Randolph County was organized in 1818, two years after Indiana became a state. It was named for Peyton Randolph, the 1st President of the Continental Congress. The county originally stretched north to the Michigan line and included all present counties in between. First settlers arrived in 1814. The White and Mississinewa rivers served as early highways, and the heavily timbered area developed saw-mills and grist-mills along the rivers. Today the county is 21 miles square, containing 292,000 acres, and includes one of the state's highest land points at 1000 ft. above the Gulf of Mexico.