Laotto, IN

LaOtto is a small unincorporated community in Swan Township, Noble County, Indiana, in the U.S. state of Indiana. Located west of the current intersection of Indiana State Road 3 and Indiana State Road 205, it is 16 miles north of Fort Wayne and is also in proximity to Kendallville and Auburn. Laotto is therefore considered a bedroom community to these cities. LaOtto's children attend schools in the East Noble School Corporation. Elementary students now attend Avilla Elementary School, in Avilla, Indiana, after LaOtto Elementary School closed in 2008.

That mix gives Laotto a clear local shape within Indiana, with older layers still visible in current places. The local scoop is a place whose streets, landmarks, and institutions keep its earlier story close to the present. LaOtto was established in the 1830s as settlers headed north out of Fort Wayne, Indiana, along the Mongoquinong Trail, which would later become Lima Plank Road. From 1856 to 1861, LaOtto was called Simon's Corners, a name taken from the local U.S. Post Office.