Monticello was founded by the White County commissioners in 1834 on a
bluff above the Tippecanoe River. They named it after the mansion of
Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States.
It was incorporated as a town in 1862. The county seat grew more rapidly
when the railroads came to town before the Civil War. Then the town grew
large enough to become a city in 1909, and a mayor was elected. The area
around the city became a tourist destination in the 1920s after dams
created the twin lakes--Shafer and Freeman--and Ideal Beach was
conceived. It was renamed Indiana Beach in the 1950s and became the
largest entertainment park in the state. In 1974, a devastating tornado
roared through downtown Monticello, killing eight people and destroying
a large part of the city. However, the people of Monticello banded
together to reconstruct a stronger community. Today the city of
Monticello is a thriving, progressive community growing in population
and size. About a million tourists come to the area each summer to relax
and have fun.