Albion

Notable People

Earl Butz (died February 2, 2008), former United States Secretary of Agriculture

Donald H. Spangler, Naval officer, USS Spangler (DE-696) named for him.

Alexandria

Alexandria is home to what is lauded by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest ball of paint

Notable People

Joey Feek, country singer

Bill Gaither, gospel singer/songwriter

Danny Gaither, gospel singer

Gloria Gaither, author/lyricist, gospel singer

Charles Corydon Hall, industrialist

Robert L. Rock, politician

Angola

Notable People

Edward Ralph May, 1819–1852, the only member of the Indiana Constitutional Convention of 1850 to vote for African American suffrage, practiced law in Angola from 1843 to 1852.

Hagood Hardy, 1937–1997, Canadian-American jazz musician and composer, was born in Angola.

Theodore Dreiser Holmes, noted creator.

Lloy Ball, Olympic gold medalist

Lewis A. Jackson, African-American aviator

Arcadia

Notable People

Kenneth and Paul Trietsch, founding members of the Hoosier Hot Shots grew up on a nearby farm

Argos

Notable People

Eric Stults, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher

Jill Long Thompson, 2008 Democratic Party nominee for Governor of Indiana

Attica

Attica is the nearest town to the location where Paul Dresser is believed to have written the state song, "On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away", and the bridge over the Wabash River bears his name.

Notable People

Grand Ole Opry founder George Dewey Hay, honored posthumously as a Sagamore of the Wabash in 1988.

Auburn

Notorious bank robber John Dillinger and some accomplices raided Auburn's police station on October 14, 1933, stealing a submachine gun, two steel vests, three rifles, six pistols and over 1000 rounds of ammunition.

The acts that led to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Stump v. Sparkman, 435 U.S. 349 (1978), the leading American case on judicial immunity, took place in Auburn in 1971.

On June 28, 1988, four workers were asphyxiated at a local metal-plating plant in the worst confined-space industrial accident in U.S. history; a fifth victim died two days later

Notable People

Gordon Buehrig (1904–1990), automobile designer, lived in Auburn for two years while designing the 1935–1936 Auburn Speedster and is buried in Roselawn Cemetery.

Errett Lobban Cord (1894–1974), industrialist, lived in Auburn while running the Auburn Automobile Company.

Will Cuppy (1884–1949), humorist and journalist, was born in Auburn, graduated from Auburn High School and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery.

Charles Eckhart (1841–1915), industrialist and philanthropist, founded the Eckhart Carriage Company, predecessor of the Auburn Automobile Company, and was Prohibition Party candidate for Governor of Indiana in 1900. He lived in Auburn from 1874 until his death and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.

James I. Farley (1871–1948), member of US House of Representatives, 1933–1939, lived in Auburn while an executive of the Auburn Automobile Company and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.

Walter Hartman Hodge (1896–1975) was an American lawyer and judge.

Don Lash (1912–1994), track and field champion who won the 1938 James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States, graduated from Auburn High School in 1933.

Charles A.O. McClellan (1835–1898), member of US House of Representatives, 1889–1892, lived in Auburn and practiced law there.

Colleen McNabb (b. 1975), jazz vocalist, grew up on a farm near Auburn.

Mark Shaw (b. 1945), attorney, author and network television personality, was born in Auburn and graduated from Auburn High School.

Rollie Zeider (1883–1967), major league baseball player, 1910–1918, played for Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, Chicago Chi-Feds, Chicago Whales and Chicago Cubs. He grew up in Auburn and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery

Aurora

Notable People

William S. Holman, (1822–1897), born in Aurora, judge, prosecuting attorney, and United States Congressman from Indiana.

Clayton Bender-Rocket Scientist, and winner of a Nobel Peace prize for his contribution in the cure for clean water.

Fred Garvin, The cities most notable Pete Rose Fan. Known for his red painted house and dog named Old Pete. Fred died of a heart attack watching the 1975 world series.

Austin

Austin became Indiana's newest city on January 1, 2008.

Notable People

Lisa Goodin - The all-time leading scorer in Eastern Kentucky University women’s basketball history with 1,920 career points, Lisa Goodin is one of the most prolific student-athletes to compete in a Colonel uniform. Goodin currently ranks fifth on the career list for assists (375) and ninth for steals (182). A sharpshooter with consistent accuracy, she led the NCAA in free throw percentage as both a freshman (.897) and junior (.910). Goodin earned All-Conference honors all four years of her collegiate career and was later named to the All-Time Ohio Valley Conference Team. She was chosen as a First Team honoree in 1983 and a Second Team selection in 1981, 1982 and 1984. Goodin was also picked for the OVC All-Tournament Team during her senior season. That year, 1984, she led the team in scoring with 15.5 points per game average. A native of Austin, Ind., Goodin is the Principal at Jessie Clark Middle School in Fayette County.

Jodie Whitaker - Indiana's Miss Basketball and Mental Attitude winner in 1985, Jodie knows the Indiana-Kentucky experience from both sides of the Ohio. She hit 15 points in the Hoosiers' 67-61 win in Lexington; she added 20 in a 74-71 loss a week later in Indianapolis. She graduated from Austin H.S. then went to the U. of Kentucky, where she is still in the top 10 in three stat categories. She coached two years at G. R. Clark in Winchester, KY then returned to Indiana and Lawrence North H.S. In her seven years there, her teams are 91-67 and she has won three sectionals. She was also Marion County coach of the year in 2001 and ICGA District coach of the year in 2002. In 2002 she was named to the Indiana BB Hall of Fame's prestigious Silver Anniversary team

Avon

Notable People

Chet Fillip - Race car driver - Actor

Sergio Gomez - Singer

Larry Dixon - Drag racer

Battle Ground

It is near the site of the Battle of Tippecanoe. The Tippecanoe battlefield monument was erected in 1908 and dedicated to the men who served and were killed in the Battle of Tippecanoe

Bedford

The Bedford North Lawrence High School is known for its basketball and golf programs. The boys' basketball team, captained by Damon Bailey, won a state title in 1990. The girls won state titles in 1983 and 1991. The boys' golf ranks 3rd in Indiana in sectional championships with 20, and second in regionals with 7, having produced dozens of college players including PGA Tour Pro Craig Bowden. They have appeared in state finals many times and have numerous top five finishes. The BNL Boys Golf team holds the IHSAA record in all sports for most Finals trips without a championship with 27.

Notable People

Indiana Lieutenant Governor Becky Skillman.

Actor Claude Akins was raised in Bedford, although he was born in Nelson, Georgia.

BNL and IU basketball star Damon Bailey.

Astronaut Charles Walker

Astronaut Kenneth Bowersox

NHL tough guy Donald Brashear

Sociologist James Samuel Coleman

Former PGA TOUR player Fred Wampler

PGA TOUR player Craig Bowden

Artist William T. Wiley

Abraham Reynolds 1797-1875 One of the first residents of Lawrence County, (1820) Farmer and one of the founders of the New Union Church

Beech Grove

Notable People

Clifton Webb (November 19, 1889–1966)

Steve McQueen (March 24, 1930–1980).

Berne Richard R. Schrock, awarded the 2005 Nobel Prize for Chemistry, (born January 4, 1945)

Bicknell

Notable People

Joseph Barr (former Congressman and Secretary of the Treasury during the Johnson administration)

Bloomingdale

Notable People

W. C. Allee - Zoologist and ecologist known for the Allee effect.

Bluffton

Bluffton is one of the first towns in Indiana, and across America, to both publicly acknowledge its history of exclusion and to promote itself as an inclusive town. In 2006, Bluffton was featured in USA Today[5] as an inclusive town that was putting up welcoming, inclusive signs at all local schools as well as at the entrances of three state highways. Mayor Ted Ellis was noted in the article for his helping Bluffton become one of the first to join the National League of Cities' Partnership for Working Toward Inclusive Communities.

Notable People

Don Lash, champion long-distance runner who won the 1938 James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States, was born in Bluffton in 1912.

Daniel Patrick Moynihan, former U.S. Senator from New York, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, former ambassador to India.

Everett Scott, former baseball player, MLB New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox in the 1920s.

Jim Barbieri, longtime editor and writer for the Bluffton News-Banner who died on April 1, 2006. He is considered to be one of the most prolific newspaper journalists in American history, working at the newspaper for 56 years.

(Robert Morgan), 1980's MMA fighter, 13 w 1 l never submitted or knocked out, retired to become police officer for the City of Bluffton.

Jordan Stroup, Former member of the O.C. Supertones.

Boonville

President Abraham Lincoln studied law in Boonville. When Abraham Lincoln and his family moved from Kentucky to present-day Spencer County in 1816, their homestead was then considered to be within Boonville's Warrick County boundaries. The future president frequently walked to Boonville to borrow books and watch local attorney John Brackenridge argue cases, thus earning Boonville the distinction of being "where Lincoln learned the law."

Boston

Notable People

De Scott Evans, artist

Brazil

In 2010 the city gained national attention for having accepted money from Kentucky Fried Chicken for the rights to display the KFC and Fiery Grilled Wings logos on city fire hydrants

Notable People

Jimmy Hoffa, Union organizer

Orville Redenbacher, popcorn tycoon

Henry Lee Summer, 80s pop singer

John Dugan, Actor, Grandpa, the Texas Chain Saw Massacre

Charles B. Hall, Tuskegee Airman, first African American pilot to shoot down a German Focke-Wulf on July 2, 1943. A street on the north side of Brazil is named for Hall and a memorial was placed in front of City Hall on July 15, 2009.

