Crawfordsville, Indiana | |
|---|---|
City | |
 Montgomery County Courthouse in 2018 | |
 Seal | |
| Nickname: "Athens of Indiana" (William Compton, 1825)[1] | |
 Location of Crawfordsville in Montgomery County, Indiana. | |
  Crawfordsville Crawfordsville's location in Montgomery County | |
| Coordinates:40°02′30″N86°53′48″W / 40.04167°N 86.89667°W /40.04167; -86.89667 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Indiana |
| County | Montgomery |
| Township | Union |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Todd Barton (R) |
| Area | |
• Total | 9.70 sq mi (25.11 km2) |
| • Land | 9.70 sq mi (25.11 km2) |
| • Water | 0 sq mi (0.00 km2) |
| Elevation | 758 ft (231 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 16,306 |
| • Density | 1,682/sq mi (649.3/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| ZIP codes | 47933-47939 |
| Area code | 765 |
| FIPS code | 18-15742[4] |
| GNIS feature ID | 2393664[3] |
| Website | crawfordsville.net |
Crawfordsville (/ˈkrɑːfərdsˌvil/) is a city inMontgomery County in west centralIndiana, United States, 49 miles (79 km) west by northwest ofIndianapolis.[3] As of the2020 census, the city had a population of 16,306. The city is thecounty seat of Montgomery County, the only chartered city and the largest populated place in the county.[5] It is theprincipal city of the Crawfordsville, INMicropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Montgomery County. The city is also part of theIndianapolis–Carmel–Muncie, INCombined Statistical Area.[6]
The city was founded in 1823 on the bank ofSugar Creek, a southern tributary of theWabash River and named for U.S. Treasury SecretaryWilliam H. Crawford. The city is home toWabash College, a private liberal artsmen's college, and theGeneral Lew Wallace Study & Museum, aNational Historic Landmark.
In 1813, Williamson Dunn, Henry Ristine, and Major Ambrose Whitlock, U.S. Army, noted that the site of present-day Crawfordsville was ideal for settlement, surrounded bydeciduous forest and potentially arable land, with water provided by a nearby creek, later named Sugar Creek, that was a southern tributary of the Wabash River. They returned a decade later to find at least one cabin had been built in the area. In 1821,William and Jennie Offield had built a cabin on a little creek, later to be known as Offield Creek, four miles (6.4 km) southwest of the future site of Crawfordsville.
Whitlock, a Virginian who had served under Gen. "Mad"Anthony Wayne in theNorthwest Indian War, laid out the town in March 1823. Crawfordsville was named in honor ofWilliam H. Crawford, a fellow Virginian who wasSecretary of the Treasury under PresidentsMadison andMonroe at that time and who had issued Whitlock's commission as Receiver of Public Lands.[1][7] Whitlock was the first settler in the town.
According to a diary of Sanford C. Cox, who in 1824 was one of the first schoolmasters in the area, "Crawfordsville is the only town between Terre Haute and Fort Wayne... Maj. Ristine keeps tavern in a two-story log house and Jonathan 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."[8]
It was successfully incorporated as a town in 1834, following a failed attempt three years earlier.
In November 1832,Wabash College was founded in Crawfordsville as "The Wabash Teachers Seminary and Manual Labor College". It was created byPresbyterian missionaries but later became non-sectarian.[9] On December 18, 1833, theCrawfordsville Record carried a paid announcement of the opening of this school.[1] The school is one of only three remaining all-male liberal arts colleges in the country and has a student body of around 900.
In 1842, 9-year-old Horace Hovey discovered remarkably well-preservedPentacrinites orCrinoids along the banks of Sugar Creek, which drew researchers and fossil enthusiasts to the area.[10]
Crawfordsville grew in size and amenities, adding such necessities as a bank and fire department. It gained status as a city in 1865 when the state of Indiana granted its charters.
In 1862, Joseph F. Tuttle, after whom Tuttle Grade School was named in 1906 and Tuttle Junior High School (now Crawfordsville 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." Tuttle, together with his administrators, worked to improve relations in Crawfordsville between "Town and Gown".[1]
Several future and past Civil War generals lived in Crawfordsville at different times. GeneralsLew Wallace andMahlon D. Manson spent most of their lives in the town. GeneralsEdward Canby andJohn P. Hawkins spent some of their youth in Crawfordsville. GeneralHenry B. Carrington lived in the town after the war and taught military science at Wabash College. Several other future generals were students at Wabash before the war, includingJoseph J. Reynolds,John C. Black (brevet brigadier),Speed S. Fry,Charles Cruft, and William H. Morgan.[11]
In 1880, prominent local citizenLew Wallace produced Crawfordsville's most famous literary work,Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, a historical novel dealing with the beginnings of Christianity in the Mediterranean world. In addition to Wallace, Crawfordsville lived up to its nickname "The Athens of Indiana" by being the hometown of a number of authors, includingMaurice Thompson,Mary Hannah Krout,Caroline Virginia Krout,Susan Wallace, Will H. Thompson, andMeredith Nicholson.
