Paoli

Small Town Breakdown

Home to Paoli Peaks, Wilstem Wildlife Park, historic shops, and local favorites like The Superburger and Porky’s BBQ, Paoli is a small Indiana town with a lot to offer.

Fast Facts

📍LOCATION: Southern Indiana

• Paoli is located near the center of Orange County

• U.S. Route 150 runs east-west through town, leading west toward French Lick and southeast to Chambersburg

• Indiana State Road 56 intersects with 150 in town and leads east to Livonia

• Indiana State Road 37 runs north-south through town, running north to Orleans and winding south through the Hoosier National Forest to English

• 1 hour and 45 minutes south of Indianapolis

• 1 hour south of Bloomington

• 1 hour northwest of Louisville

👥 POPULATION & RANKING

• 3,617 residents (as of 2024)

• Ranks as Indiana’s 162nd-largest city

• Largest of six incorporated towns/cities in Orange County

📏 LAND AREA

• 3.75 square miles

📅 FOUNDED

• Orange County was organized in 1816, the same year Indiana became a state.

• It was formed from parts of Gibson, Knox and Washington counties.

• It was named after Orange County, N.C., where many Quakers who settled at Lick Creek near Paoli came from.

• Paoli was platted in 1816 and named in honor of Pasquale Paoli Ash, the son of North Carolina governor Samuel Ashe.

• Paoli is the county seat.

• In its early years, several tanneries processed hides and shipped them to Louisville. Then in the 1840s, Thomas Braxtan began manufacturing high-quality oilstones and whetstones, which gained a worldwide reputation. Braxtan made many shipments of stones to England.

• Paoli is home to part of Pioneer Mothers Memorial Forest, a remnant of the vast virgin oak forest that once blanketed southern Indiana.

🏥 MAIN INDUSTRIES: Tourism, Healthcare

• Natural attractions like the Hoosier National Forest and Patoka Lake, and the presence of the nearby French Lick Resort, Paoli Peaks and Wilstem Wildlife Park make tourism an economic driver.

• IU Health Paoli Hospital specializes in rural, community-based services and has a 24-hour emergency department.

Paoli Peaks

When you think of Paoli, Paoli Peaks is likely one of the first things that comes to mind. This ski resort opened in 1978 and has become one of southern Indiana’s top winter destinations, offering skiing, snowboarding and snow tubing from mid-December to mid-March.

Wilstem Wildlife Park

Wilstem Wildlife Park sits just west of town on U.S. Route 150 and was one of the Get Indiana crew’s most fun adventures earlier this summer. We’re talking elephants, zebras, llamas, camels, Aoudads and so many more awesome animals you can see (and feed out of your hand!) up close.

If you can’t cram the full Wilstem experience into a single day, there is lodging available on the park grounds. Instead of a rooster crow at sunrise, maybe you’ll wake up to an elephant caw or giraffe cry.

The Underground Railroad

Lick Creek was a central point for Quakers and free Black people, who worked together on the Underground Railroad. These early settlers helped fugitive slaves, creating a network to transport them from the South to freedom.

The Lindley Family Home was a prominent Underground Railroad station near Lick Creek and today is a museum open for scheduled tours.

Pride of Paoli

Paoli Jr/Sr High School is home to the Rams. The Rams have never won an IHSAA state championship in any sport, but boys basketball was the 2A runner-up in 1999 after falling to Westview, 71-52, ending an 85-year drought between state finals appearances.

Where the Rams have had tons of success is with their Pride of Paoli marching band at the Indiana State School Music Association state finals. The Rams have won an astounding 15 marching band state titles, 13 coming in Class D (small school) in 1983, 1984, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, and most recently, 2005, plus another two in Class C in 1992 and 1993.

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Dessert

Start the day at Dub’s Custard and Coffee, which relocated to the Windhorst for the Home Building a couple weeks ago. They’ve got coffee, lattes, frappes, macchiatos, cappuccino, hot chocolate and tea, plus smoothies and snow cones. Its ice cream offerings include traditional shakes, malts and sundaes along with ice cream nachos. We were there for breakfast and deleted some donuts with our morning beverages.

For lunch or dinner, The Superburger is one of the most popular spots in town. Pizza, Sloppy Joe’s, pork tenderloins, fried chicken, and sweet corn nuggets as the highlight of all the fried sides you can think of. Pro tip: When you’re at The Superburger, you get the Superburger. They have over 700 Google reviews and 4.5 stars.

If you like classic comfort food, head to Porky’s BBQ of Paoli, home to pulled pork, ribs, brisket and homemade sides that will satisfy your hunger. We went with the brisket and pulled pork, two common favorites among Porky’s nearly 1,300 Google reviews. The atmosphere is cool, too, with many old photos, community achievements and historical artifacts hanging on the walls.

For a quick bite or dessert for the road, Shakeburger is an old-school drive-in that is the perfect place to stop after a visit to Wilstem Wildlife Park. Surprise, surprise… Guests rave about the shakes and burgers! See below for the cookie dough shake we tried… it had the best cookie-dough-bites-to-vanilla-ice-cream ratio ever.

Paoli Dues

• Downtown Paoli has a growing collection of boutiques, antique shops, and local businesses to explore. The courthouse square is lively during spring, summer and fall weekends. Fun fact: The historic Orange County Courthouse is the third-oldest operational courthouse in Indiana and celebrated its 175th anniversary this September.

• The Lost River Co-op & Cafe is a co-op grocery and cafe that serves coffee, breakfast and locally sourced goods. If you like farm-to-table food, this is the spot.

Traveling through southern Indiana? Pay Paoli a visit to its historic courthouse, Dub’s, Porky’s, The Superburger or Shakeburger, and if the timing is right, Paoli Peaks or Wilstem Wildlife Park.

Check out Nate’s breakdown of Paoli ⬇️