New Release – A History of Switzerland County

New Release – A History of Switzerland County

Yesterday I published the third volume of my Indiana Short County History Series, A History of Switzerland County. This has been an interesting book to write, as I was not aware of much of the history of this county which is not far from my home in Southeastern Indiana.
Origin of United States Wine Industry
A group of Swiss wine makers emigrated to the United States in the late 17th Century looking to establish a wine making industry in America. They hoped to escape the war torn environment of Europe.Their first experiments took place near Lexington, Kentucky. The climate was too cold for their European grape varieties to survive and by 1809 the vineyards in Kentucky had failed.
New Switzerland
Prior to the failure in Kentucky, they had scouted out land in the Indiana Territory along the Ohio River. They settled on the region that is now Switzerland County and persuaded Congress to grant them 2500 acres of land along the river to grow grapes. Congress concurred and granted them the land in 1802.
Hybrid Grapes
By now that time the grape vines at Lexington had been damaged by frosts, so the Swiss chose some young grapes that had survived and transplanted them to the new vineyards near their new town of Vevay. They were unaware that these young wine grapes had interbred with American grapes. The hybrid vines had inherited the American grape’s tolerance for frost while retaining the superior wine making qualities of their European counterparts.
Birth of An Industry
They produced their first wine in 1806 and found that this wine was quite good. Over the next few decades they planted more land to vineyards and produced wine that was sold all over the United States.
Blight
Unfortunately, a blight struck in the middle 1850’s that killed the vines, a calamity from which Switzerland County never recovered. The residents of Vevay and Switzerland County celebrate their heritage every year at the Swiss Wine Festival, held in late August each year. Many of the wineries in the area attend the festival offering wine tasting and sales.
Check it out at Swiss Wine Festival

A History of Switzerland County