Hoosiers have long believed that the first basketball game in Indiana occurred on March 16, 1894, at the Crawfordsville YMCA between the teams from Crawfordsville's and Lafayette's YMCAs. Recent research, however, conclusively shows that while Crawfordsville was among the first dozen or so Indiana communities to adopt the sport, it was not the first place basketball was played in Indiana.[12] Nevertheless, Crawfordsville had a vibrant basketball playing culture from early on with teams from the local YMCA, Wabash College, Crawfordsville High School, and a business college competing against each other. Crawfordsville was also the site for one of the earliest intercollegiate basketball games, between Wabash College and Purdue University, in 1894 at the city's YMCA.
In 1882, one of the firstrotary jails in the country opened. It served from 1882 until 1972. TheMontgomery County Jail and Sheriff's Residence is now a museum and listed on theNational Register of Historic Places.
The beginning of the 20th century marked important steps for Crawfordsville, asCulver Union Hospital and theCarnegie Library were built in 1902. Culver operated as a not-for-profit, municipally owned facility for 80 years, but was then sold to for-profit American Medical International, and in 1984 was relocated from its original location near downtown to a new campus north of the city. The hospital's ownership was transferred toSisters of St. Francis Health Services, Inc. in 2000 and renamed St. Clare Medical Center. In 2011, it was again renamed, toFranciscan St. Elizabeth Health - Crawfordsville. Theelectricinterurbanrailway to Lebanon opened in 1904,[13] offering fast frequent transportation to Indianapolis and Lafayette. This was followed in 1907 with theBen Hur Route, which ran directly to Indianapolis.[14] In 1911,Crawfordsville High School was founded, and promptly won the state's first high school basketball title.[15] Crawfordsville's major employer for much of the century, commercial printerRR Donnelley, began operations in Crawfordsville in 1922.
In 1910, the city limits were expanded to annex the adjoining towns of Englewood,Fiskville, Highland, and Longview.[16]
Recent[when?] history has held few nationally noteworthy events for the city but much internal change.Nucor Steel,CSI Closures (formerlyAlcoa),Raybestos Products Company,Pace Dairy Foods, andRandom House have all created factories in or near Crawfordsville which provided employment to much of the population. Manpower has taken over as the primary employer in the city and has allowed most of the local companies to reduce employees. In 2008, Raybestos laid off the majority of its workforce with less than 100 employees left.Wabash College won the Division III NCAA basketball title in 1982. The college plays an annual football game againstDepauw University for theMonon Bell, one of the oldest rivalries in all college sports. In 1998, the state began a proposed project to widenU.S. Route 231, in an attempt to ease intrastate travel flow.
In 2005, the Crawfordsville District Public Library moved into a new building across the street from the city's Carnegie library. The library retained ownership of the old building and re-opened it as theCarnegie Museum of Montgomery County in 2007.
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, Leslie Eric Largent, died in the fire. The fire was covered by the press statewide. Two buildings, built circa 1882, were completely destroyed: one 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, the fire was ruled to have been an act of arson.[17]
In 2015, Crawfordsville won a Stellar Community grant fromIndiana Office of Community & Rural Affairs.[18]
On May 17, 2018, a new clock tower built by Kentucky-based Campbellsville Industries was put into place on the courthouse's original clock tower base. The original clock tower had been taken down in 1941 due to structural concerns. The clock tower was made possible by the Montgomery County Courthouse Clock Tower Committee and its fundraising efforts spanning more than twenty years. The clock tower was dedicated on June 17, and the bells and chimes were sounded for the first time.[19]
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As of 2016, Crawfordsville has twelve properties listed on theNational Register of Historic Places. Three of the properties are currently museums:Gen. Lew Wallace Study,Henry S. Lane House, andMontgomery County Jail and Sheriff's Residence. Two of the properties are historic districts:Crawfordsville Commercial Historic District, andElston Grove Historic District. Two listings are active churches:Bethel AME Church of Crawfordsville, andSaint John's Episcopal Church. The other properties are currently used as a law office (Otto Schlemmer Building), senior apartments and recreation center (Crawfordsville High School), a private residence (McClelland-Layne House), the headquarters of the localDaughters of the American Revolution chapter (Col. Isaac C. Elston House), and a former hospital renovated for senior apartmentsCulver Union Hospital.[20]
