Greencastle is a city in Greencastle Township, Putnam County, Indiana, United States, and the county seat of Putnam County. It was founded in 1821 by Ephraim Dukes on a land grant. He named the settlement for his hometown of Greencastle, Pennsylvania. Greencastle was a village or town operating under authority of the Putnam County commissioners until March 9, 1849, when it became a town by special act of the local legislature. Greencastle, Indiana, officially became a city after an election held on July 8, 1861. The first mayor of Greencastle was E. R. Kercheval, a member of the Freemason Temple Lodge #47. The city became the county seat of Putnam County. The population was 10,326 at the 2010 census. It is located near Interstate 70 approximately halfway between Terre Haute and Indianapolis in the west-central portion of the state. Greencastle is well known as being the location of DePauw University.
Education
Public schools
Greencastle's public schools are operated by the Greencastle Community School Corporation. The Greencastle School Corporation consists of one Central Office; one High School, Greencastle High School, which hosts grades 9th through 12th; one Middle School, Greencastle Middle School, which hosts grades 6th through 8th; one Intermediate School, Tzouanakis Intermediate School, which hosts grades 3rd through 5th and two Primary Schools, Martha J. Ridpath Primary School (also known as Ridpath Primary) and Deer Meadow Primary School which each host kindergarten through 2nd grade.
Private schools
Peace Lutheran School is a private school in Greencastle, Indiana, which according to their website is "an outreach of Peace Lutheran Church." It was founded in 1984 as a preschool. In 1995, kindergarten was added as a half-day program. The year 2002 marked the beginning of the Primary School with the addition of 5th grade. (In Indiana, Primary Schools are typically interpreted as 1st through 2nd, 3rd, or 4th grades.) As of 2011, the school hosts grades kindergarten through 6th grade.
Colleges and universities
DePauw University is a private national liberal arts college. It was founded as Indiana Asbury University in 1837 as an all men's school. In 1867, Laura Beswick, Mary Simmons, Alice Allen, and Bettie Locke Hamilton (then Bettie Locke), the chief founder of Kappa Alpha Theta, America's first college women's fraternity, became the University's first four female students.
DePauw today has an enrollment of about 2400 students. Students hail from 42 states and 32 countries with a 20.4% multicultural enrollment. DePauw's liberal arts education gives students a chance to gain general knowledge outside of their direct area of study. DePauw consistently ranks among the top 50 liberal arts colleges in America in both U.S. News & World Report rankings and Kiplinger's “best value” list. In a 2009 Center for College Affordability & Productivity ranking published in Forbes magazine, DePauw was ranked No. 42 under “America’s Best Colleges.”
Ivy Tech Community College (also Ivy Tech) is the nation's largest statewide community college with single accreditation. A 33,300 square foot, $8.6 million Ivy Tech campus was completed in 2009 in Greencastle. The Ivy Tech branch in Greencastle is also assisted financially by The Putnam County Community Foundation.
Other educational facilities
Greencastle is the home of the Putnam County Public Library, a public library which serves patrons from Putnam County and surrounding counties. Services include books, books on CD, ebooks, movies, music, newspapers, magazines, computer and Internet access, Wi-fi, inter-library loan, programming for all ages, author series, book discussion groups and multiple public meeting rooms. The PCPL Local History and Genealogy Department is dedicated to collecting, preserving, and providing public access to Putnam County's historical records. As of 2017 the library began an adult literacy program, the Putnam Adult Literacy Services (PALS). In conjunction with the PALS program, the PALS Pups program allows children to read to the certified "good citizen" dogs. The Putnam County Public Library is a Carnegie Library and was built in 1903. In 1996, a large addition made the library what it is today.