Delaware Township, Hamilton County, Indiana

Delaware Township was organized in 1823. In the late 1940s, community members began to support changing western Delaware Township borders and becoming part of Clay Township. Carmel had originally been founded as Bethlehem on the border between Delaware and Clay Townships, along the range line. This caused administrative and government issues almost from the beginning. Other township consolidation efforts had been attempted in previous decades, with no success. Because there were few places to cross the river, school access from one side of the river to the other was frustrating and the early 1950s saw an increase in overcrowding in Carmel schools. In 1955, after petitions and votes by township residents, the county commissioners acted to change the boundaries of Delaware and Clay Townships - with the dividing line being the White River. This made Delaware Township the smallest by land area in the county and Clay Township the largest. To accomplish this, an emergency measure had to be passed in the state legislature that allowed a township to be a minimum of 12 square miles. ==Geography==