FORT WAYNE, a city of north-eastern Indiana, U.S.A., at the confluence of the St. Joseph and the St. Mary rivers to form the Maumee ; the county seat of Allen county. It is on Federal highways 24, 27 and 3o (the Lincoln) ; has a municipal airport; and is served by the Indiana Service Corporation, the New York Central, the Nickel Plate, the Pennsylvania and the Wabash railways. The population was 86,549 in 1920 (90.6% native white) and was in 193o.
The city has an altitude of 7 7of t., a land area of 16.8 sq.m. and an assessed valuation in 1927 of $234,653,530. The streets are laid out on a rectangular plan, and are shaded with a profusion of trees. A zoning system is in force. The city has an official planning commission, while an unofficial committee is preparing a general scheme for the development of the adjacent area outside the city limits. The surrounding country is a rich agricultural region, with extensive forests of hardwood timber. Fort Wayne is an important railway centre, and three of the roads maintain large shops, employing 3,00o men. The value of the city's factory output in 1927 reached a total of $95,365,951. Over 200 different articles are manufactured, chief among which are car wheels, electrical machinery and equipment, oil tanks and pumps, hosiery, overalls, agricultural machinery, pianos and organs. The State School for Feeble-minded Youth is situated here.
The Miami Indians had several villages in this neighbourhood, and the principal one, Kekionaga (Miami Town or Great Miami village), was within the limits of the present city. A French trad ing post was established about 168o on the east bank of the St. Mary, and in 1749-50 the French fort was moved to the east bank of the St. Joseph. The English occupied the fort in 1760, and in 1763 it was captured by Pontiac, after a siege of more than three months. In 1790 the Miami villages were destroyed. In Sept. 1794, Gen. Anthony Wayne built a stockade fort on the south bank of the Maumee, where Old Fort park now lies. By the treaty of Greenville, concluded by General Wayne on Aug. 3, a tract of 6 sq.m., including the sites of the Miami villages, was ceded to the United States and free passage to Fort Wayne and down the Maumee to Lake Erie was guaranteed by the Indians. Important treaties affecting other regions were made at Fort Wayne with the Indians by General W. H. Harrison in 1803 and 1809. In Sept. 1813, the fort was besieged by Indians, who withdrew on the arrival of General Harrison with 2,700 men. It was abandoned on April 19, 1819, and no trace of it remains. Permanent settlement dates from 1815. A town was platted in 1824 and was made the county seat, and the city was chartered in 184o. It was an important fur-trading depot until 183o, and in 1843 its growth was stimulated by the opening of the Wabash and Erie canal. The population was 4,282 in 1850; 26,88o in 1880. It increased 68% between 188o and 190o; 92% between 1900 and 1920.