History of Angola, IN

Angola was platted by Thomas Gale and Cornelius Gilmore on June 28, 1838. Angola was first incorporated as a town on October 1, 1866 and then as a city in 1906. It is believed that the town was named after Angola, N.Y., a region from which early settlers originated. Angola has always been the seat of justice for Steuben County.

• The first house erected in Angola was in the fall of 1836.

• The post office was established in 1838.

• Physicians and Attorneys were first seen in 1838.

• The first bank was believed to be organized in 1854.

• By 1855, dozens of homes lined the two main streets in Angola and 40 types of businesses had been established. Businesses such as, two hotels, dry goods merchants, wagon and harnesses, groceries, jewelry, agricultural implements, furniture, and shoes.

• The first railroad came through about 1870. This connected Angola with the outside world of commerce, and great growth followed.

• The fire department was organized in 1873.

• By 1885, the town had 5 saloons.

• Lighting was provided for streetlights only by means of the old arc lamp system in 1891. In 1897 incandescent light systems were put to use for commercial purposes.

• In 1900, the population of Angola was 2,141.

• Street paving began in 1912 and wooden sidewalks gave way to concrete.

• Door to door garbage collection began in 1931.

• Angola Chamber of Commerce formed in November 1937.

To talk about Angola and its history and not mention the Steuben County Soldiers Monument would be unforgivable. In the early 1900's it became popular to erect monuments in honor of the civil war. Steuben County did not waste any time in joining the rest of the country.

Erastus Marion Hetzler who owned a business called the Angola Monument Company built the Steuben County Soldiers' Monument in 1917. The monument was dedicated on September 13, 1917 with a huge celebration. The original cost of the soldier's monument was $16,000 funded by a combination of public and private funds.

The monument weighs approximately 300,000 pounds, measures 19 feet 6 inches square at its base and stands 70 feet in height. The stone is barre granite, the finest stone mined in Indiana in the early 1900's; and the base of the monument bears four bronze statues of life size soldiers, representing the four branches of the service - infantry, artillery, cavalry and navy.

Each side of the monument features a plaque with the names of 1,278 Steuben County men who enlisted for military service during the Civil War, of whom 280 never returned. Steuben County provided more men in proportion to the number eligible than any other county in Indiana.