Lafayette is a city in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, 63 miles (101 km) northwest of Indianapolis. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,397. The city is the county seat of Tippecanoe County. West Lafayette, just across the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, which has a large impact on both communities. In its earliest days Lafayette was a shipping center on the Wabash River. The Wabash and Erie Canal in the 1840s further cemented Lafayette's regional prominence and was escalated by the arrival of the railroads in the 1850s. The Monon Railroad connected Lafayette with other sections of Indiana.