Air Force General Harold "Babe" Wheeler

Hall of Fame High School Basketball Coach

George N. Craig, Governor of Indiana;

Michelle Deighton, contestant on Cycle 4 of America's Next Top Model

Ivan Fuqua,winner of gold medal in 4x400 m relay at the 1932 Summer Olympics

Johnnie Davis,musician, band leader

Brittany Brown McCluskey - Adult Actress (Jordan Star)

Gerald Eades Bentley, scholar of Elizabethan theatre

Bremen

Bremen High School football teams claimed Indiana state championships in 1989 (Class A) and 1994 (Class 2A) Lake of the Woods, just southwest of Bremen.

On Thanksgiving day, 2009, a first grade class in Bremen Elementary School made national news by "boasting 5 sets of twins and one set of triplets".

Brookville

Notable People

Henri G. Bogart, physician noted for promoting compulsory sterilization.

Walter F. Bossert, Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan for Indiana and 17 other states.

James B. Goudie Jr., Indiana state representative, grist mill owner, and newspaper owner.

John Templeton McCarty, one of the founders of the fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta.

Noah Noble, 5th governor of Indiana.

James B. Ray, 4th governor of Indiana.

John St. John, Kansas governor

David Wallace, 6th governor of Indiana.

Lew Wallace, 11th governor of New Mexico Territory, Union general in the American Civil War, author of Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.

Roswell Winans, Medal of Honor recipient.

Hannah Hilton, Pornographic Actress

Brownsburg

Recently, CNN Money Magazine ranked Brownsburg as the #1 place to live in Indiana, and #33 best in the Nation

Notable People

Mark Titus - Ohio State University Basketball walk-on and Club Trillion blog author.

Lance Lynn - St. Louis Cardinals MLB Pitcher & 2005 Indiana Mr. Baseball [1]

Drew Storen - Washington Nationals MLB Pitcher

Bobby East - Racecar driver and resident

Arthur W Graham III: Creator of 1st fully automatic electronic race timing & scoring system; long-time Indy 500 Executive Race Official

Bill Sampen - Former Major League Baseball pitcher for three teams

Robbie Stanley - Racecar driver

Kent Bottenfield - Former Major League Pitcher 1999 All Star

John Andretti - Racecar driver and former resident

Mike Vanderjagt - NFL kicker and former resident

Peja Stojakovic - Former resident and still has family in Brownsburg

Aldo Andretti - Former racecar driver

Gordon Hayward - Former Butler Bulldogs basketball player,NBA with the Utah Jazz

Allen Hughes - music and dance critic for The New York Times

Joey Saldana- World of Outlaws Sprint Car driver for KKR (Kasey Kahne Racing), now resides in Pittsboro.

Bunker Hill

Notable People

Tod Sloan (jockey)

Camden

Notable People

American Idol (season 7) contestant Amanda Overmyer.

Claude Raymond Wickard - Secretary of Agriculture from 1940 to 1945.

Cannelton

Cannelton, which is the smallest incorporated city in the state

Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 710, a Lockheed L-188 Electra, crashed near Cannelton, Indiana (10 miles east of Tell City, Indiana) on March 17, 1960. The flight carried 57 passengers and 6 crew members. There were no survivors. There is a memorial 8 miles east of town off State Road 166.

Cannelton Cotton Mill, built in 1849, was once the largest industrial building in the United States west of the Allegheny Mountains. It is now a National Historic Landmark.

Next to New Castle Chrysler High School is a Native American mound dated to approximately 2000 BP. This mound contains depressions which align to sunrise/sunset during the equinoxes as well as aligning with depressions in similar mounds tens of miles away.

Centerville

Centerville is known as the “City of Arches" due to the five main arches it has located on the Old National Road

Notable People

John A. Burbank, Governor of Dakota Territory

Barry Jones, pitcher in Major League Baseball

George Washington Julian, state and U.S. Representative

Joseph Henry Kibbey, Governor of the Arizona Territory

Oliver Hazard Perry Morton, Governor of Indiana and U.S. Senator from Indiana

Chandler

Notable People

Andy Hillstrand, a captain of the Time Bandit on the hit tv show Deadliest Catch.

Chesterton

United Airlines NC13304, the first known case of an attack against an aircraft, was downed by nitroglycerine bomb above Chesterton on October 10, 1933. All 7 persons aboard the aircraft—four passengers and a crew of three—were killed in the crash.

MTV came to Chesterton in Spring 2008 and filmed their hit reality-TV show MADE. Courtney Jurick was made in to a BMX racer and Marie Kosakowski was made into a hip-hop dancer. Both shows aired on 9/13/08.

Chesterton is home to the annual Wizard of Oz Festival, which is the largest and most famous of its kind. In 2006, former organizers Lakeshore Festivals and Events moved the event to the Porter County Expo Center in Valparaiso. After 3 years, LFE discontinued the festival and it was brought home to Chesterton by the Duneland Business Initiative Group in 2009.

Notable People

Jim Gaffigan, standup comedian and actor

Mickey Morandini, former Major League Baseball player

Zach Novak, Univ. of Michigan Shooting Guard

Matt Nover, Former Indiana Univ. Basketball Player and actor

Churubusco

Notable People

Harry Gandy, (1881–1957), former U.S. Representative from South Dakota (March 4, 1915 - March 3, 1921).[1

Craig W. Hartman, architect

Cicero

Known as being the burial place of Ryan White, who had spent his last few years there after moving from Kokomo, Indiana.

Clarksville

The town is home to the Colgate clock, one of the largest clocks in the world

The Falls of the Ohio State Park, a large fossil bed.

Clarksville became a popular dueling spot for Kentuckians who wanted to dodge Kentucky's anti-dueling laws. The most famous of these was the 1809 duel between Henry Clay and Humphrey Marshall. Another famous duel of the area was by Rory Buckman and David Knuckles the duel came about over an argument over which one of the two had ownership over a manservant named William. During the duel both of the mens muskets misfired and they decided it was neither one of their days to die. Eventually they did get over their differences and had the first domestic partnership in the Northwest Territory

Clarksville is the birthplace of the restaurant chain Texas Roadhouse which is still located at its original location in the Green Tree Mall

Notable People

John James Audubon which did many of his bird fieldbook sketches at the Falls of the Ohio.[4]

Frank Kimmel a NASCAR driver was born and lives in Clarksville.

Claypool

One of Claypool's claims to fame is the fact that it is the hometown of two of Indiana's basketball greats, Judi Warren, who became the first Miss Basketball of Indiana in 1976, and Kevin Ault, Mr. Basketball of Indiana of 1996. Both played for Warsaw Community High School. Judi Warren was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame[4] in 2002.

Another more controversial claim to fame was the local house church established for a time in the 1970s by Hobart Freeman.

Claypool was featured in an article in Time Magazine in its September 8, 1980 issue

Clinton

Clinton hosts the annual Little Italy Festival, a four-day Labor Day Weekend celebration of the area’s Italian and coal mining heritage. Founded in 1966, the event draws over 75,000 visitors annually, featuring Italian and carnival-style food, grapevine-roofed wine garden, grape stomping, tours and more

Notable People

Charles Edward Jones, astronaut killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Ken Kercheval, American actor, best known for his role on the television series Dallas

Henry Washburn (also known as Henry Dana Washburn), Civil War general, U.S. Congressman, explorer, as surveyor-general of the Montana Territory he led first government survey of Yellowstone Park.

Claude Matthews, former Governor of Indiana

Columbia City

Notable People

Thomas R. Marshall (1854–1925), Governor of Indiana (1909–1913) and Vice President of the United States (1913–1921), practiced law in Columbia City before becoming governor. A plaque in front of the courthouse honors him, and at one time a middle school bore his name.

Lloyd C. Douglas (1877–1951), author of The Robe and The Magnificent Obsession, was born in Columbia City on August 27, 1877.

Ralph F. Gates (1891–1957), Governor of Indiana (1945–1949), was born in Columbia City and lived there throughout his life.

Jill Long Thompson -- U.S. Congress

Major General Keller E. Rocky -- Commanding General of the 5th Marine Division in the Battle of Iwo Jima, awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for inspired combat leadership in this epic battle. Rockey served in France in World War I. He was awarded the Navy Cross as a junior officer in the 5th Marines at Chateau-Thierry. A second Navy Cross came later for heroic service in Nicaragua.

Leonard Barnum (1912–1998) Former NFL player with the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles. First quarterback ever taken in an NFL draft when Giants chose him in 1936.

Connerville

The Roots blower was manufactured in Connersville for many years.

Elmhurst, an estate south of town on St. Rd. 121, was the home of Caleb Blood Smith, who served in Abraham Lincoln's cabinet.

The Connersville High School Spartans boys' basketball team won the state tournament in 1972 and 1983. The girls' gymnastics team won state in 1987, 1988, and 1989

Notable People

Rusty Ammerman is a 1986 graduate of Connersville High School. Rusty is an accomplished live entertainer, focusing his talents in the arena of comedy-magic. He has performed in 43 states and 9 countries, including The Bob & Tom Show and The World Famous Magic Castle in Hollywood, CA.

Brace Beemer was the voice of the Lone Ranger from 1941 to 1954.

Sean Compton, Tribune Company President and former Clear Channel radio talent and executive, graduated from Connersville High School in 1992.

Phil Cox was Indiana's Mr. Basketball in 1972. Cox lead the Connersville High School Basketball Team to their first IHSAA State Basketball Championship. He was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009.

Howard Garns, creator of the logic game Sudoku, was born in Connersville on March 2, 1905.

Finly H. Gray was a US Congressman elected to represent Indiana's 6th and 10th Districts in the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1911 to 1917 and 1933 to 1939. He also served as Mayor of Connersville from 1904 to 1910. Gray is buried in Dale Cemetery, located on Gray Road in Connersville.

Scott Halberstadt, television actor, was born in Connersville in 1976 and graduated from Connersville High School in 1994.

