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County · code 18127

Porter CountyIndiana

Porter County is a county in Indiana, formed in 1835 from St. Joseph County, with Valparaiso as its seat.

  • Founded1835
  • County seatValparaiso
  • Named forDavid Porter
  • Land area418 sq mi + 104 sq mi water
  • Population173,215 2020 Census
  • Parcels mapped82,506 checked 15 October 2026
Open the free map Click any parcel in Porter County: acreage, parcel id, address and who publishes the map. No sign-in.

Updated

LakeLaPorteStarkeJasperBerrien, MI Valparaiso Census outline · seat marked

Where it is

Porter on the map of Indiana

Indiana has 92 counties and county equivalents, each with its own records office. Shapes with a page are links.

Adams CountyAllen CountyBartholomew CountyBenton CountyBlackford CountyBoone CountyBrown CountyCarroll CountyCass CountyClark CountyClay CountyClinton CountyCrawford CountyDaviess CountyDearborn CountyDecatur CountyDeKalb CountyDelaware CountyDubois CountyElkhart CountyFayette CountyFloyd CountyFountain CountyFranklin CountyFulton CountyGibson CountyGrant CountyGreene CountyHamilton CountyHancock CountyHarrison CountyHendricks CountyHenry CountyHoward CountyHuntington CountyJackson CountyJasper CountyJay CountyJefferson CountyJennings CountyJohnson CountyKnox CountyKosciusko CountyLaGrange CountyLake CountyLaPorte CountyLawrence CountyMadison CountyMarion CountyMarshall CountyMartin CountyMiami CountyMonroe CountyMontgomery CountyMorgan CountyNewton CountyNoble CountyOhio CountyOrange CountyOwen CountyParke CountyPerry CountyPike CountyPosey CountyPulaski CountyPutnam CountyRandolph CountyRipley CountyRush CountySt. Joseph CountyScott CountyShelby CountySpencer CountyStarke CountySteuben CountySullivan CountySwitzerland CountyTippecanoe CountyTipton CountyUnion CountyVanderburgh CountyVermillion CountyVigo CountyWabash CountyWarren CountyWarrick CountyWashington CountyWayne CountyWells CountyWhite CountyWhitley CountyPorter County Porter
Counties of Indiana · Porter highlighted

History

Formed in 1835 from St. Joseph County

An old deed may name a county that no longer exists, or a boundary that has since moved.

Porter County was created on February 7, 1835, from St. Joseph County but remained attached to St. Joseph for administrative and judicial purposes until it was fully organized on February 1, 1836. The county gained territory from Newton, St. Joseph, and White counties when it was fully organized, while losing land to the creation of Lake County, which was initially attached to Porter for administrative purposes before being fully organized in 1837.

Boundary changes from the Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries; the 5 that matter most are shown first.

