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History · Tippecanoe

Tippecanoe’s post office opened in 1896, and 39% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1959 on and old-book passages.

1896first post office
0on the National Register
39%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Tippecanoe began

When was Tippecanoe founded?

1896

The Tippecanoe post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name.

130 years
Founding year: the first Tippecanoe post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Tippecanoe’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Tippecanoe are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Tippecanoe’s homes were built before 1952.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Tippecanoe’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Tippecanoe’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Tippecanoe came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Tippecanoe.

Read it all →

Tippecanoe was settled beginning in 1882. The original town was located 1 mile to the north and was platted as "Tippecanoe Town" in 1850, named for the Tippecanoe River on its southern edge. The name "Tippecanoe" was derived from a Miami-Illinois word for buffalo fish, reconstructed as */kiteepihkwana/ or as kiteepihkwana siipiiwi. After the railroad was built 1 mile south, the town was relocated. The original Tippecanoe Town was renamed Old Tip Town.

Benack's Village was located 1.4 miles (2.3 km) east-northeast of Tippecanoe, across the Tippecanoe River in what is now Potawatomi Wildlife Park.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Tippecanoe in 1911

Passages that mention Tippecanoe, cut from the printed page as they were published.

In the spring of 1808, the Kickapoos and Pottawatomies invited Tecumseh and The Prophet to locate in their ‘ • country at the junction of the Tippecanoe and Wabash rivers. This invitation they accepted, and the Indians journeyed thither and built the town of Tippecanoe, com¬ monly known as Prophet’…
The battle of Tippecanoe1911Read the page →
Read the text

In the spring of 1808, the Kickapoos and Pottawatomies invited Tecumseh and The Prophet to locate in their ‘ • country at the junction of the Tippecanoe and Wabash rivers. This invitation they accepted, and the Indians journeyed thither and built the town of Tippecanoe, com¬ monly known as Prophet’s Town. This place was of great importance, it being the abiding place of The Prophet and headquarters of the confederacy he and

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
ritorial inhabitants. His Indian policy, though perfectly justifiable, was the most prolific in this respect. Many persons had opposed the expedition against the town of Tippecanoe for humane reasons. Some of General
The battle of Tippecanoe1911Read the page →
Read the text

ritorial inhabitants. His Indian policy, though perfectly justifiable, was the most prolific in this respect. Many persons had opposed the expedition against the town of Tippecanoe for humane reasons. Some of General

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

By decade

Tippecanoe, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Store 2020-06-17 0232020Store 2020-06-17 023Grace Fellowship (Bapt Church 1910) 2020-06-17 0312020Grace Fellowship (Bapt Church 1910) 2020-06-17 031Gas Station 1930 2020-06-17 0262020Gas Station 1930 2020-06-17 026Gas Station 1930 2020-06-17 0252020Gas Station 1930 2020-06-17 025Gas & Cafe 2020-06-17 0242020Gas & Cafe 2020-06-17 024Cafe 2020-06-17 0272020Cafe 2020-06-17 027
On the map

Tippecanoe on the map, 1959 to 1980

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Tippecanoe. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Tippecanoe on the 1959 USGS mapTippecanoe on the 1980 USGS map1959Mentone sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Tippecanoe.

Famous people

Famous people close to Tippecanoe

Nobody well known was born in Tippecanoe itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

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Nicole AndersonAmerican actress · b. 1990
Elmo LincolnAmerican film actor · b. 1889
John McMartinAmerican actor and singer · b. 1929
J
John ChamberlainAmerican artist · b. 1927
L
Lawrence Dale BellAmerican industrialist, founder of Bell Aircraf… · b. 1894
K
Karl E. WeickOrganisational psychologist · b. 1936

Questions about Tippecanoe’s history

What year was Tippecanoe founded?

The Tippecanoe post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.