Tom T. Hall, country singer and Grand Ole Opry member, spent time in Connersville early in his career and wrote "Thank You, Connersville" about the experience.

Matt Howard, starting forward for Butler University's men's basketball team, is a graduate of Connersville High School. Played in 2010 NCAA Championship game.[9]

April McDivitt was Indiana's Miss Basketball in 1999. She played college basketball for Pat Summit and the Lady Vols of Tennessee before transferring to the University of California at Santa Barbara; she also enjoyed a brief career in the WNBA.

Betsy M. Ross, former ESPN presenter, is also a graduate of Connersville High School.

Danielle Slone, 1999 Indianapolis 500 Festival Queen, graduated from Connersville High School in 1995.

Caleb Blood Smith was congressman and Secretary of the Interior in the Lincoln administration.

Greg Stotelmyer, is currently the "Voice of the Colonels" for the Eastern Kentucky University's mens basketball and football teams. He also works for WTVQ news station of Richmond, KY, and has received four Emmy awards for A Year on Kentucky's Backroads (2003), He Loves to Beat People(2005), The Avon Lady (2007), and Marina's Story (2008)[10]

Josiah R. Whitehead, 1950 Connersville High School Graduate. 1954 Pharmacy degree, Butler University and 1960 MBA, Xavier University. Distinguished career in business with Burroughs Wellcome Co. and in academia with the Campbell University School of Pharmacy. Numerous awards and honors, including the Mortar & Pestle Award, North Carolina Pharmaceutical Association (1999), honorary Doctorate, Campbell University (2008)[11], and The American College of Apothecaries Laskoff Award (2009)[12].

Robert Wise, one of Hollywood's most acclaimed directors and producers, graduated from Connersville High School in 1932. The CHS auditorium, the Robert E. Wise Center for Performing Arts, was named in his honor.

Joey Sturgis, music producer, focusing mainly on metalcore bands. Clients include The Devil Wears Prada (band), Mychildren Mybride and Miss May IAttack Attack!. Freddie Bunz, Hip-Hop artist, has worked with members of Wu-Tang, C-Rayz Walz, Keith Murray, Canibus, Paul Wall, is also half of Gifted Myndz.

Corydon

Indiana's First State Capital

Corydon was the site of the only Civil War battle fought in Indiana. On July 9, 1863, a Confederate contingent led by Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan, aided by the citizens of Brandenburg, Kentucky, crossed the Ohio River into Indiana during what became known as "Morgan's Raid". Over 2,500 mounted cavalry men with two pieces of artillery engaged about 400 hastily prepared home guard units at the Battle of Corydon, resulting in a Confederate victory and the town surrendering to Morgan.

Notable People

James Best, actor, played Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane in the Dukes of Hazzard television series

Frank O'Bannon, politician, 47th Governor of Indiana

Arville Funk, author, scholar, preeminent Indiana historian

Crawfordsville

In 1880, prominent local citizen Lew Wallace 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 Jails in the country opened. It served from 1882 until 1972. The jail is now a museum and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Local Legend - A monster was seen here in the late 19th century that became known as the Crawfordsville Monster. It was described to be made of a cloud with red glowing eyes. It is now believed to have been a flock of birds huddled together in confusion due to the town's newly installed electric street lights. The story was featured in The History Channel's television series Monster Quest, in an episode featuring unidentified flying creatures

Notable People

Joseph P. Allen - mission specialist on the first fully operational flight of the Space Shuttle in 1982

Steven Barnes - head swimming and diving coach for Wabash College (2009–present)

Curly Bill Brocius - Old West outlaw - evidence stating his birthplace as Crawfordsville is tenuous

Edward Richard Sprigg Canby - Union general in the American Civil War Henry

Beebee Carrington - Union general during the Civil War Joseph

Stephen Crane - famed restaurateur of the Luau and Kon Tiki restaurants; Columbia Pictures actor; husband to actresses Lana Turner (1942–44) and Martine Carol (1948–53)

Wilbur de Paris - famous Jazz musician, brother of Sidney de Paris Sidney de Paris - famous Jazz musician, brother of Wilbur de Paris

Dick van Dyke - actor

Bill Holman - creator of Smokey Stover

Kent Kessler - avant garde jazz bassist

Eleanor Lambert - head of NYC Fashion Institute

Henry S. Lane - United States Senator, Governor of Indiana, and pallbearer for Abraham Lincoln

Stephen A. Love – musician

James W. Marshall - gold miner who set off the California Gold Rush.

Pete Metzelaars - professional football player and coach

James Atwell Mount - Governor of Indiana from 1897–1901

Meredith Nicholson - best-selling author (The House of a Thousand Candles, A Hoosier Chronicle, etc.), politician, and diplomat

Will Shortz - The New York Times puzzle writer

William Wheeler Thornton - author, State Supreme Court librarian, Indiana Deputy Attorney General, Crawfordsville City Attorney

Randal Turner - Professional opera singer; baritone

Lew Wallace - Union general in the Civil War and author of Ben-Hur

Susan Wallace - author and poet; wife of Lew Wallace

Warrior - former professional wrestler, best known as The Ultimate Warrior

Rev. Dr. Benjamin Franklin West (1858–1933), famous missionary doctor in Singapore and Penang

Howdy Wilcox - Indy 500 racing pioneer and winner of the 1919 Indy 500

Henry Lane Wilson - second son of James Wilson, U.S. diplomat and Ambassador to Mexico

James Wilson - United States Representative from Indiana and United States Ambassador to Venezuela

John L. Wilson - elder son of James Wilson; United States Representative and Senator from Washington

Crown Point

Because Crown Point had no waiting period for marriage licenses, the city became a popular place to get married and became known as the "Marriage Mill". Many famous people came to Crown Point to be wed including Tom Mix, Rudolph Valentino, Cassius Clay, Jackson 5 patriarch Joseph Jackson. Certain online sources claim that Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman were married in Crown Point,[5] including the website of current mayor David Uran.[6] However, Reagan and Wyman were in fact married in Glendale, California, according to Fox News[7], the Washington Post[8], and the Los Angeles Times.[9]

On March 3, 1934, Crown Point etched its name forever in the history books as the infamous bank robber and FBI "Public Enemy #1" John Dillinger escaped from the "escape-proof" (as it was dubbed by local authorities at the time) Lake County Jail which was guarded by many police and national guardsmen. Dillinger apparently escaped using a hand-carved wooden gun blackened with shoe polish, although this was disputed by some witnesses. Dillinger further embarrassed the city, as well as then-42-year-old Sheriff Lillian Holley, by driving off in her brand new V-8 Ford. The press augmented her chagrin with such headlines as: "Slim woman, mother of twins, controlled Dillinger as sheriff." Incensed, Holley declared at the time, "If I ever see John Dillinger again, I'll shoot him dead with my own gun. Don't blame anyone else for this escape. Blame me. I have no political career ahead of me and I don't care." Furthermore, Sheriff Holley made certain the Dillinger name would have no standing in Crown Point up until her death in 1994 at 102. In March 2008, Universal Studios, under the direction of Michael Mann, visited Crown Point to film parts of the movie Public Enemies at the former county jail facility from which Dillinger escaped. The crime drama is set during The Great Depression with the focus on the FBI agent Melvin Purvis' attempt to stop criminals John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, and Pretty Boy Floyd. Christian Bale plays FBI agent Purvis, and Johnny Depp plays Dillinger. Actress Lili Taylor portrayed Sheriff Holley in the film. The shoot took three days to complete and involved a number of scenes inside the former Sheriff's House and jail. There was a scene also constructed for filming of the exterior. Johnny Depp was on the set for all three days and stayed late into the evenings on each night to shake hands with hundreds of fans who stood for hours to see him and the film shoot. The movie was released in June 2009.

Notable People

William G. Haan, World War I general

Dan Plesac, Major League pitcher and MLB Network analyst

Jerry L. Ross, Astronaut Richie Roberts, Wide Receivers Coach

Thelma Strabel, novelist

John Wheeler, Civil War officer

Dean White, Entrepreneur and billionaire

Culver

The city is best known for the Culver Academies preparatory boarding school.

Notable Alumni:

Bud Adams, Owner of the Tennessee Titans

Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia

Alberto Baillères, Mexico's second richest man

Frank Batten, Founder of Landmark Communications, The Weather Channel and weather.com

Charles T. Beaird, Industrialist and newspaper publisher

James C. Bolton, Louisiana banker

Sam Cohn, talent agent

Luther Davis, Playwright and screenwriter

Kevin Dean, Former NHL hockey player

Mario Dominguez, Champ Car driver

Jack Eckerd, founder Eckerd Pharmacy Chain

Eugene C. Eppley, Hotel magnate

George Foreman III, Professional Boxer

Ernest K. Gann, Aviator and Writer

Horace Heidt, Pianist and Big Band leader

James Henderson, Chairman Cummins, Inc.

Hal Holbrook, Broadway and Hollywood actor

Robert James Huber, Michigan politician and businessman

Michael Huffington, politician and film producer

Lamar Hunt, founder of the Kansas City Chiefs

Kyle Pavone, band member of We Came as Romans

Bill Koch (1940-), wealthy American businessman, sailor, and collector. His boat was the winner of the America's Cup in 1992.[6]

John-Michael Liles, NHL Hockey Player and 2006 Olympian, Colorado Avalanche

Joshua Logan, American stage and film director and writer

E. Pierce Marshall, American businessman

Adolphe Menjou, Actor

Richard O'Neill, Writer

Walter O'Malley (1903–1979), owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, who moved the team to Los Angeles, California, in 1958.[7]

Roger Penske, owner of Penske Corporation

William Perry, Composer

George R. Roberts, American financier, partner in KKR

Enrique G. Sada, Chairman and CEO, Grupo Roda AG

Jon Scieszka, author

Gene Siskel, Movie critic

Herbert Sobel

Burr Steers, Director and Hollywood actor

Juergen Sommer, Professional Soccer Player and Coach

George Steinbrenner, Former legendary owner of the New York Yankees

Hal Steinbrenner, Part-Owner of the New York Yankees

Hank Steinbrenner, Part-Owner of the New York Yankees

Gary Suter, Former NHL hockey player

Wendell Willkie, The GOP Presidential Nominee in 1940 Presidential Election attended Culver's summer program in 1906 but did not graduate.

