Owensville, Indiana

Nestled in the southwest corner of Indiana, Owensville offers a lifestyle of a unique balance and blend of rural, suburban, and industrial life.  Owensville is the third largest town and the smallest of the five larger communities in Gibson County, Indiana, United States. The population is approximately 1,336.

Owensville was established in 1817 by Phillip Briscoe, when he filed the town plat consisting of 52 parcels and five out-parcels. A fire in 1876 destroyed many of the wood framed businesses on the eastern side of the town square. It was not until 1881 that Owensville incorporated.

Agriculture is a respected and important aspect of our community. The work ethic that made America great is evidenced in our local farmers – working hard to feed our great nation. Unlike Princeton and Fort Branch, Owensville’s economy practically consists of a scant few family-owned business with only three exceptions: Goodlettsville, Tennessee-based Dollar General, Mount Carmel, Illinois-based Community Natural Gas, and Mount Vernon, Indiana-based Schultheis Insurance. Owensville is largely surrounded by unincorporated subdivisions, primarily north of the town. The two largest employers of Owensville’s residents are the Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana plant located halfway between Princeton and Fort Branch, as well as Gibson Generating Station located 5.5 miles north-northwest of Owensville, as well two coal mines that opened up in 2008 and 2014, located 6 miles and 1 mile north of town respectively.

Like the other communities in Gibson County, Owensville’s prime economy is based on agriculture. The farms immediately around the town primarily produce corn, soybeans, strawberries, and wheat. Like many other communities along the Lower Wabash Valley, the surrounding Montgomery Township is particularly known for its watermelons, pumpkins, squash, cantaloupes, and zucchini, all heavily produced in the sandy bottom grounds located from the north to the southwest of the town. In addition, milo tends to be produced in place of corn in areas prone to flooding from the Wabash, Patoka, or Black Rivers or any of the other smaller creeks or streams that flow into them.

Owensville High School, which merged with Fort Branch and Haubstadt high schools to form Gibson Southern, had the first high school gymnasium in Indiana with a glass backboard. One of those backboards is now in the Indiana High School Basketball Hall of Fame in New Castle, Indiana.