New Palestine, Indiana

New Palestine (pronounced PAL-es-teen) is a town in Sugar Creek Township, Hancock County, Indiana, along Sugar Creek. The population was 2,055 at the 2010 census.

History

New Palestine was laid out October 1, 1838, by Jonathan Evans. It first consisted of fifteen blocks and thirty six lots. A petition for the incorporation of New Palestine as a town was dated May 22, 1871, and presented to the board of county commissioners at the June session of 1871. At the time of the petition, New Palestine had a population of 279 people. The vote for incorporation was held on June 24, 1871. Many years after incorporation, the town had difficulty with its name. The post office was known as Sugar Creek, the railroad and express stations as Palestine and the name of the town itself was New Palestine. Through the efforts of E.F. Faut and Congressman Bynum, the name of the post office was changed from Sugar Creek to New Palestine on January 16, 1889, and the name of the railroad station and express office were also changed to New Palestine.