Jonathan Winters, Comic and Hollywood actor

Sheldon Vanauken, author of A Severe Mercy and Christian apologist

Miles D. White, Chairman and CEO, Abbott Labs

W. Scott Wilkinson, Shreveport attorney and member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1920–1924

James C. Wofford, Olympic equestrian

Robert R. Young, financier

Reuben H. Fleet, founder of Consolidated Aircraft, aviation pioneer

Robert Baer, CIA Case Officer

Ryan Suter, NHL hockey player, team USA hockey

Molly Engstrom, team usa hockey

Mark Salling, Actor, Musician, Currently Plays "Puck" on the hit tv show "Glee (TV series)" (attended but did not graduate)

Alex Roth SJNMA Class President / Delta Company Commander

Dale

Notable People

Florence Henderson, Actress of The Brady Bunch fame was born in Dale.

Abraham Lincoln. U.S. President, was raised nearby on a farm near what is now Lincoln City. His mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln, died while he was young; her burial site is located on the original farm.

J. Clarence Karcher, geophysicist, and inventor of reflection seismograph was born in Dale.

David Turnham, friend of U.S President Abraham Lincoln.

Dana

Famed World War II war correspondent Ernie Pyle was born on a tenant farm near Dana.

Bert Shepard, a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Washington Senators who had lost his leg in WWII, was also born in Dana.

The US developed the Girdler Sulfide chemical exchange production process which was first demonstrated on a large scale at the Dana, Indiana plant in 1945.

Dayton

Trivia

Shannon Hoon of the band Blind Melon was born and raised in the area around Dayton and is buried in Dayton Cemetery on the east edge of town.

Dayton is the subject of a Lefty Hazmat song of the same name.[5]In the late 1970s, Dayton used to have speed limit signs of 22 mph (35 km/h), a production flaw that allowed the signs to be bought at a discount. The speed limit was rigidly enforced by Town Marshals.

Decatur

The world's first monument dedicated exclusively to peace was constructed in Decatur; it stands in the courtyard of the Adams County Courthouse.

Delphi

Notable People

William "Dick the Bruiser" Afflis - Professional wrestler

Doxie Moore - Professional Basketball Coach John Gould Moyer - 31st Governor of American Samoa

William V. Lucas - United States House of Representatives

Robert H. Shaffer - A pioneer in the field of college student personnel and student affairs

Betty Wason - Author/Broadcast Journalist

Clarence Whistler, professional wrestler of the 1880s

DeMotte

Notable People

Charles A. Halleck, a Republican leader in the U.S. House of Representatives between 1946 and 1964, was born near DeMotte in 1900. A prominent member of the Conservative coalition, Halleck served as the House Majority Leader after the elections of 1946 and 1952 and Minority Leader from 1959 to 1964 when he was defeated in his bid to remain Minority Leader by Rep. Gerald Ford of Michigan

Dune Acres

Notable People

Comedian Jim Gaffigan

Dyer

Dyer placed 97th on the "100 Best Places to Live in the US" by CNN and Money Magazine in 2005

Meyer's Castle, built for herbologist Joseph E. Meyer in 1927-1931, is located in the town.

Eaton

The first discovery of natural gas in Indiana occurred in the town of Eaton in 1876. A company was drilling for coal and, when they had reaching a depth of six hundred feet, there was a great noise and bad-smelling fumes began to come from the hole. After a partial investigation, many concluded that they had breached the ceiling of Hell, and the hole was quickly filled in. In 1884, when natural gas was discovered in nearby Ohio, the townsfolk recalled the incident and returned to the location. There they opened the state of Indiana's first natural gas well. The gas was so abundant and strong that, when the well was lit, the flames could be seen from Muncie.[3] The discovery set off the Indiana Gas Boom, leading to two decades of rapid regional growth.

Economy

Trivia

Economy was featured in the Stephen King novel "The Stand".

Edwardsport

The Edwardsport Power Station located to the south of the town provides energy to the region. The plant has two units totalling 160 megawatt capacity.[4] A report by the WWF in 2005 ranked it as the second most polluting power station in the industrialized world, in terms of the level of carbon dioxide produced per unit of electricity generated

Elwood

Notable People

Wendell Willkie, 1940 Republican presidential candidate

James J. Davis, United States Secretary of Labor and U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania

Don Mellett, newspaper editor

Philip Sharp, U.S. Representative from Indiana

Jared Carter, poet David Canary, actor John Mengelt, professional athlete, NBA

Fairmount

In the 1940s, James Dean lived with an uncle on a farm north of Fairmount. He attended Fairmount High School, graduating in 1949. After his death in 1955 James Dean was brought back to Fairmount and buried in Park Cemetery. In 1996 a small memorial park north of the town's business district was dedicated to him.

British singer Morrissey shot the video for his single "Suedehead" in Fairmount, tracing the steps of James Dean. Included in the video are the high school and farm Dean lived on and Park Cemetery, in which is buried.

Notable People

Jim Davis, famed cartoonist of the comic strip Garfield, was raised in Fairmount. Davis graduated from Fairmount High School in 1963.

Phil Jones is known throughout the U.S. for his work as a television journalist; Jones has been seen most recently on CBS's 48 Hours. Jones graduated from Fairmount High School in 1955.

Robert Sheets is the former director of the National Hurricane Center in Coral Gables, Florida. Sheets is a 1955 graduate of Fairmount High School and attended Ball State University in nearby Muncie.

Mary Jane Ward authored several books including The Snake Pit, a Book of the Month Club selection which became a major motion picture starring Olivia de Havilland. Ward was born in Fairmount in 1905.

Fairview

Trivia

Fairview Park has produced one Major League Baseball player...Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Len Gilmore. (b. November 3, 1917)

Ferdinand

In 1867 the Monastery of Immaculate Conception was founded in Ferdinand.

Boys 2A State Champion 2005, 2006

Fountain City

Levi Coffin House - Levi Coffin House, former home of Quaker abolitionist Levi Coffin and his wife Catherine, was an important stop on the Underground Railroad. Coffin was sometimes known as the "president" of the Underground Railroad. It is now operated as an Indiana State Historic Site.

Frankfort

Notable People

Marvin I. Henderson, Sr., railroad mogul Lt. Cmdr.

Adrian Marks, pilot of the plane that located sailors after the sinking of the USS Indianapolis in July, 1945

Everett Case, who made Frankfort his home for more than 20 years and coached the men's high school basketball team to state championships in 1925, 1929, 1936, and 1939

Will Geer, best known as Grandpa Zeb on The Waltons

Kyle Cook from the bands Matchbox Twenty and The New Left

Charles Aidman, film and television actor. He appeared several times on The Twilight Zone and The Wild Wild West and in such films as Pork Chop Hill.

Franklin

Life magazine feature The December 2, 1940 issue of Life magazine included a photo essay by Bernard Hoffman entitled, "A Small Town's Saturday Night"[11], depicting farmer Glen Dunn and family on a typical Saturday night in Franklin: Dad getting a hair cut, and the kids seeing a movie at the "Artcraft", people at the drugstore, as well as photos of other social spots, such as Nick's Candy Kitchen and the town's "lovers' lane". The nighttime photo showing double-parked cars and thick crowds on Jefferson Street is perhaps the best known of the set. According to the late-20th century critic James Guimond, "Since Life wanted a perfect Saturday night, and one they considered typical, the photographer did not select a town still blighted by the Depression... What Life's readers wanted, it seemed, was a stereotyped village that confirmed their nostalgic beliefs about small towns in which no one is bored, poor, or lonely; and the magazine's photographers and editors - like Norman Rockwell in his Saturday Evening Post covers - gave them exactly that kind of town."[12]

Franklin Wonder Five

The small town became nationally famous during the 1920s due to the outstanding athletic achievements of the local high school basketball team, who became known as the Franklin Wonder Five. A small group who had played together as boys, led by Fuzzy Vandivier and coached by Ernest "Griz" Wagner, they became the first high school team to win the state championship for three consecutive years (1920–22). The youths followed Wagner to the local Franklin College, where he became coach and they were earned the title of national college champions in 1923. They turned down an offer to play against the top professional team, the New York Celtics.

Notable People

Steve Alford, current University of New Mexico basketball coach

Clinton Lycurgus Armstrong, (b. 1844) Medal of Honor recipient for the Siege of Vicksburg during the American Civil War

Roger D. Branigin, governor of Indiana (1965 - 1969)

Anthony J. Bryant, historian of Japan and translator

George Crowe, was the first Indiana Mr. Basketball in 1939, and played professional basketball with a variety of teams

Hal Fryar, actor and television personality Marjorie Main, actress, well-known for her role as "Ma Kettle" in the Ma and Pa Kettle movies

Jon McGlocklin, professional basketball player and inducted to three honorary sports associations

Paul V. McNutt, governor of Indiana (1933 - 1937)

Jon Schaffer, founder and leader of Iced Earth Heavy metal band

Jean Donald Swiggett, painter, muralist, lithographer. Worked for the Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project in the 1930s, and taught at colleges in California and the Northwest

Max Terhune, film actor, appearing in the National Barn Dance (1933) with Gene Autry

Fuzzy Vandivier, basketball player, elected to Basketball Hall of Fame

Gene White, basketball player for the 1954 state champion Milan Indians (inspiration for the movie Hoosiers)

Frankton

Notable People

Isabel Withers (1896–1968), stage, motion picture, and television actress.

