Crawfordsville is a city in
Montgomery CountyMontgomery County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2000, the population was 37,629. The county seat is Crawfordsville.-Early history and settlement:...
,
IndianaIndiana is a U.S. state, the 19
th admitted to the Union. It is located in the Great Lakes region, and with approximately 6.3 million residents, is ranked 16
th in population and 17
th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38
th in land area, and is the...
,
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 15,243. The city is the
county seatA county seat is a term for an administrative center for a county or civil parish, primarily used in the United States. In the Northeast United States, the statutory term often is shire town, but colloquially county seat is the term in use there...
of Montgomery County.
Crawfordsville and the unincorporated county areas attached to it are collectively referred to as
Union TownshipUnion Township is one of eleven townships in Montgomery County, Indiana, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 23,837. Wabash College is located in Crawfordsville in this township.-Geography:...
.
Geography
Crawfordsville is located at (40.038831, -86.896755).
According to the
United States Census BureauThe United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data. As part of the United States Department of Commerce, the Census Bureau serves as the leading source of quality data about...
, the city has a total area of 8.4 square miles (21.7 km²), all of it land.
Crawfordsville is located in west central Indiana, about an hour west-northwest of
IndianapolisIndianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. The United States Census estimated the city's population, excluding the included towns, at 798,382 in 2008...
, the state capital.
Beginnings
In 1813 Williamson Dunn, Henry Ristine, and Major Ambrose Whitlock noted that the site of present-day Crawfordsville was ideal for settlement, surrounded by deciduous forest and potentially arable land, with water provided by a nearby creek, later named Sugar Creek. They returned a decade later to find at least one cabin built. In 1821,
William and Jennie OffieldIn 1821, William Offield built a cabin on a creek, , four miles southwest of the future site of Crawfordsville, Indiana in an area now known as Balhinch...
had built a cabin on a little creek, later to be known as Offield Creek, four miles southwest of the future site of Crawfordsville.
Major Whitlock laid out the town in March 1823. Crawfordsville was named in honor of Colonel
William H. CrawfordWilliam Harris Crawford was an American politician and judge during the early 19th century. He served as United States Secretary of War from 1815 to 1816 and United States Secretary of the Treasury from 1816 to 1825, and was a candidate for President of the United States in 1824.-Political...
, who was the cabinet officer who had issued Whitlock's commission as Receiver of Public Lands.
Col. Crawford, who came from Virginia, was captured by hostile Indians on the river Sandusky in 1782 and burned at the stake.
According to a diary of Sanford C. Cox, one of the first schoolmasters in the area, in 1824: "Crawfordsville is the only town between Terre Haute and Fort Wayne... Maj. Ristine keeps tavern in a two-story log house and Johnathan Powers has a little grocery. There are two stores, Smith's near the land office, and Issac C. Elston's, near the tavern... David Vance [is the] sheriff.
It was successfully incorporated as a town in 1834, following a failed attempt three years earlier.
In November 1832,
Wabash CollegeWabash College is a small, private, liberal arts college for men, located in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Along with Hampden-Sydney College and Morehouse College, Wabash is one of only three remaining mainstream all-men's liberal arts colleges in the United States....
was founded in Crawfordsville as "The Wabash Teachers Seminary and Manual Labor College".
Today, it is one of only four remaining all-male liberal arts colleges in the country, and has a student body of around 900.
On December 18, 1833, the Crawfordsville Record carried a paid announcement of the opening of Crawfordsville High School.
The city grew in size and amenities, adding such necessities as a bank and fire department. It gained status as a city in 1865, when Indiana granted its charters.
Late 1800s
In 1862, Joseph F. Tuttle, after whom Tuttle Grade School was named in 1906 and Tuttle Middle School was named in 1960, became President of Wabash College and served for 30 years. "He was an eloquent preacher, a sound administrator and an astute handler of public relations." Joseph Tuttle, together with his administrators, worked to improve relations in Crawfordsville between "Town and Gown".
In 1880, prominent local citizen
Lew WallaceLewis "Lew" Wallace was a lawyer, governor, Union general in the American Civil War, American statesman, and author, best remembered for his historical novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.-Early life and career:...
produced Crawfordsville's most famous literary work,
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, a historical novel dealing with the beginnings of the Christianity in the Mediterranean world.
Perhaps more crucial for Indiana's basketball-oriented culture, both the first official basketball game in the state (Crawfordsville versus Lafayette, March 16, 1894) and the first official intercollegiate basketball game (Wabash versus Purdue, also in 1894) occurred at the city's YMCA.
