Indiana Cities & Towns Thread

[Kirk Freeman]

Everyone throw up one unique fact about a city/town/village in Indiana. Can be historical, geographic, business/chamber of commerce related, "fun fact", whatever.

Let's increase INGO's Hoosier Awareness. I'll start: the most densely populated city in Indiana is West Lafayette.

 

[Vince49]

Other than the, "Three Rivers", for which it is obviously known Ft.Wayne is also known as,"The City of Churches", because of the many spires visible in it's downtown skyline.

 

[melensdad]

Uh, unique? Well the town of Lowell is surrounded by corn.

Oh, and it has the oldest Labor Day parade in the state and one of the oldest in the midwest.

 

[atvdave]

Evansville did it's part for WWII....

"They said the museum will teach that Evansville, per capita, made more World War II supplies and ammunition than any other city in the country because of Republic Aviation, the Evansville Shipyard which produced LSTs, and other companies."

Museum to show Evansville's World War II effort : Hafer Associates

 

[Kagnew]

I know that Columbus has visitors from all over the country who come to view all the wonderful architecture (most of which looks like just so much goofy s... to me).

 

[Hawkeye]

Fort Wayne is also known as Summit City - due to it being the high point on the canal system in the early 1800's

 

[Bowman78]

Mooresville, home of the state flag and hometown of famous bank robber John Dillinger I believe????

 

[jontheturboguy]

Greensburg indiana actually has a tree growing out of the court house roof.

Been there for years.

 

[Old_grunt]

Vincennes, oldest (1732) town in the state. Home to George Rogers Clark National Park, Grouseland (Pres. Wm. Henry Harrison's mansion), Territorial capitol of the Northwest Territory, location of first masonic lodge in Indiana (F&AM #1) and the Indiana Military Museum. There's more and I got carried away......

 

[Trigger Time]

Beech Grove has the largest indoor shooting range in Indiana! 20 lanes at 25 yards. Beech Grove Firearms.

also the Amtrak Beech Grove facility has been there since 1908 and is one of the largest in the country.

 

[sepe]

Beech Grove has the largest indoor shooting range in Indiana! 20 lanes at 25 yards. Beech Grove Firearms.

also the Amtrak Beech Grove facility has been there since 1908 and is one of the largest in the country.

That is one of them there FEMA camps, right?

 

[Trigger Time]

Corydon Indiana was the states first Capitol but a little known fact is that it was also the site of a civil war battle where local militia went to battle with confederate General John Hunt Morgan who made his famous northern raid. The battle location is preserved and has a cannon on site.

 

[Trigger Time]

That is one of them there FEMA camps, right?

Lol. I guess you'd have to ask someone who works there.

 

[sepe]

I'm not crazy. Ask someone that works at a FEMA camp if it is a FEMA camp and you're never heard from again.

 

[littletommy]

Clarksville has one of the worlds largest clocks. I think THE largest exposed fossil beds. I live very close to the Ohio River, I can hear the water rumbling through the hydro electric dam, and every where you dig around here, you find arrow heads, animal bones, and, I even found some clay pottery when digging post holes for my deck. A sand pit about a 1/4 mile from here found a full Mammoth skull, complete with tusks, a few years ago.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

A mastodont (a paleo-elephant) skeleton was found in Starke County, Indiana. It is on display at the Indiana State Museum: Mastodont

A short-faced bear skeleton was found in Fulton County, Indiana: shirleys_writings_archive_rochesters_giant_bear

 

[aclark]

Merrillville has/had the oldest tree in Indiana. It has recently died, and was slated for removal.

 

[voodoo304]

At one point Logansport was a bigger railroad hub than Chicago. There is also an old rock quarry in Logansport that was flooded when a natural spring was hit. That spring is actually a large underground river that ties into Lake Michigan.

 

[Mgderf]

West Lafayette is also the home of the oldest drive-in restaurant in Indiana.

The "Triple XXX" restaurant, at 2 North Salisbury St in West Lafayette was founded in 1929.
I believe the original owners name was Burt Wright.

It is now serving the Lafayette/West Lafayette community 24 hours a day, 6 days a week, serving the absolute best "steak burgers" I've ever had.
It's also the only place I know of ANYWHERE that serves a cheese burger with peanut butter on it, called the Duane "Purvis" burger.



www.triplexxxfamilyrestaurant.com

 

[Mgderf]

At one point Logansport was a bigger railroad hub than Chicago. There is also an old rock quarry in Logansport that was flooded when a natural spring was hit. That spring is actually a large underground river that ties into Lake Michigan.

When I was a kid we used to go swimming at the stone quarry in Logansport.
At that time the public still had access to the cliffs, and we used to jump or dive from some as high as 100 feet.

From the taller cliffs I remember seeing a whole train at the bottom of the quarry.
The story was that the quarry filled with water so fast they didn't have time to get the train out.
I don't know if it's still there or not.