Albert H.Vestal, republican U.S. House of Representatives and House Majority Whip 1921 to 1937 was born and raised in Frankton

French Lick

Larry Bird- The town has been best known for being the hometown of NBA great Larry Bird ever since his professional basketball career took off. In his later basketball career, Bird was given the nickname "the Hick from French Lick".

French Lick is also the hometown of former Sacramento Kings head coach Jerry Reynolds.

A local band known as "The Wright Brothers" has performed across the USA including multiple appearances at "The Grand Ole Opry" as well as appearing in the box office hit movie, "Overboard" starring Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russel. The band performs varieties of music such as bluegrass, folk, rock, country, gospel.

Garrett

Garrett has one state championship in 1974 when the football team won the 1A title

Notable People

Thomas Taggart (1856–1929), Mayor of Indianapolis, Indiana, 1895–1901, lived in Garrett, 1874–1877, as manager of B&O Railroad depot restaurant.

Rollie Zeider (1883–1967), major league baseball player, 1910–1918, played for Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, Chicago Chi-Feds, Chicago Whales and Chicago Cubs. He ran a restaurant in Garrett after he retired from professional baseball.

John Bowers (1885–1936), silent film star, was born and raised in Garrett. He appeared in more than 90 silent films and his career came to a tragic end with the advent of the "talkies." He committed suicide by rowing a boat into the Pacific Ocean and drowning. He was an avid sailor and owned a 30-foot (9.1 m) yacht at one time. He was married to and starred alongside Marguerite De Le Motte. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Dan Miller - television host, graduated from Garrett High School; former host of several programs on The Nashville Network. Currently hosts Xtreme Bulls on ESPN, and Best of the West on The Outdoor Channel; Now hosting his fifth season of Dan Miller's Cowboy Music Revue at the historic Cody Theater, in Cody, Wyoming.

Garry Lalone - musician, Garrett High School graduate; drummer for country music and Grand Ole Opry star John Conlee.

Goodland

Notable People

Eddie Condon, jazz musician and bandleader

Ralph S. Johnson, aviator and former member of the Wyoming House of Representatives

Grabill

Notable People

Mark Souder, Former U.S. Representative

Sarah Robison, musician

Grandview

Notable People

Bill Peet - American children's book illustrator and a story writer for Disney Studios.

Greencastle

DePauw University is a private national liberal arts college

Notable alumni:

Karen Koning AbuZayd - Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency; former United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Scott Adsit - comedian and cast member of NBC's 30 Rock

Joseph P. Allen - NASA Space Shuttle Astronaut

Jim Alling - chief operating officer for T-Mobile and former president of Starbucks Coffee International

Bret Baier - host of Special Report with Bret Baier Fox News

Joseph W. Barr - Secretary of the Treasury (1968–69), FDIC Chairman

Shibani Bathija – screenwriter

Buzzie Bavasi - former general manager of baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers, California Angels and San Diego Padres

Charles A. Beard - Famous author and one of the most influential American historians of the early 20th century; husband of Mary Ritter Beard,

Mary Ritter Beard - Noted U.S. historian and leader in the women's suffrage movement

Alicia Berneche - operatic soprano

Albert Beveridge - U.S. Senator (IN)

Rob Boras - tight ends coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars

Brad Brownell - head men's basketball coach at Clemson University

Tracey Chang - 2009 Miss New York USA and Miss USA contestant

Sutemi Chinda - former Japanese Ambassador to United States

Timothy Collins - Financier, Founder of Ripplewood Holdings, Director of Citigroup

Tom Colten - Louisiana Republican politician, mayor, and transportation secretary

Annie Corley - movie and television actress

Gretchen Cryer - writer, actress, and lyricist

Anna Elizabeth Dickinson - Influential abolitionist and suffragist who was the first woman to speak before the United States Congress

Samuel H. Elrod - former Governor of South Dakota

Bob Franks - former U.S. Congressman

Ford Frick - Major League Baseball Commissioner (1951–65)

James P. Goodrich - Governor of Indiana (1917–21)

Lee Hamilton - co-chair of the Iraq Study Group, vice chair of the 9/11 Commission, and retired United States Representative

Thomas H. Hamilton, former President of the State University of New York and the University of Hawaii

Bill Hayes - actor, TV's Days of our Lives

Stephen F. Hayes - senior writer for the Weekly Standard and author of "Cheney: The Untold Story of America's Most Powerful and Controversial Vice President"

Angie Hicks - founder of Angie's List

Patricia Ireland - former president of the National Organization for Women

John Jakes - novelist

Vernon Jordan Jr. - noted broker and executive, former president of the National Urban League, personal friend and advisor to Bill Clinton

Percy Julian - research chemist of international renown and a pioneer in the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs

Sue Keller - ragtime pianist, composer and arranger

Adam Kennedy - actor, novelist, screenwriter, painter

Bernard Kilgore - former editor of the Wall Street Journal who turned the publication into one of national significance

Barbara Kingsolver - contemporary fiction writer, founder of Bellwether Prize for "literature of social change"[14]

David Lilienthal - capable and controversial Jewish-American public official, writer, and businessman; he served as chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority from 1941 to 1946 and was known as "Mr. TVA."

Eli Lilly - Philanthropist and Founder of Eli Lilly and Company

David McMillin - Singer-Songwriter

John McWethy - former ABC News correspondent

Julie McWhirter - voice actress best known for her work in Hanna-Barbera cartoons, such as Jeannie, Drak Pack and The Smurfs

Mary Meeker - Internet equity research analyst at Morgan Stanley dubbed "Queen of the Net"

Major Reuben Webster Millsaps - Founder of Millsaps College in Mississippi

Ferid Murad - 1998 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Jay Holcomb Neff - Publisher and Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri

William N. Oatis - American journalist charged with espionage

Richard Peck - Newbery Medal-winning author

Howard C. Petersen - government official

Loren Pope - nationally acclaimed authority on colleges; authored "Looking Beyond the Ivy League" and "Colleges that Change Lives"

Eugene C. Pulliam - noted newspaper publisher

Dan Quayle - 44th Vice President of the United States under George H. W. Bush

James C. Quayle - noted newspaper publisher

Steven M. Rales - Chairman of Danaher Corporation

Bill Rasmussen - founder of ESPN

Scott Rasmussen - Co-founder of ESPN and founder of Rasmussen Reports

Al Ries - author and marketing expert

Steve Sanger - former president and CEO of General Mills

Howard C. Sheperd, Sr. - Former president of the National City Bank of New York, now Citibank

General David M. Shoup, Medal of Honor Recipient (WWII), Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps

Brad Stevens - head men's basketball coach, Butler University

James B. Stewart - Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Blood Sport, DisneyWar and other titles

Jeri Kehn - Wife of former Tennessee Senator, actor, and 2008 Presidential Nominee Fred Thompson

Dick Tomey - college football coach

George R. Throop - Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis (1927–1944)

Alexander Vraciu - flying ace in World War II

James E. Watson - U.S. Senator (IN) (Majority Leader 1929-33)

James D. Weddle - Managing Partner of Edward Jones

Pharez Whitted - Jazz trumpeter, composer, and producer

Greenfield

Notable People

James Whitcomb Riley, born October 7, 1849. His boyhood home is now the Riley Birthplace and Museum.

Jaycie Phelps, member of the US Women's 1996 Olympic Gymnastic Team

Mark Dismore, Indy Racing League and Indianapolis 500 driver.

Kyle Gibson, 22nd Overall Pick in 2009 Major League Baseball Draft to Minnesota Twins

Ethan Edwards, classical saxophonist

Greensboro

The town was a 'station' on the Underground Railroad and was recognized for its active abolitionists.

Seth Hinshaw, a progressive spiritualist, was a resident and his gravesite is located in the Masonic Cemetery.

Greensburg

The Decatur County Courthouse in Greensburg, Indiana, is known for a tree which grows from the top of the Courthouse Tower, giving Greensburg its nickname of the "Tree City." There have been one or more trees growing continually since the first tree was noticed in the early 1870’s. Later, other small trees appeared on the clock tower. County officials were initially concerned that the trees would cause damage to the roof, and a steeplejack was hired in the 1880s to remove some of them. Two trees were left, with one ultimately growing to a height of nearly 15 feet. By the time it died, another tree had appeared. Today, there are two trees on the tower.

Notable People

William Cumback, (March 24, 1829 – July 31, 1905) An attorney, Civil War Army Paymaster, U.S. Representative and Lieutenant Governor of Indiana.

John T. Wilder, (January 31, 1830 – October 20, 1917) Industrialist and Civil War Union General, well known for commanding the Lightning Brigade, and for success at the Battle of Chickamauga.

Carl G. Fisher, (January 12, 1874 – July 15, 1939) Entrepreneur involved with starting the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and developing Miami Beach.

Wilbur Shaw, (October 31, 1902 - October 30, 1954) Three time Indianapolis 500 winner and former president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Greens Fork

Notable People

Johnny Ringo was born in Greens Fork, Indiana on May 3, 1850 and lived there with his family until they moved to Liberty, Missouri in 1856. Johnny Ringo Days are celebrated in Greens Fork in May.

Griffin

The town was nearly destroyed by the Tri-State Tornado on March 18, 1925, killing 75 people. In 1972, a nearby outdoor rock concert Erie Canal Soda Pop Festival caused quite a stir in the town over the course of three days. Locally, the fest was called the Bull Island rock fest, based on the location of the festival.

Griffith

It’s in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the most baseball diamonds for its population, and for the most train tracks to intersect at one point.

