Pioneers arrived in this area in the late 1820s, soon after the founding of Lafayette. The first town known as West Lafayette failed because it sat on the flood plain of the Wabash River. A second town, named after the prominent Chauncey family, was built higher on a hill. After receiving a charter in 1867, the people of Chauncey voted to change their town's name to West Lafayette. Two years later, the Indiana General Assembly chose West Lafayette as the site of a public university. The school was named after its chief benefactor, industrialist John Purdue, who is buried on the main campus. Purdue is now one of the largest university systems in the country. Learn More...