In 1882 one of the first
Rotary JailA Rotary jail was an architectural design for some prisons in the US Midwest during the late 19th century. Cells in the jails were arranged so that they rotated in a carousel fashion; allowing only one cell at a time to be accessible from the single opening per level.-Design and patent:The rotary...
s in the country opened. The jail is now a museum and listed on the
National Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Early 1900s
The beginning of 20th century marked important steps for Crawfordsville, as Culver Union Hospital and the Carnegie Library were built in 1902. Culver moved from its original location near downtown in 1984 and was renamed St. Clare Medical Center in 2000. The Carnegie Library is being reverted to a local museum and the public library has since moved across the street. In 1911, Crawfordsville High School (motto: Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve) was founded, and promptly won the state's first high school basketball title. Crawfordsville's major employer for much of the century, commercial printer RR Donnelley, began operations in Crawfordsville in 1922.
Recent history
Recent history has held few nationally noteworthy events for the city, but much internal change.
NucorNucor Corporation is one of the largest steel producers in the United States, and the largest of the "mini-mill" operators...
Steel,
Alcoathe river: Alcoa RiverAlcoa, Inc. is the world's third largest producer of aluminum, behind Rio Tinto Alcan and Rusal. From its operational headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Alcoa conducts operations in 44 countries...
CSI, Raybestos Products Company, Pace Dairy Foods, and Random House have all created factories in or near Crawfordsville which provided employment to much of the population.
Wabash CollegeWabash College is a small, private, liberal arts college for men, located in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Along with Hampden-Sydney College and Morehouse College, Wabash is one of only three remaining mainstream all-men's liberal arts colleges in the United States....
won the Division III NCAA basketball title in 1982. The college plays an annual Football rivalry game, against
DepauwDePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, USA, is a private, national liberal arts college with an enrollment of approximately 2,400 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University...
for the
Monon BellThe Monon Bell is the trophy awarded to the victor of the annual college football matchup between the DePauw University Tigers and the Wabash College Little Giants in the United States. The Bell is a 300-pound locomotive bell from the Monon Railroad...
, one of the oldest rivalries in all college sports. In 1998 the state began a proposed project to widen
U.S. Route 231U.S. Route 231 is a spur of U.S. Route 31. It currently runs for 912 miles from St. John, Indiana at U.S. Route 41 to south of U.S. Route 98 in Downtown Panama City, Florida.One of its most notable landmarks is the William H...
, in an attempt to ease intrastate travel flow.
Silver Dollar fire
On May 8, 2007, approximately a quarter-block of historic buildings in the 100 block of South Washington Street was burned in a major fire. A woman in one of the buildings reported the fire.
One person died in the fire. The fire was covered by the press statewide. Two buildings, built circa 1882, were completely destroyed: one that housed the Silver Dollar Bar (formerly Tommy Kummings' Silver Dollar Tavern); the other contained the New York Shoe Repair and Bargain Center at the corner of Pike and Washington streets. Above the shoe store were several apartments where residents were sleeping.
On May 22, 2007, the fire was ruled to have been an act of arson.
Local Legend
A
monsterA monster is any type of legendary creatures which usually appear in legend or horror fiction. The word monster derives from the latin word monstrum, meaning "omen", from the root of monere and also meaning "prodigy" or "miracle"....
was seen here in the late 1800s that became known as the
Crawfordsville monsterThe Crawfordsville monster is the name given to an unidentified flying creature that was allegedly sighted in the skies of the small town of Crawfordsville, Indiana...
. It was described to be made of a cloud with red glowing eyes. The story was featured in
The History ChannelHistory, formerly known as The History Channel, is an international satellite and cable TV channel that broadcasts programs regarding historical events and persons, as well as various metaphysical, pseudoscientific, and paranormal phenomena—-often with observations and explanations by noted...
's television series,
Monster QuestMonsterQuest is an American documentary television series that premiered on October 31, 2007 on the History channel. The program deals with the search for various cryptozoological creatures and paranormal entities reportedly witnessed around the world...
, on the episode on unidentified flying creatures.
Industry
Crawfordsville is the home of the world's first thin-slab casting minimill (steel manufacturing plant that recycles scrap steel using an electric arc-furnace). Nucor Steel broke ground on its first sheet steel mill and first galvanizing line at its $1 B Crawfordsville facility in 1987.
Demographics
As of the 2000
censusA "census" is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population.In other words every 10 years...next one would be in 2010 The term is used mostly in connection with...
, there were 15,243 people, 6,117 households, and 3,664 families residing in the city. The
population densityPopulation density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans. It is a key term used in geography....
was 1,819.4 people per square mile (702.3/km²). There were 6,623 housing units at an average density of 790.5/sq mi (305.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 94.02% White, 1.61% African American, 0.31% Native American, 0.70% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 2.39% from
other racesRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the United States Census Bureau and the Federal Office of Management and Budget , are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 0.91% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.25% of the population.
