But of those seven counties, all but Wayne and Fayette grew last year, according to 1999 population estimates. Miami County, for example, appears to have bottomed out in 1995 and has been climbing back ever since, according to Morand. Seven counties Marion, Lake, Elkhart, Allen, St. Joseph, Tippecanoe and Porter accounted for 70 percent of the state's Hispanic population and 68 percent of the Hispanic population growth, according to the Indiana Business Research Center. There was plenty of anecdotal evidence suggesting that Indiana's Hispanic population was growing. Gov. Frank O'Bannon last year created a commission on Latino affairs.
More churches offer services in Spanish.
Police departments, such as the Shelby County Sheriff's office, have brought in Spanish language instructors. And even the Indianapolis Opera has started to outreach to the Hispanic community. But the growth figures released Friday were higher than what was anticipated from population projections. Those projections were based on the 1990 census, which was not as successful in counting minority populations as the 2000 census. Castillo works with Hispanics who are helping build homes in Hamilton County.