In the early 1800s, Fayette County became a place for settlers after land was purchased from Native Americans through treaties like the 1809 Treaty of Fort Wayne. This cleared the way for new communities to grow and develop in southeastern Indiana, which was once part of the larger Northwest Territory.

Sudoku’s puzzling origin story

Howard Garns, an American architect from Connersville, Indiana, created Number Place — the logic puzzle later known as Sudoku. Garns designed it while working at Daggett architecture firm in Indianapolis. In May 1979, Dell Pencil Puzzles and Word Games published Number Place without crediting him. Will Shortz, a crossword compiler for The New York Times, later identified Garns as its creator by noting his name in the magazine’s contributor list whenever Number Place appeared. The puzzle gained popularity in Japan in the 1980s, where it was renamed Su Doku. Garns died of cancer in 1989 before Sudoku became a global phenomenon when
The Times of London printed it in 2004.

Feathered friends in Connersville

The Mary Gray Bird Sanctuary, managed by the Indiana Audubon Society, is a notable birding destination in southeastern Indiana. The sanctuary is named after Mary, the daughter of Finley and Alice Gray. When Mary died of a typhus-related brain infection in 1940, her parents donated 264 acres of their land to the Indiana Audubon Society in her memory. More than 110 bird species have been spotted across the sanctuary’s 700 acres in Connersville. Visitors can hike the sanctuary’s forests and wetlands while observing bird conservation first-hand with Saw-whet owl banding in the fall and hummingbird banding in the summer.

All aboard Indiana’s scenic railway

The Whitewater Valley Railroad is a nonprofit museum with a preserved 1950s-era branch line railroad. Known as “Indiana’s Best Scenic Railway,” the railroad traces its roots back to the mid-1800s when it was a vital transportation route connecting towns and industries in southeastern Indiana. Now, the train operates April through December, departing from Connersville’s Grand Central Station and journeying to Metamora, a historic canal town offering a glimpse into 19th-century life. Visitors can explore nearly 40 unique shops and restaurants, stroll along the canal, or discover the only operational wooden aqueduct in the United States.

County facts

Founded: 1819

Named For: Marquis de la Fayette, a French military officer in the American Revolutionary War

Population:  23,398

County seat: Connersville

Indiana county number: 21

Nicole Thomas is a freelance writer from Indianapolis.