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The Zip Code for Terre Haute is 478xx.
Terre Haute is located at 39°28'11" North, 87°23'23" West (39.469586, -87.389762) 1, alongside the Wabash River in western Indiana.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 83.1 km˛ (32.1 mi˛). 80.9 km˛ (31.2 mi˛) of it is land and 2.2 km˛ (0.9 mi˛) of it is water. The total area is 2.68% water.
The city of Terre Haute is called "The Crossroads of America" because it was at one point located on the intersection of the two major roadways: the National Road and U.S. 40. Since then, I-70 has been built, a major highway. U.S. 40 still runs through the downtown area, while I-70 runs through the southern business district including a mall and movie theaters, as does U.S. 41. There is also an important north part of town, which is another business district, albeit a much smaller one.
The name Terre Haute (pronounced as "terra hote" in English and tare oat in French) is a French phrase meaning high land, and was used by the French explorers in the area in the mid 18th century to describe the plateau-like rise of the land next to the Wabash River (See French colonization of the Americas). In 1811, construction of Fort Harrison marked the known beginning of permanant population by non-natives (a Wea village already existed near the fort).
Terre Haute's first success as a city came as a port for steamboats and other river-craft, but was quickly overtaken by the railroads. When coal was discovered, Terre Haute became a mining and industry town and business boomed. This led to institutes of higher education, culture, extremely stong unions ( Eugene V. Debs) and to extreme excesses. Terre Haute developed a "Red Light District" where prostitution and gambling ran rampant. Coupled with famously crooked politicians, at the turn of the century Terre Haute was labeled Sin CitySin City is the overall title for a series of short stories and novels set by Frank Miller set in the fictional Basin City. The first novel, titled Sin City tells the story of Marv, a delusional and violent man, and his attempt to find the man who murdere by the press. Although it's had different nicknames ("The Crossroads of America," for one), it was "Sin City" that stuck.
Eventually the coal mines were spent, the importance of the railroads declined, the town was labeled a "bad labor town" and the city began a rapid decline from which it never fully recovered. Although some remnants of its glory days remain and Terre Haute is home to some national events, it was recently called "A Model of Stagnation" by the Indianapolis Star, a monkier not easily disputed by its citizens and is best known today by the general public for the execution of Timothy McVeighTimothy James McVeigh ( April 23, 1968 — June 11, 2001) was an American domestic terrorist convicted and executed for his part in the April 19, 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Hundreds were injured and 168 men, women and children died when a truck loaded with at the Terre Haute Federal Penitentiary for his role in the Oklahoma City bombingThe Oklahoma City bombing was an attack against the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA. At 9:02 am on April 19, 1995, in the street in front of the Murrah building, attackers exploded a rented Ryder truck containing about 5.
Historical figures who called Terre Haute their birthplace or home include: author Theodore DreiserCarl Van Vechten, 1933 Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser ( July 27, 1871 December 28, 1945) was an American naturalist author known for dealing with the gritty reality of life. He was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, into a strict German-American family. The po, his brother, songwriter Paul DresserPaul Dresser (born April 22, 1859; died January 31, 1906) was an important American songwriter in the late 19th century and early 20th century. He is most noted for composing what would become the state song of Indiana (the state of his birth), a song cal (On the Banks of the Wabash Far Away), actor Scatman CrothersScatman Crothers original name: Benjamin Crothers ( May 23, 1910 November 22, 1986) He was an actor, singer, dancer and musician. Crothers was born in Terre Haute, Indiana and was best known for his work as a musician/singer and on the TV show Chico and t, baseball pitcher Tommy JohnThomas Edward John Jr. May 22, 1943), born in Terre Haute, Indiana, was a left-handed major league baseball pitcher, most notable for the revolutionary surgery performed on a damaged tendon in his pitching arm. Tommy John was originally signed by the Clev, Lawyer-poet Max Ehrman (A Prayer and Desiderata) and socialist leader Eugene V. Debs.
Terre Haute's history is the subject of a weekly public radio program based in Bloomington, IN called "Hometown with Tom Roznowski" which describes various aspects of Terre Haute in the summer of 1926.