Brazil

According to most accounts and the most popular accounts, Brazil, Indiana is named after the South American country. On its website, the City of Brazil shares this story about the origin of its name:

“One day early in 1843 [William Stewart aka Yankee Bill] was seated on a log on a spot now occupied by Brazil Bank and Trust Co. discussing with Owen Thorpe the location of a town site at this point on the National Road which and recently been completed through Indiana. Mr. Thorpe owned considerable land where Brazil now stands and donated the ground in 1843, and platted the town, consisting of 28 lots. It is told that he asked Yankee Bill for a suggestion for a name. Yankee Bill, who was a careful reader of the occasional newspapers which came in to the wilderness and had been reading about the revolution in Brazil, South America, suggested the name “Brazil” as a short and easily remembered name for the new town.” 

The city’s connection to the country is not limited to their shared name. In 1956 the Brazilian ambassador gave the Chafariz dos Contos fountain to the city.   

Brazil is the county seat of Clay County and home to the county’s courthouse built of limestone. Read more about Brazil’s extensive history here. Learn how coal mines, clay factories, and the location along the National Road impacted the city's early growth.



View Larger Map