West Terre Haute, IN

West Terre Haute sits across the Wabash from Terre Haute, with the river and a strip of low ground giving the town a distinct edge. Samuel McQuilkin laid it out in 1836 after opening a general store on the National Road, and the settlement cycled through names such as McQuilkinsville, Macksville, and Maxville before residents chose West Terre Haute in 1894.

The town's industrial past was substantial for a place of its size. Lumber, cigars, shingles, clay, gravel, and coal all left their marks, with coal mines working the bluffs north and west and rail and wagon routes carrying the output. The 1905 bridge once carried streetcar and interurban tracks, a reminder that the river crossing has always mattered as much as the road itself. Bethany Congregational Church, listed on the National Register, remains a strong historic landmark. Today the Vigo County School Corporation connects local children to Fayette and Sugar Creek elementaries, West Vigo Middle, and West Vigo High, while the old National Road still helps locate the town's story.