By Town Vines Staff
Tell City traces its 150+ year old roots to a meeting in Cincinnati, Ohio, in November 1856, when a group of Swiss-German immigrants met to organize the “Swiss Colonization Society” to obtain affordable homesteads for mechanics, shopkeepers, factory workers and small farmers in a location where all could live in harmony. Purchase of the site was made in July 1857, with the tract containing 4,152 acres, laid out in 392 town blocks with 7,328 building lots and 294 garden lots.
The town was founded in 1857 by Swiss-German immigrants who organized a “Swiss Colonization Society” in Cincinnati the year prior, and they originally named it Helvetia (the Latin name for Switzerland), then renamed it Tell City after Swiss folk hero William Tell. A bronze statue of William Tell stands in the city hall plaza. Tell City had grown into a thriving community in the forty years after its founding, and around 1898 they built a Romanesque Revival style city hall building that stands 133 feet tall atop a small rise in the center of City Park Square.
After the success of the Centennial celebration in 1958, the Tell City Historical Society decided they would sponsor a festival in 1959 to determine if the community would support it as an annual event—the festival, named Schweizer Fest (Swiss Fest), was a great success and today remains one of Indiana’s longest-running community festivals. The 2026 Schweizer Fest runs from August 5 through August 8, 2026, and the festival has been held annually since 1959, traditionally taking place the first full week of August, Wednesday through Saturday.
Tell City is located in Perry County, Indiana. Tell City has a public library, a branch of the Perry County Public Library.