Pence is a small town in Jordan Township

Jordan Township, Warren County, Indiana

Jordan Township is one of twelve townships in Warren County, Indiana, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 254. It is almost entirely agricultural and contains no incorporated towns.-History:...

, Warren County

Warren County, Indiana

Warren County lies in western Indiana between the Illinois border and the Wabash River in the United States. Before the arrival of non-indigenous settlers in the early 19th century, the area was inhabited by several Native American tribes. The county was officially established in 1827 and...

, Indiana

Indiana

Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

.

History

Pence was founded in September 1902 by Frank R. Pence, who purchased 40 acres (161,874.4 m²) of land for the purpose. In 1903, Pence became the smallest town in the United States to have a central water system. In the early part of the 20th century, Pence had numerous businesses including a grain elevator, a blacksmith shop, a welding and machine shop, a lumber yard, a coal yard, the Bank of Pence (which closed in the 1920s), a hotel (which also housed the post office for a time), restaurants, a general store, grocery stores, a hardware store, a weekly newspaper, a funeral home, a jewelry store, and various others. As of 1913, the population was about 150.

Pence had a baseball team from 1910 to 1955, and also had a basketball team (the Pence Aces).

The post office operated from October 12, 1903 to April 5, 1957.

Geography

Pence is located less than a mile east of the Indiana-Illinois state line and a quarter mile from Jordan Creek, which flows southwest toward the Vermilion River

Vermilion River (Wabash River tributary)

The Vermilion River is a tributary of the Wabash River in the states of Illinois and Indiana, United States.There are two "Vermilion Rivers" in Illinois. The Wabash tributary flows south, while the other Vermilion River flows north to the Illinois River...

. It is on County Road 300 North, which (in Illinois) runs into the town of Rossville

Rossville, Illinois

Rossville is a village in Ross Township, Vermilion County, Illinois, United States. It is part of the 'Danville, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area'. The population was 1,217 at the 2000 census, and 1,147 in 2009.-History:...

about 9 miles to the west.