There were 6,117 households out of which 29.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.0% were married couples living together, 11.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.1% were non-families. 33.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.94.
In the city the population was spread out with 23.3% under the age of 18, 13.4% from 18 to 24, 27.3% from 25 to 44, 19.6% from 45 to 64, and 16.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 98.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $34,571, and the median income for a family was $43,211. Males had a median income of $32,834 versus $22,093 for females. The
per capita incomePer capita income means how much each individual receives, in monetary terms, of the yearly income generated in the country. This is what each citizen is to receive if the yearly national income is divided equally among everyone. Per capita income is usually reported in units of currency per year...
for the city was $16,945. About 10.0% of families and 12.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.9% of those under age 18 and 7.0% of those age 65 or over.
Notable natives and residents
- Joseph P. Allen
Joseph Percival Allen, Ph.D. is a former NASA astronaut. He logged more than 3,000 hours flying time in jet aircraft.Allen is married to the former Bonnie Jo Darling of Elkhart, Indiana. Their children are David Christopher, born September 1968 and Elizabeth Darling, born May 1972.-Education:Allen...
- mission specialist on the first fully operational flight of the Space Shuttle in 1982
- Curly Bill Brocius — Old West
The American Old West comprises the history, geography, peoples, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States, most often referring to the period of the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of the century...
outlaw
- Edward Richard Sprigg Canby — Union general in the American Civil War
The American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
- Henry Beebee Carrington — Union general during the Civil War
- Dick van Dyke
Richard Wayne “Dick” Van Dyke is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer with a career spanning six decades...
— actor
- Eleanor Lambert
Eleanor Lambert was a U.S. fashion pioneer who established the Best Dressed List in 1940. She was born in Crawfordsville, Indiana and died in New York City....
— head of NYC Fashion Institute
- Henry S. Lane — United States Senator and pallbearer for Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery...
- Stephen A. Love
Stephen A. Love is a professional musician, singer, songwriter, producer, real estate broker, and CEO of the Vallartamex S.C. construction firm. He is also the owner of Blue Jeans Music BMI. He lives in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico.Stephen A...
— musician
- James W. Marshall
James Wilson Marshall was an American carpenter and sawmill operator, whose discovery of gold in the American River in California on January 24, 1848 set the stage for the California Gold Rush...
— gold miner who set off the California Gold RushThe California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was discovered by James Wilson Marshall at Sutter's Mill, in Coloma, California. News of the discovery soon spread, resulting in some 300,000 men, women, and children coming to California from the rest of the United States and...
.
- Pete Metzelaars
Peter Henry Metzelaars is a former American football tight end who played for the Seattle Seahawks, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, and Detroit Lions in a sixteen-year career in the National Football League....
— professional football player and coach
- Will Shortz
Will Shortz is an American puzzle creator and editor.-Early life:Will Shortz was born and raised on an Arabian horse farm in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Graduating from Indiana University in 1974, he is the only person known to hold a college degree in enigmatology, the study of puzzles, after...
— New York Times puzzle writer
- William Wheeler Thornton
William Wheeler Thornton was an Indiana lawyer, Attorney General, judge, and author. He was born in Logansport, Indiana, to John Allen and Elizabeth B. Thomas Thornton, members of respectable farming families...
— Author, State Supreme Ct. Librarian, Indiana Dep. Attorney General, Crawfordsville City Attorney
- Lew Wallace
Lewis "Lew" Wallace was a lawyer, governor, Union general in the American Civil War, American statesman, and author, best remembered for his historical novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.-Early life and career:...
— Union general in the Civil War and author of Ben-Hur
- Susan Wallace
Susan Arnold Elston Wallace was an American author and poet.-Biography:Susan Wallace was born in Crawfordsville, Indiana to Isaac C. and Maria E. Aiken Elston on December 30, 1830. She was educated in Crawfordsville and Poughkeepsie, New York.She married Lew Wallace on May 6, 1852. They had one...
— author and poet; wife of Lew Wallace
- Warrior
Warrior is a retired American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in the World Wrestling Federation throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s as the Ultimate Warrior, during which time he won the WWF Championship and pinned Hulk Hogan in the main event of WrestleMania VI...
— former professional wrestler, best known as The Ultimate Warrior
- James Wilson — United States Representative from Indiana
Rail Transportation
Currently,
AmtrakThe National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971 to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a blend of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union Station...
provides service to Crawfordsville.
Amtrak Train 51, the westbound Cardinal, is scheduled to depart Crawfordsville at 7:28am on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday; Amtrak Train 851, the westbound
Hoosier StateThe Hoosier State is a passenger train that provides service on a 196-mile route from Chicago to Indianapolis. It runs on the four days each week that the Cardinal does not run...
