Lebanon

Small Town Breakdown

Small Town Breakdown: Lebanon, Indiana

In the heart of Boone County is Lebanon, an Indiana small town with rich history, fame and a bright future ahead.

Fast Facts

📍LOCATION: Central Indiana

• Sits in the center of Boone County to the east of I-65, which bypasses the town

• Once a major thoroughfare through Lebanon, U.S. Route 52 runs north-south and bypasses the town today

• Indiana State Road 39 runs north-south through town while Indiana State Road 32 cuts through east-to-west

• 30 minutes northwest of downtown Indianapolis

• 40 minutes southeast of Lafayette

👥 POPULATION & RANKING

• 17,252 residents (as of 2023)

• Ranks as Indiana’s 52nd largest city

• Second-largest of seven incorporated cities/towns in Boone County behind Zionsville

📏 LAND AREA

• 7.28 square miles

📅 FOUNDED

• Boone County was founded on April 1, 1830, by Marion and Hendricks Counties

• Lebanon was established on April 30, 1830, by the Indiana General Assembly and was selected as the county seat two years later

• The town was founded by General James Perry and Colonel George L. Kinnard, both of Indianapolis, who purchased three tracts of land near the center of Boone County for a believed price of $1.25 per acre

• Lebanon received its name by commissioner Adam French, who saw a cluster of hickory trees that reminded him of the Cedars of Lebanon from the Bible

🏥 MAIN INDUSTRIES: Manufacturing, Healthcare and Retail Trade

• Packaging companies including Coregistics, DS Smith Packaging, McKinley Packaging and Msi Packaging fill the town

• Skjodt-Barrett Contract Manufacturing, Steel Green Manufacturing and ATP Welding, Inc. are local manufacturers

• Eli Lilly is opening a medicine foundry in 2027 that will bring 700 new jobs with it; located in Lebanon’s LEAP Innovation Park

LEBANON IS BIBLICAL

Two years after Boone County was founded in 1830, Lebanon was selected as the county seat. It was named by commissioner Adam French, who took notice to a cluster of hickory trees that reminded him of the Cedars of Lebanon from the Bible. When he spotted the tree cluster, he shouted to a group of onlookers, “The name of this town shall be Lebanon!”

SEE YOU IN (THE) COURT(HOUSE)

The Boone County Courthouse sits in Lebanon’s town square and is pure beauty. Famous for its single-piece limestone pillars that are known to be the largest in the United States, it also comes with a 52-foot glass dome that is the second-largest such dome in Indiana behind West Baden. On top of that, it contains eight functioning Hahl clocks from the Hahl Automatic Clock Company, most notably known for introducing the first pneumatic master clock system in 1877. The Hahl clocks function on air pressure through pipes, eliminating the need for electrical wiring. ⏰

DATE IDEAS

Kinnard & Drake’s 1830 Chophouse has it all — steak, short ribs, salmon, swordfish, lobster, whiskeys and more. For starters, you’ve gotta go with the wild boar meatballs. The restaurant has over 600 Google reviews and a 4.5-star rating.

If you or a loved one has a soft spot for chocolate, look no further than Donaldson’s Finer Chocolates. They’ve been serving up sweet treats in the area since 1966, and best of all, they’ll ship to your doorstep.

THAT’S A TREMENDOUS LOOKING TROPHY (CLUB)

The Trophy Club is an 18-hole links style course that’ll have you coming back to play round after round. It’s rated as a top 15 public course in Indiana… just watch out for the meandering Prairie Creek that comes into play on most of the back nine. 🏌️‍♂️

LEBANON FAME

Mel Kenyon, who many consider the best midget car racing driver ever, once called Lebanon home. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2003, holds a record seven USAC National Midget titles and finished runner-up eight times. He also raced in the Indy 500 eight times with four top-five finishes — third in 1968, fourth in 1969 and 1973, and fifth in 1966. Amazingly, most of his successes came after a series of operations following a fiery accident in 1965 that left him missing nearly every finger on his left hand. With designing help from his brother and father, Kenyon wore a special glove that allowed him to grab the steering wheel with his right hand and steer with the palm of his left. 🏁

1966 Indiana “Mr. Basketball” award-winner Rick Mount, who became a three-time All-American just up the road in West Lafayette at Purdue University, is also from Lebanon. He was the first high school athlete to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in 1970 but played five years exclusively in the American Basketball Association, the first two coming with the Indiana Pacers. 🏀

And we can’t forget about actor Drew Powell, who graduated from Lebanon Senior High School and later DePauw University. Powell’s first role came on Malcolm in the Middle and has since appeared on House, Leverage, ER, Cold Case, Without a Trace, Gotham, Psych and The Ponderosa, and he was in a new movie released in February called The Unbreakable Boy.

LITTLE MORE ABOUT LEBANON

• Celebrate the Fourth of July with one of the largest Independence Day celebrations in all of Indiana, welcoming over 15,000 spectators.

• Lebanon’s “Back to the Fifties Festival” at the Boone County Fairgrounds features cars, fashion and traditions of the 1950s. Mark your calendar for this year’s edition on Saturday, Sept. 13.

• The Boone County Master Gardener Gardenfest inspires green thumbs with landscaping ideas. The 37th annual Gardenfest was held earlier this month, so you’ll have to wait until April 2026 for the 38th edition.

• If you’re looking to beat the heat this summer in Lebanon, head to Seashore Water Park, complete with a wave pool, lazy river and water slides.

• Klooz Brewz and Four Finger Distillery are the best spots to grab drinks.

• Lebanon Senior High School has won four state championships in school history, three coming a long, long time ago in boys basketball in the single-class structure (1912, 1917, 1918) and one this century in softball (2016, 3A).

There’s lots to love about the small town of Lebanon, so show it some love the next time you’re driving north of Indianapolis on I-65.

Check out Nate’s breakdown of Lebanon ⬇️