Rensselaer is a small city of around 6,000 on the Iroquois River, an easy detour off I-65 between Indianapolis and Chicago. The town takes its name from the New York merchant James Van Rensselaer, who platted it in 1837, and was given a railroad in the 1860s that has stuck around — Amtrak's Cardinal still calls at the small brick depot three times a week on its run between New York and Chicago. The county seat sits around a tidy 1898 limestone courthouse, ringed by brick storefronts that make up the Courthouse Square Historic District.
For a century Rensselaer was also a college town: Saint Joseph's College, founded by the Society of the Precious Blood in 1889, suspended operations in 2017. Its red-brick chapel and historic campus buildings south of town are still worth a drive past. White Castle bakes the bun supply for much of its Midwest chain at a large plant just north of town, which helps keep the local economy stable. For food, there is an Arni's pizza parlor, a Chinese restaurant, and the seasonal Busy Bee ice cream stand.