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FORT WAYNE, Ind. Indiana's second largest
city. Only Indianapolis, about 130 miles southwest, has more
people. Fort Wayne, the seat of Allen Co., covers about 58 square
miles and lies at the Junction of the St. Joseph, St. Mary's
and Maumee rivers.
Though situated, like most Indiana towns,
in a farming region, Fort Wayne is a center for motor-vehicle
assembly and other manufactured goods. In fact, the Fort Wayne
area has about 450 manufacturing plants. Chief products include
machinery, electronic parts and equipment, trucks, and transportation
equipment. Major airlines and freight and passenger trains serve
the city. Electronic and electrical goods, automotive products,
and diamond tools are major manufactures. The city is also an
important distributing center of wholesale goods.
Fort Wayne is the seat of Concordia Theological
Seminary (1846), Saint Francis College (1890), Fort Wayne Bible
College (1904), Indiana Institute of Technology (1930), Indiana
University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne (1964), and several
junior colleges.
The city's strategic river-junction location
was the site of the chief village of the Miami Indians and, from
the late 17th century, of a French fort. Modern Fort Wayne grew
from a fort (now reconstructed) that was established in 1794
by Major General "Mad Anthony" Wayne, (for whom the
city was named), who defeated the Miami Indians, thus opening
the area to settlement. Industry grew after the construction
of the Wabash-Erie Canal in 1840 and the arrival of the railroad
in 1854. Fort Wayne was incorporated as a city in 1840. Pop.
(1990) 173,072.
A campus of Indiana University-Purdue University
is located in Fort Wayne. Other institutions of higher education
include the Indiana Institute of Technology, St. Francis College,
and a campus of Taylor University. Fort Wayne's biggest tourist
attraction, the Three Rivers Festival, is held in July. The festival
includes parades, historical displays, and other events.
A number of construction projects were completed
in downtown Fort Wayne in the early 1980's. They included an
art museum, a botanical garden, a convention center, and an office
complex.
Historic Fort Wayne is a reconstruction of
an American army fort of 1816 in Fort Wayne. Visitors can watch
uniformed personnel carry out military activities of the time
inside the fort.
Several parks are located along the Maumee.
The grave of Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman) is here. Museums
include the Lincoln Library and Museum of the Lincoln National
Life Foundation, the Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Museum,
the Museum of Art, and the Diehm Museum of Natural History.
The ornate Embassy Theatre, a former movie
palace, now hosts theatrical productions.
All pictures were taken May 24, 1998.
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