Hagerstown

Notable People

Omer Madison Kem: American politician.

Ralph Teetor: Inventor of the cruise control and president of the Perfect Circle Corporation.

Clark Wissler: American anthropologist and former Curator of Ethnography at the American Museum of Natural History.

Hamilton

Notable People

James I. Farley (1871–1948), member of U.S. House of Representatives, 1933–1939, was born on a farm near Hamilton.

Edgar "Pop" Buell (1913-1980), humanitarian aid worker in Laos in the 1960s and 1970s, farmed in Steuben County near Hamilton until he joined International Voluntary Services in 1960

Hanover

Hanover is the home of Hanover College, a small Presbyterian liberal arts college.

Notable Alumni:

James Graham Brown, noted philanthropist, businessman and real estate developer.

Stanley Coulter 1870, Dean of School of Sciences at Purdue University.

Brett Dietz, Arena Football League quarterback for the Tampa Bay Storm.

Jonathan Edwards, First President of Washington & Jefferson College.

Woody Harrelson, actor of TV's Cheers.

Thomas Andrews Hendricks, twenty-first Vice President of the United States.

Walter LaFeber, noted historian at Cornell University.

John Davis Paris 1833, builder of missionary churches on the island of Hawaii.

James Kennedy Patterson 1856, first President of University of Kentucky.

Jim Leonard playwright The Diviners and TV producer/writer Close to Home.

Bertha Lewis, CEO and Chief Organizer of ACCORN the Social Justice Organization.

Mike Pence, Vice President of the U.S., member of the United States House of Representatives from Indiana's 6th District.

Albert G. Porter, Indiana governor and United States Congressman.

Carol Warner Shields, Pulitzer Prize winning author.

Monica Sone, author of the noted memoir Nisei Daughter.

Harvey W. Wiley, noted chemist involved with the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906.

Pop Culture

Fictional bartender at Cheers, Woody Boyd, was born and raised in Hanover. The show made numerous jokes at Hanover's expense, poking fun at its small size and rural setting. The actor who portrayed Boyd was Woody Harrelson, who attended Hanover College and was active in the drama department as well as work-study in the college library.

Highland Lake

Notable People

Debra A. Kemp – Author

Hope

In 2006, the boys basketball team defeated Tri-Central to capture the Class A state championship.

Notable People

Earl Hogan, United States House of Representatives

Huntingburg

The town is known as the "Hollywood of the Midwest." The movies "A League of Their Own", "Hard Rain", and the HBO film "Soul of the Game" were filmed in Huntingburg. Columbia Pictures built the grandstand at League Stadium that were to become part of the set for "A League of Their Own." League Stadium was home to the Dubois County Dragons who played in the Heartland League (1996–1998) and the Frontier League (1999–2002).

From 1996-2001, Huntingburg was the smallest city to host a professional baseball team

Notable People

Baseball pitcher Alex Graman was born in Huntingburg.

Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Mitch Stetter was born and raised in Huntingburg.

Retired professional basketball player Don Buse was born in Huntingburg.

Gordon St. Angelo, former Indiana Democratic Party Chairman, was born in Huntingburg.

Bob Coleman (major league baseball player, manager; minor league baseball manager) was born in Huntingburg

Huntington

Notable People

Glen Hummer, former US Olympic Swim Coach and recipient of the Joseph G. Rogers National Distinguished Service to Aquatics Award for providing outstanding leadership in his dedication to swimming and diving and to the YMCA Competitive Aquatic Program

Matt Pike, former football player at Purdue University (NCAA),

Sue Bennett College (NAIA), and Arena Football League

Steve Platt, former basketball player and coach at Huntington University. Member of Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame and NAIA Basketball Hall of Fame; Indiana’s all-time collegiate scoring leader (3,700 points), placing him seventh on the list of all-time collegiate scorers at any level.

Lisa Winter, basketball player at Ball State University and Valparaiso University; Indiana's Miss Basketball 1996 [edit]

Jeff Davis, radio personality; inducted into Northern Indiana Radio Hall of Fame in 2006

Denny Jiosa, Grammy-nominated jazz guitarist

Jen Lancaster, author

Mick Mars, member of rock band Mötley Crüe

Steve Overmyer, sports anchor, formerly of CNN Headline News, formerly of Sportsnet New York

Eiffel G. Plasterer, pioneer in soap bubble art, toured America with his "Bubbles Concerto" program [edit]

J. Danforth Quayle, Vice-President of the United States, U.S. Senator, U.S. Representative

J. Edward Roush, U.S. Representative, father of "911 Emergency System"

James R. Slack, state senator and Civil War general [edit]

Archbishop John F. Noll, founder of Our Sunday Visitor a Roman Catholic Newspaper, and publishing company. Former Father of St. Mary's Catholic Church.

Richard Leroy Walters, homeless philanthropist

Jamestown

Notable People

Herman B Wells, 11th President of Indiana University

Davey Hamilton, American racecar driver, competed in the Indianapolis 500

Jasper

Major League Baseball player Scott Rolen of the Cincinnati Reds. Rolen has played in MLB since 1996, and has been selected to MLB All-Star Team as a third baseman numerous times. Rolen also won National League Rookie of the Year in 1997 and has won several National League Gold Gloves at third base.

Supercentenarian Minnie Kearby, once the oldest resident of Indiana, was also one of Jasper's best-known residents; born in Ireland, Indiana, on April 14, 1893, she moved to a Jasper care facility in November 2004. She died the following winter.

It is also the hometown of William J. Schroeder, who lived the longest on a Jarvik-7: 620 days.

The current Roman Catholic Archbishop of Indianapolis, Daniel M. Buechlein, O.S.B., also hails from Jasper.

In 2005, Jasper was ranked in the ten best places to live in the U.S. by Relocate America, a national realty relocation firm, which consults and helps clients find desirable places across the country to live. Jasper was previously ranked in the top 25 in Norman Crampton's 1992 book 100 Best Small Towns in America.

Jasper also boasts the only municipally supported Arts Council in the state of Indiana and one of a few nationwide

Kendallsville

Notable People

David M. McIntosh, member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995–2001; Republican nominee for governor of Indiana in 2000

Alvin M. Strauss, architect, born to German immigrant parents in Kendallville, best known for Lincoln Bank Tower

Brad Miller, two-time NBA All-Star, current center for the Houston Rockets.

William Mitchell, United States Representative from Indiana

Arthur Mapes, poet, born and raised in Kendallville, wrote Indiana's state poem and recognized in 1977 as the Poet Laureate for Indiana.

Amy Yoder-Begley participated in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China for long distance running.

Kentland

Kentland is the birthplace of famous turn-of-the-century humorist, George Ade, author of such plays as The College Widow, Artie and The Sultan of Sulu among others. Purdue University's Ross-Ade Stadium, home of the Boilermakers football team, is named for him and fellow Purdue benefactor David Ross.

Disgraced Indiana governor Warren McCray, convicted of mail fraud and forced to resign in 1924, also hailed from Kentland

Notable People

Jethro A. Hatch, was the first physician in Kentland and a U.S. Representative from Indiana

Kingsbury

Author Austin Candler is from the town of Kingsbury. Famous for writing the book "Child Slave", he tells of the hardships he went through in the town and of his mother who used him as a slave until he managed to escape. His follow up book "My Life as a Pathological Liar" faded quickly from the shelves during his short stay in prison.[citation needed]

Also notable from Kingsbury is Mixed Martial Arts fight champion Dustin Pape who lived and grew up in the small town during his teenage years

Knightstown

Knightstown is famous for the 1986 movie Hoosiers. The Hoosier Gym was used in the filming of the movie.

Knightstown hosts two annual festivals. Jubilee Days held in early-mid June and The Hoosier Fall Festival held in September.

Knightstown also hosts an annual car show and a music series on the town square.

The Hoosier Gym also hosts Indiana's best high school basketball players in the annual Hoosier Classic.

Recently, many locals and beef jerkey officionatos have begun a grass roots movement to name Knightstown the "Beef Jerkey Capital of the World."

Notable People

Former Secretary of Agriculture (1969–1971) Clifford M. Hardin and historian Charles A. Beard grew up and attended school in Knightstown.

Actor Monte Blue grew up and was educated at the Indiana Soldiers' and Sailors' Children's Home located south of Knightstown.

Character actor Forrest Lewis was born in Knightstown. He is best known for the recurring role of "Officer Kelly" in "The Shaggy Dog", "The Absent Minded Professor" and "Son of Flubber".

Knox

In Popular Culture

The PBS Kids television series Postcards from Buster filmed the first episode here. Called "Meet Me At the Fair," Buster Baxter, the main character on the show, discovers what it is like to work on a farm.

Laconia

The only southern-style plantation in the state of Indiana is located in Laconia. Built by John Kinter in 1837 and is known as Kintner-Withers House. At its peak the plantation farmed over 1,000 acres (4.0 km2).

Two Major League Baseball players were born in Laconia: Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Pinky May (1911) and Seattle Pilots pitcher Gary Timberlake (1948).

Ladoga

Ferris wheel

The town of Ladoga lays claim to the Chicago World's Fair Ferris wheel. Designed by Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania bridge-builder, George Ferris, Luther Rice of Ladoga agreed to build it. After the Chicago World's Fair it was placed in Ferris Wheel Park for a while, and then move to St. Louis for its World's Fair

La Porte

At eight state baseball titles, LaPorte High School holds the distinction of winning the greatest number in Indiana

LaPorte has been featured in an occasional movie, including Prancer (film) (1989), A Piece of Eden (2000), Treadmill (2006), Providence (2009) and Woman's Prison (2009).

LaPorte was once the home of the world famous Parsons Horological Institute, founded in the 1890's and still extant as part of Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois.