  1. 1835
    Porter County created Porter created from Non-County Area 14 attached to St. Joseph; Porter not fully organized, attached to St. Joseph for administrative and judicial purposes.
    from St. Joseph
    · Ind. Acts 1834, 19th sess., gen., ch. 25, sec. 14/p. 47
  2. 1836
    Gained territory Porter gained from that part of Newton attached to St. Joseph and White; lost to creation of Lake. Porter fully organized, detached from St. Joseph.
    from Newtonfrom St. Josephfrom Whitefrom Lake
    · Ind. Acts 1835, 20th sess., gen., ch. 18/p. 51
  3. 1836
    Changed Lake attached to Porter for administrative and judicial purposes.
    Lake
    · Ind. Acts 1835, 20th sess., gen., ch. 55/p. 84
  4. 1837
    Changed Lake fully organized, detached from Porter.
    Lake
    · Ind. Acts 1836, 21st sess., gen., ch. 3/p. 55
  5. 1842
    Lost territory Porter lost to non-county area over the waters of Lake Michigan when its jurisdiction was restricted to land. · Ind. Rev. Stat. 1843, ch. 2, secs. 2, 26, 28-31, 36-37, 42-44, 61, 67, 77, 80-82, 85-86/pp. 68, 74-81, 84, 86, 88-89
Show all 10 changes (5 more, mostly small adjustments)
  1. 1835
    Porter County created Porter created from Non-County Area 14 attached to St. Joseph; Porter not fully organized, attached to St. Joseph for administrative and judicial purposes.
    from St. Joseph
    · Ind. Acts 1834, 19th sess., gen., ch. 25, sec. 14/p. 47
  2. 1836
    Gained territory Porter gained from that part of Newton attached to St. Joseph and White; lost to creation of Lake. Porter fully organized, detached from St. Joseph.
    from Newtonfrom St. Josephfrom Whitefrom Lake
    · Ind. Acts 1835, 20th sess., gen., ch. 18/p. 51
  3. 1836
    Changed Lake attached to Porter for administrative and judicial purposes.
    Lake
    · Ind. Acts 1835, 20th sess., gen., ch. 55/p. 84
  4. 1837
    Changed Lake fully organized, detached from Porter.
    Lake
    · Ind. Acts 1836, 21st sess., gen., ch. 3/p. 55
  5. 1838
    Boundary clarified Northern boundary of Newton was redefined, which would have created a dispute with Porter, but change never took effect; corrected 11 February 1839.
    with Newtonno change
    · Ind. Acts 1837, 22d sess., loc., ch. 61, secs. 41, 48, 50, 52, 64-66, 70-71, 75-78/pp. 241-266; Pence and Armstrong, 406
  6. 1839
    Boundary clarified Boundary between Porter and Newton was redefined, correcting mistake of 17 February 1838 (no change).
    with Newtonno change
    · Ind. Acts 1838, 23d sess., gen., ch. 53/p. 68
  7. 1839
    Boundary clarified Porter boundaries were redefined (no change).
    no change
    · Ind. Acts 1838, 23d sess., gen., ch. 56/p. 70
  8. 1842
    Lost territory Porter lost to non-county area over the waters of Lake Michigan when its jurisdiction was restricted to land. · Ind. Rev. Stat. 1843, ch. 2, secs. 2, 26, 28-31, 36-37, 42-44, 61, 67, 77, 80-82, 85-86/pp. 68, 74-81, 84, 86, 88-89
  9. 1851
    Gained territory Porter gained from non-county area over the waters of Lake Michigan when the county line was extended to the northern boundary of Indiana. · Ind. Acts 1850, 35th sess., gen., ch. 35/p. 58
  10. 1923
    Changed Southern boundary of Porter along Kankakee River was adjusted to match ditching of streambed. · Ind. Acts 1923, 73d sess., reg., ch. 164, secs. 1-3/pp. 464-465

Land and parcels

What the maps cover in Porter

Who publishes each layer, how good it is, and when we last checked.

Official
from the office that keeps the record
Good enough
a reliable statewide or national copy
Fallback
a guide only; check the official record
Missing
nothing public found yet

People and land

Porter by the Census

Population
173,215 2020 Census count
Housing units
71,483 2020 Census count
Land area
418 square miles
Water area
104 square miles
People per sq mi
414 population ÷ land area

Source: US Census Bureau, 2020 Census; US Census Bureau, 2020 Gazetteer Files. Not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.

Rules and offices

Porter County's official site

We have found the county's site but not its offices yet; start there.

County government

See your own lot on these maps

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Questions

Common questions about Porter County

When was Porter County founded?
Porter County was founded in 1835, formed from St. Joseph County, and named after David Porter.
What is the county seat of Porter County?
The county seat of Porter County is Valparaiso.
Is there an online parcel map for Porter County?
Yes. Indiana Geographic Information Office (IndianaMap) publishes a parcel map of 82,506 parcels, rated good enough here. You can click any parcel on it in Parcel Chart's free map, no sign-in needed.
Has Porter County's boundary or name changed?
Porter County was created in 1835 from St. Joseph County. Since then the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries records 6 later changes, chiefly involving Lake County, Newton County and St. Joseph County.
Is my lot in a flood zone?
We do not have flood maps for Porter County yet. Look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center, which shows the effective flood map for any lot.

Nearby

Counties next door