, is scheduled to depart Crawfordsville at 7:28am on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. Both trains go to
LafayetteLafayette is a city in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, U.S., 63 miles 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, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University,...
,
RensselaerRensselaer is a city located along the Iroquois River in Marion Township, Jasper County, Indiana, United States. The population was 5,294 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Jasper County. Rensselaer is home to Saint Joseph's College of Indiana....
,
DyerDyer is a town in St. John Township, Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 13,895 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Dyer is located at ....
and
Chicago Union StationUnion Station is a Chicago train station that opened in 1925, replacing an earlier 1881 station, and is now the only intercity rail terminal in Chicago. Union Station was built on the west side of the Chicago River and stands between Adams Street and Jackson Street...
to connect with other trains.
Amtrak Train 50, the eastbound Cardinal, is scheduled to depart Dyer at 10:30pm on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday with service to
IndianapolisIndianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. The United States Census estimated the city's population, excluding the included towns, at 798,382 in 2008...
,
ConnersvilleConnersville is a city in Fayette County, Indiana, United States. The population was 15,411 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Fayette County...
,
CincinnatiCincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. The municipality is located north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border. The population within city limits was estimated to be 333,336 in 2008, making it the state's third largest city...
,
MaysvilleMaysville is a city in and the county seat of Mason County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 8,993 at the 2000 census, making it the fiftieth largest city in Kentucky by population. Maysville is on the Ohio River, 66 miles northeast of Lexington, Kentucky. It is the principal city of...
,
South PortsmouthSouth Shore is a city in Greenup County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 1,226 at the 2000 census. It is located along the Ohio River across from Portsmouth, Ohio, at the mouth of Tygarts Creek...
,
AshlandAshland is a city in Boyd County, Kentucky, United States, nestled along the banks of the Ohio River. The population was 21,981 at the 2000 census. Ashland is a part of the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH, Metropolitan Statistical Area . As of the 2000 census, the MSA had a population of 288,649....
,
HuntingtonHuntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia, along the Ohio River. Most of the city is in Cabell County, for which it is the county seat. A small portion of the city, mainly the neighborhood of Westmoreland, is in Wayne County. Its population was estimated...
,
CharlestonCharleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2000 census, it has a population of 53,421, with its urban area having a population of 212,991, and its metropolitan area 309,635...
,
MontgomeryMontgomery is a city in West Virginia, along the Kanawha River. Most of the city is in Fayette County, with the remainder in Kanawha County. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 1,942 ....
,
ThurmondThurmond is a town in Fayette County, West Virginia, United States, on the New River. The population was 7 at the 2000 census. During the heyday of coal mining in the New River Gorge, Thurmond was a prosperous town with a number of businesses and facilities for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway...
,
PrincePrince is an unincorporated community in Fayette County, West Virginia, United States. Located at an altitude of 1,263 feet , it is served by an Amtrak station.-External links:*...
,
HintonHinton is a city in Summers County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 2,880 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Summers County. Hinton, was established in 1873 and chartered in 1897. Hinton was named for John "Jack" Hinton, a prominent lawyer of Summers County and husband of...
,
AldersonAlderson is a town in Greenbrier and Monroe Counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia, along the Greenbrier River. The population was 1,091 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Alderson is located at ....
,
White Sulphur SpringsWhite Sulphur Springs is a city in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 2,315 at the 2000 census.-Geography:White Sulphur Springs is located at ....
,
Clifton ForgeClifton Forge is a town in Alleghany County, Virginia, United States which is part of the Roanoke Region. The population was 4,289 at the 2000 census. The Jackson River flows through the town, which as a result was once known as Jackson's River Station....
,
StauntonStaunton is an independent city within the confines of Augusta County in the commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 23,853 as of the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Augusta County...
,
CharlottesvilleCharlottesville is an independent city geographically located in Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom....
,
CulpeperCulpeper is an incorporated town in Culpeper County, Virginia, United States. The population was 9,664 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Culpeper County. Culpeper is part of the Culpeper Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Culpeper County...
,
ManassasManassas is an independent city within the confines of Prince William County in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 35,135 at the 2000 census. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Manassas with Prince William County for statistical purposes...
,
AlexandriaAlexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 128,283. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately 6 miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as...
, and Washington, DC and continuing on to New York City.
Amtrak Train 850, the eastbound Hoosier State, is scheduled to depart Dyer at 10:30pm on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with service to Indianapolis.
Until 1967, passenger service was provided by the
Monon RailroadThe Monon Railroad , also known as the Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville Railway from 1897-1956, operated almost entirely within the state of Indiana...
, providing service to Chicago, Lafayette, Greencastle and Bloomington, Indiana.
External links