Notable People

Emerson Spartz: Founder of MuggleNet, the most-visited Harry Potter Web site in the world.

Harold Handley: the 40th Governor of the State of Indiana and former State Senator

Hazel Harrison: American pianist, known as the premiere black pianist of her time

William Scholl ( Dr.Scholl): Born: 22-Jun-1882 Died: 29-Mar-1968

George Allesee: former pro baseball player

Jeffrey Ake: kidnapped while in Iraq in April 2005; he has not yet been found.

Abram Andrew: United States Representative from Massachusetts

Chuck Baldwin: Baptist minister and 2008 Presidential nominee of the Constitution Party

Chris Bootcheck: Major League Baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

David J. Cook: western lawman and famous City Marshall

Art Cross: former race car driver; first Rookie of the Year at the Indianapolis 500

Daniel Edwards: Famous nude artist and erotic sculptor

Charlie O. Finley: former owner of the Oakland Athletics, lived in La Porte for most of his life.

Belle Gunness: serial killer

Rear Admiral Royal R. Ingersoll: famous American military veteran; the USS Ingersoll is named after him.

Karl Paul Link: an American biochemist best known for his discovery of the anticoagulant warfarin

William Worrall Mayo: the founder of the Mayo Clinic received his medical degree here in 1850.

Andrew McKenna: chairman of the Illinois Republican Party; graduated from La Lumiere School, a Catholic boarding school in La Porte.

Isamu Noguchi: Japanese-American artist and landscape architect.

Tom Nowatzke: former National Football League running back

Tony Raines: NASCAR driver

Ron Reed: former MLB pitcher

John G. Roberts: Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court; was captain of the football team at La Lumiere School

Slug Signorino: Commercial artist; illustrator for The Straight Dope E.E.

"Doc" Smith : Science fiction writer

Scott Skiles: Milwaukee Bucks head coach

David Willis: a webcomic writer and artist, most recently the creator of Shortpacked!

Loogootee

Loogootee has a long standing, proud tradition of high school basketball. It is the home of the winningest high school basketball coach in state history, Jack Butcher, who has over 800 wins.

Their boys tennis program also has gained notoriety after winning their eleventh straight sectional title under the guidance of Coach Rick Graves

Film and Television

Loogootee was briefly mentioned in the film Hoosiers, in the form of a credited referee. The town's name was misspelled, however, in the end credits. Loogootee also appears in a companion book for the film, which contains the fictitious Hickory Husker's schedule and who they played that year.

Notable People

Nathan Kimball, Brevet Major General in Union Army during the American Civil War

Mark Riggins, former minor league pitcher and St. Louis Cardinals minor-league pitching coordinator

Dennis Lee Overall, well known Martial Arts Master 6th Dan Traditional Hapkido , 7th Dan Jidokwan Taekwondo

Jack Butcher, Indiana's winningest high school basketball coach and IHSAA Basketball Hall of Fame member

Patrick Summers, Music Director of the Houston Grand Opera and Indiana University's 2001 Distinguished Alumnus

Lowell

The Lowell Red Devils, State football champs 2005

Notable People

Jo Anne Worley American Idol Season 7 finalist

Mallory Puckett were born and raised in Lowell.

Mary Emma Allison, credited with the idea known as Trick-or-Treat for UNICEf

Lynn

Jim Jones - Infamous cult founder Jim Jones was born near and spent many of his formative years in Lynn, though he attended high school in nearby Richmond, Indiana.

Macy

Notable People

Ruth Riley - Basketball player with the Detroit Shock of the WNBA, formerly of the University of Notre Dame. Riley was raised in Macy and graduated from North Miami High School

Madison

Powerboat racing - Madison has a powerboat racing tradition dating back to at least 1911. In 1929, the city began holding an annual race, later called the Madison Regatta beginning in 1948

In popular culture

Two Hollywood films have been shot in Madison. In the fall of 1958 it was selected as the location for Some Came Running, and in 2001 was the subject and location of Madison. Madison recounts the story of the city's hosting and winning the penultimate hydroplane racing event of 1971, echoing the movie Hoosiers. For Some Came Running, director Vincente Minnelli selected Madison in 1958 to play the role of the fictional Parkman, Indiana in filming the James Jones novel. On September 3, 1999, the community held an organized celebration to mark the 40th anniversary of the making of the film, which itself became the subject of a film documentary by Turner Classic Movies.

Notable People

James Graham Brown, Entrepreneur, philanthropist

Francis Costigan, architect

Irene Dunne, five-time Academy Award-nominatee for best actress

James F.D. Lanier, chartered the State Bank of Indiana in 1833; hired Francis Costigan to design and build the Lanier Mansion

Jeremiah C. Sullivan, attorney, American Civil War general in the Union Army

William McKendree Snyder, artist

Tommy Thevenow, major league baseball player from 1924–1938

Marengo

The movie Madison (2001), starring Jim Caviezel and Jake Lloyd, shot a scene in downtown Marengo.[5]

The movie Fire from Below (2008), starring Kevin Sorbo, filmed at Marengo Cave

Markleville

The site of the Fall Creek Massacre, chronicled by Jessamyn West in her novel Massacre at Fall Creek, is located about a mile from Markleville. A historical marker located just east of Markleville on State Road 38 tells the story of the massacre. In 1824, four men named Hudson, Sawyer, John T. Bridge, Sr. and John Bridge, Jr. were tried and sentenced to death for the murders of eight members of a small group of Seneca Indians, including women and children. All were publicly hanged except for 18-year old John Bridge, Jr., who was pardoned on the gallows in person by Indiana Governor J. Brown Ray because of his age. This was the first time in U.S. history that white men were subjected to capital punishment for the murder of Native Americans.

Martinsville

Carol Jenkins Murder On the night of Sept. 16, 1968, Carol Jenkins [6], a 21-year-old black woman, was murdered in Martinsville. Many assumed the murderer was a local person. Many reporters complained of locals refusing to talk about the case and there was speculation of a cover up [7]. This murder contributed heavily to the image of Martinsville as a racist and corrupt town during the thirty-four years it remained unsolved. However, the murder of Carol Jenkins was not the sole basis of Martinsville's reputation. Other, albeit less violent and notorious, acts of racism and discrimination within in Martinsville have been alleged, such as a visiting high school basketball team being called racial epithets by a hometown Martinsville crowd while the Martinsville high school team "played dirty" [8]. In 2002 [9] it was discovered that a Hendricks County man and his acquaintance were passing through Martinsville in 1968, saw Ms. Jenkins, and murdered her. This man was connected to the Ku Klux Klan, but not connected to Martinsville in any way.

Notable natives and residents

Emmett Forrest Branch, 13th governor of Indiana

Richard Bray, Indiana State Senator

Glenn M. Curtis, basketball coach

Charles E. Ford, newsreel and motion picture director

Jeff Kottkamp, sitting lieutenant governor of Florida Paul

V. McNutt, 34th governor of Indiana

Mel Payton, former professional basketball player

Jerry Sichting, former professional basketball player

John C. Wetherby, recipient of the Medal of Honor

John Wooden, Naismith Hall of Fame college basketball player

coach Albert Merritt, founder of the Boy's Club in Martinsville

Mauckport

In the earliest times Daniel Boone and his brothers, most notably Squire Boone, were regularly in the area of Mauckport. Squire Boone settled in the area in 1806. Squire Boone's remains are just north of Mauckport in the Squire Boone Caverns.

Mentone

Mentone is the self-proclaimed "Egg Basket of the Midwest" because of prolific commercial egg production in the area, and holds an Egg Festival annually in early June to celebrate its heritage. A large concrete egg stands near the town center and is considered locally to be the "Largest Egg in the World".

The Lawrence D. Bell Aircraft Museum, is located within the city limits

Notable People

Lawrence D. Bell, the founder of Bell Aircraft, was born in Mentone.

Middlebury

Notable People

Eric Stults - Pitcher for the Los

Justin Yoder - Disabled soapbox driver born in Middlebury.

Milan

Milan High School won the Indiana state basketball championship against Muncie Central High School in 1954. The signifance of their victory was that Milan was the smallest-populated high school in the U.S. to win a state championship in national history. The 1986 film Hoosiers is based on the story of the 1954 Milan Team

Mitchell

It is the birthplace of astronaut Gus Grissom, who flew on Liberty Bell 7, Gemini 3, and died in a launch pad fire at Kennedy Space Center in 1967.

In 1851, the Mitchell area was the birthplace of outlaw and train robber Sam Bass (1851-1878). He was orphaned at age 13, but was apparently engaged in lawful activities until 1877, when he became an icon of the "wildness" of the American Old West as he robbed banks, stagecoaches and railroad trains before being fatally wounded by Texas Rangers the following year. Despite Bass' short-lived criminal career, he is remembered as part of a robbery of gold on September 18, 1877 which remains the largest robbery in Union Pacific Railroad's history.

Monon

North White High School "Vikings" football coach Jim Davis led the Vikings to an undefeated 14-0 season and class 1A football state championship in 1994 by defeating Sheridan High School 34-7 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis

Monroeville

Notable People

Lloyd C. Douglas, author of The Magnificent Obsession, The Robe, and others

Monrovia

Notable People

Gary Bettenhausen - Indy Racing League driver

John Standeford - Wide Receiver for the Detroit Lions

Branch McCracken - two time NCAA Championship basketball coach for Indiana University

Monticello

Home to the Indiana Beach amusement park

Mt. Vernon

Notable People

H. Joel Deckard, (1942-), Born in Vandalia, Illinois, Deckard attended public schools in Mount Vernon, Indiana. He served as member of Indiana House of Representatives from 1966 to 1974 and was later elected to the US House of Representatives serving from 1979 to 1983. He was unsuccessful in his reelection bid in 1982 losing to Frank McCloskey.

