public Library, a Carnegie-funded library whose grant arrived in 1913 and whose building opened in 1914. That gives Kingman a clear civic landmark and a useful clue to how the town grew: roads bring people through, while the library gives the center a place to gather.

Today the library serves Kingman and Millcreek Township with books, digital media, computers, local-history and genealogy material, and programs for different ages. Its 1987 addition brought the century-old building up to date while keeping the original role visible. The town's basic layout remains easy to read from the highways, with township roads spreading beyond the center. Kingman is the sort of place where a Carnegie library carries more weight than its size suggests: it is a piece of architecture, a practical service, and a record of the town's long relationship with the surrounding township.