Editing Jefferson County, Indiana (section)

==History==
Jefferson County was formed on February 1, 1811, from Dearborn and Clark Counties. It was named for [[Thomas Jefferson]], principal draftsman of the [[Northwest Ordinance]] and [[President of the United States]] from 1801 through 1809.<ref>{{cite book|author=De Witt Clinton Goodrich & Charles Richard Tuttle|publisher=R. S. Peale & co.|year=1875|location=Indiana|title=An Illustrated History of the State of Indiana|url=https://archive.org/details/anillustratedhi02tuttgoog| pages=[https://archive.org/details/anillustratedhi02tuttgoog/page/n567 562]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n167 168]}}</ref>

Jefferson County was one of Indiana's first counties, and many important early Hoosiers came from Madison, including [[William Hendricks]]. Throughout the early history of the state, Madison was one of the leading cities competing with Vincennes, and later New Albany, to be the largest city in the state. The county fell into economic decline after the [[American Civil War]], as industry began to shift from southern Indiana to the northern part of the state.

On the evening of May 20, 2009, the county courthouse caught fire. The fire began in the steeple of the courthouse, which was under reconstruction for Madison's bicentenary. The roof of the dome had just been painted gold. Fire departments from across southern Indiana and northern [[Kentucky]] arrived to put out the fire, which burned for several hours, destroyed much of the inside of the building and the county records. The fire forced the evacuation of the nearby county jail, and effectively shut down the downtown area of the city.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-in-courthousefire,0,7027486.story | work=Chicago Tribune | title=Topic Galleries}}</ref> It was later determined the fire was accidentally started by workers who were welding on the metal roof dome.

The tallest waterfall in Indiana, [[Fremont Falls]], is located in [[Hanover, Indiana|Hanover]].