According to the 2010 census, Crawfordsville has a total area of 9.15 square miles (23.70 km2), all land.[21] The city is located in west-central Indiana, about an hour west-northwest ofIndianapolis, the state's capital and largest city. Crawfordsville is the principal city of the Crawfordsville, IN Micropolitan Area, which is included in the largerIndianapolis–Carmel–Muncie, IN Combined Statistical Area.[6]
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1840 | 1,327 | — | |
| 1850 | 1,513 | 14.0% | |
| 1860 | 1,922 | 27.0% | |
| 1870 | 3,701 | 92.6% | |
| 1880 | 5,251 | 41.9% | |
| 1890 | 6,089 | 16.0% | |
| 1900 | 6,649 | 9.2% | |
| 1910 | 9,371 | 40.9% | |
| 1920 | 10,139 | 8.2% | |
| 1930 | 10,355 | 2.1% | |
| 1940 | 11,089 | 7.1% | |
| 1950 | 12,851 | 15.9% | |
| 1960 | 14,231 | 10.7% | |
| 1970 | 13,842 | −2.7% | |
| 1980 | 13,325 | −3.7% | |
| 1990 | 13,584 | 1.9% | |
| 2000 | 15,243 | 12.2% | |
| 2010 | 15,915 | 4.4% | |
| 2020 | 16,306 | 2.5% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census | |||
As of thecensus[22] of 2010, there were 15,915 people, 6,396 households, and 3,837 families residing in the city. Thepopulation density was 1,739.3 inhabitants per square mile (671.5/km2). There were 7,154 housing units at an average density of 781.9 per square mile (301.9/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 92.1%White, 1.7%African American, 0.4%Native American, 0.9%Asian, 3.3% fromother races, and 1.6% from two or more races.Hispanic orLatino of any race were 8.2% of the population.
There were 6,396 households, of which 30.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.8% weremarried couples living together, 13.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 40.0% were non-families. 33.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.91.
The median age in the city was 36.6 years. 22.3% of residents were under the age of 18; 13.4% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24% were from 25 to 44; 23.4% were from 45 to 64, and 16.9% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 50.1% male and 49.9% female.
As of the 2000census,[4] there were 15,243 people, 6,117 households, and 3,664 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,819.4 inhabitants per square mile (702.5/km2). There were 6,623 housing units at an average density of 790.5 per square mile (305.2/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% fromother races, and 0.91% from two or more races.Hispanic orLatino 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. Theper capita income for the city was $16,945. About 10.0% of families and 12.9% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 18.9% of those under age 18 and 7.0% of those age 65 or over.
Crawfordsville is the home of the world's first thin-slab castingminimill (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 billion-dollar Crawfordsville facility in 1987.
R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company started a printing plant in Crawfordsville in 1921 that continues to employ many local residents.[23] The plant name changed toLSC Communications in October 2016 when RR Donnelley & Sons separated into three separate companies.[24] The factory is now called Lakeside Book Company[25]
Most of the city lies within theCrawfordsville Community Schools school district, while parts of northern Crawfordsville are inNorth Montgomery Community School Corporation and very small sections of southern Crawfordsville are inSouth Montgomery Community School Corporation.[26]
Crawfordsville is among the smallest cities in the United States to have two daily newspapers,The Paper and theJournal Review.[28]
Interstate 74 toDanville, Illinois andIndianapolis
U.S. Route 136Danville, Illinois andIndianapolis
U.S. Route 231 toLafayette andGreencastle
State Road 32 toPerrysville andLebanon
State Road 47 toSheridan andWavelandUntil 1967, Crawfordsville was served by passenger trains of theMonon Railroad, which provided service to Chicago, Lafayette, Greencastle, and Bloomington. The Monon merged into theLouisville and Nashville Railroad in 1971.
Currently, Crawfordsville is served byAmtrak's thrice weekly New York–ChicagoCardinal. The Chicago-boundCardinal stops in Crawfordsville at 7:28 am on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday, while the New York-boundCardinal stops at 10:30 pm on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.
Crawfordsville is served by theCrawfordsville Regional Airport (KCFJ). Located four miles (6.4 km) south of the city, the airport handles approximately 6,383 operations per year, with 100% general aviation and <1% air taxi. The airport has a 5,505-foot (1,678 m) asphalt runway with approved GPS and NDB approaches (Runway 4-22).[29]
Crawfordsville. —The incorporated towns of Englewood, Fiskville, Highland and Longview, suburbs to this city, were made a part of Crawfordsville when the city council passed an ordinance extending the city limits. The addition of this territory will give this city a large increase in population, probably raising it to a fourth class city.
Municipalities and communities ofMontgomery County, Indiana,United States | ||
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| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
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