Yankeetown was founded in 1923 by the Indiana politician and lawyer Armanis F. Knotts, who moved to the area because of his great love for hunting. Originally named for the founder, the present name comes from the fact the localmail carrier frequently and derisively directed visitors to the settlement he called "that Yankee town".
As of the census of 2000, there were 629 people, 309 households, and 194 families residing in the town. The population density was 80.4 people per square mile. There were 472 housing units at an average density of 60.3 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 96.82% White, 1.43% Native American, 0.79% Asian, and 0.95% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.64% of the population. There were 309 households out of which 12.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.3% were married couplesliving together, 5.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.9% were non-families. 31.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.04 and the average family size was 2.48. In the town, the population was spread out with 14.1% under the age of 18, 3.5% from 18 to 24, 15.6% from 25 to 44, 36.6% from 45 to 64, and 30.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 55 years. For every 100 females, there were 105.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 105.3 males. The median income for a household in the town was $33,304, and the median income for a family was $40,833. Males had a median income of $28,750 versus $31,500 for females. The per capita income for the town was $22,774. About 6.8% of families and 12.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.5% of those under age 18 and 11.3% of those age 65 or over.
Education
operates the PK-8 Yankeetown School. Levy County provides Yankeetown with a local library branch. The original library opened in 1959 with 1,000 donated books The A.F. Knotts Public Library was named in honor of the town's founder; Armanis F. Knotts in 1975 by his nephew Eugene Knotts.