William Harrow, (1822–1871), Union general in the Civil War. Born in Winchester, Kentucky, lived in Mount Vernon and is buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery just north of town.

Alvin P. Hovey, (1821–1891), Union general in the Civil War and Governor of Indiana 1889-1891. Played major role in Battle of Champion Hill during the Siege of Vicksburg. Born in Mount Vernon and is buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery.

Thomas Gamble Pitcher, (1824–1895), Union general in the Civil War and was 1845 graduate of the United States Military Academy later serving as Superintendent from 1866-1871. Born in Rockport, Indiana, lived in Mount Vernon and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Mulberry

Notable People

V.M. Slipher and Earl C. Slipher, astronomers

Robert D. Gaylor, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force

Amanda Overmyer, American Idol finalist

Dennis Morris, Class Of 2009 Minor League Football Hall of Fame Inductee and Class Of 2010 American Football Association Hall Of Fame Inductee for Semi-Pro Football

Nappanee

Notable People

Lt. Colonel (Ret) Todd Beer, United States Air Force, an Air Force One pilot, is from Nappanee; he graduated from the United States Air Force Academy where he was recruited to play basketball. He has flown Air Force One for President Bill Clinton and President George W. Bush.

Vance George, conductor of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus from 1982-2006.

Rob Rensberger (1921–2007), a professional basketball player for the Chicago Stags.

James L. Weygand (1919–2003), a lifelong resident of Nappanee, was a writer and publisher of miniature books and also wrote a definitive town history They Called It Nappanee: A History 1874-1974 Collections of his miniature books are held at The Lilly Library, Indiana University [1] and at the University of Iowa. The University of Florida has digitized his three books on printers' devices

Six successful cartoonists lived in Nappanee as children: Merrill Blosser (Freckles and His Friends) Max Gwin (Slim and Spud in Prairie Farmer) Bill Holman (Smokey Stover) Henry Maust, advertising artist and cartoonist Fred Neher (Life’s Like That) Francis "Mike" Parks, political cartoonis

Nashville

In the early twentieth century, a number of artists settled in the area, most notably T. C. Steele, the American Impressionist painter. These artists were the basis for the Brown County Art Colony, which continues to this day as the Brown County Art Guild.

Newburgh

On July 18, 1862, Newburgh was the first town north of the Mason-Dixon line to be captured by the Confederate forces during the American Civil War. Colonel Adam R. Johnson, with a partisan band, crossed the Ohio River and confiscated supplies and ammunition without a shot being fired. The Confederates would have been unable to shell the city (as promised) had Newburgh put up a fight. The Confederates' "cannons" were an assemblage of stove pipe, a charred log, and wagon wheels.

In 2006, the United States Senior Men's Amateur Golf Championship was hosted in Newburgh at the Victoria National Golf Course.

Notable People

Jamey Carroll, Major League Baseball player

Bryce Hunt, Olympic swimmer

Michael Rosenbaum, actor Smallville.

Marcia Yockey, local television weather personality

New Carlisle

Notable People

Bill Doba: former head football coach at Washington State University

Schuyler Colfax: was a Representative from Indiana and the 17th Vice President of the United States

New Castle

New Castle is home to New Castle Fieldhouse, the largest high school gymnasium in the world. The fieldhouse has a capacity of 9,325.

Notable People

Steve Alford, NCAA basketball player and coach

Tom Allen, NCAA head football coach

Dakoda Armstrong, automobile racing

Trey Ball, baseball player[19][20]

Kent Benson, NBA basketball player

Major General Omar Bundy, United States Army officer who fought in the Indian Wars, the Spanish–American War, and World War I, where he commanded the 2nd Division in 1918

Trevor Chowning, pop artist and former Hollywood talent agent/producer

Richard Crane, actor

William Grose, American Civil War general

Tracy Hines, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and United States Auto Club driver

Vern Huffman, basketball and football player for Indiana University

Robert Indiana, artist

Fred Luddy businessman[21]

Peter Malnati, golfer[22]

David Lee Roth, singer

Robert McMurrer, author, filmmaker and actor retired to New Castle

New Harmony

New Harmony, formerly named Harmony, was founded by the Harmony Society, headed by German immigrant George Rapp (actually Johann Georg Rapp) in 1814. This was the second of three towns built by the pietist, communal German religious group, known as Harmonists, Harmonites or Rappites; they settled in Indiana after leaving Harmony, Pennsylvania, and after leaving Indiana, they founded the community of Economy, Pennsylvania, now called Ambridge. When the society decided to move back to Pennsylvania around 1824, they sold the 30,000 acres (121 km²) of land and buildings to Robert Owen, the Welsh utopian thinker and social reformer, and to William Maclure for $150,000, who then changed the name from "Harmony" to "New Harmony." Owen recruited residents to his model community, but a number of factors led to an early breakup of the communitarian experiment. Although Owen's vision of New Harmony as an advance in social reform was not realized, the town did become a scientific center of national significance. As President of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, William Maclure brought naturalists Thomas Say and Charles-Alexandre Lesueur to New Harmony from Philadelphia. Say has been called the father of American entomology and the father of American conchology. Many species were first described by both Say and Leseuer, and many have been named in their honor. Say died in New Harmony in 1834, and Leseuer returned to his native France in 1837.

Paul Tillich Park commemorates the renowned 20th century theologian, Paul Johannes Tillich. The park was dedicated on 2 June 1963, and Tillich's ashes were interred there in 1965.

In fiction

New Harmony is the setting for the season three finale of The CW television series Supernatural.

New Harmony figures prominently in the premier novel by Eric Durchholz entitled The Promise of Eden.

In film

A short experimental film titled "The Ends of Utopia"[1] was created in 2009 by a Vanderbilt University student.

New Haven

Notable People

Lloy Ball, professional volleyball player, Olympic gold medalist, 2008 Summer Olympics

David Doster, former player for MLB Philadelphia Phillies

Norm Ellenberger, former head coach of the University of New Mexico Lobos and assistant coach to the NBA Chicago Bulls

Bubbles Hargrave, former player for MLB Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, and New York Yankees

Pinky Hargrave, former player for MLB Washington Senators, St. Louis Browns, Detroit Tigers, and Boston Braves

Jim Leonard, Jr., playwright and television dramatist

Don Wolf, CEO of Do It Best

Jay Brown, California attorney and former criminal defense counsel with the U.S. Navy; successfully defended hundreds of military sailors and Marines in military courts martial

New Palestine

Notable People

Todd Yoder NFL tight end

Angela Ahrendts American Businesswoman and CEO of Burberry

Morgan's Raid

On July 11, 1863, while crossing Blue River near New Pekin, Captain William J. Davis of Morgan's Raid and some of his men were captured by 73rd Indiana Volunteers and a detachment of the 5th U.S. Regulars. Captain Davis and several other soldiers were taken to New Albany, Indiana and secured in the county jail.

New Whiteland

State Record - On January 19, 1994, the temperature in New Whiteland fell to -36°F (-38°C), the coldest temperature ever in the state of Indiana.

North Judson

The town hosts the annual Mint Festival over Father's Day weekend in celebration of the history of mint farming in the area

Notable People

Henry F. Schricker, 36th and 38th Governor of Indiana

North Liberty

Notable People

Jay Beyers is a Hollywood actor who attend North Liberty Elementary School and grew up in the community.

North Manchester

In the early 20th century, automobiles were made here by the DeWitt Motor Company.

On February 1, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech at Manchester College. It was the last time he spoke at a campus

Notable People

Thomas R. Marshall (1854–1925), Governor of Indiana (1909–1913) and Vice President of the United States (1913–1921), was born in North Manchester.

Grace Van Studdiford (1873-1927), stage actress and opera singer

Lloyd Cassel Douglas (1877–1951), author and pastor of the Lutheran Church

Andrew W. Cordier (1901–1975), history professor (1923–1944), co-founder of the United Nations (1925–1945), President of Columbia University (1968–1970)

Harold Leckrone , Composer and Band Director. Composed Manchester High School School Song, also used in the movie Hoosiers

North Webster

Mermaid Festival - Hosted by the North Webster Lions Club.Takes place in June. The festival operated the last full week of the month

North Webster is home to the DIXIE, Indiana’s oldest stern wheel paddle boat.

Peru

Circus Capital of the World" - Peru was the winter headquarters for several famous circuses, including Ringling Brothers, Hagenbeck-Wallace, Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, and others[7]. The International Circus Hall of Fame is located in Peru, Indiana. Annually during the third weekend of July, the Peru Amateur Circus holds performances for the whole week, ending with a Circus City Festival and Parade. All of the performers are amateurs, ranging in age from 7 to 21 years.

Notable People

B.J. Penn, briefly served as United States Secretary of the Navy in 2009

Cole Porter, songwriter; Porter was born in Peru, and buried at Mt. Hope Cemetery

Kyle Macy, former NBA player, former Morehead State University head coach; Macy was raised in Peru and graduated from Peru High School

Ole Olsen, comedian

Carol Lou Woodward, pianist

Petersburg

Petersburg hosted the 2008 Official Indiana State Picking and Fiddling Contest. Petersburg has a Long History with the official state contest, and has hosted it many times in the past.

Notable People

John W. Foster (Journalist and diplomat)

Melba Phillips (Physicist and science educator)

Gil Hodges (Professional baseball player and manager)

Clyde Lovellette (Professional basketball player)

Jody Davis (former Newsboys guitarist)

Donald E. Hicks (Evangelist)

Joe Wyatt (Professional baseball player)

Jason Sturgeon (Country music singer)

Pittsboro

Notable People

Jeff Gordon, professional racecar driver

Bridget Sloan, Olympic Gymnast

Plainfield

Plainfield has long been associated with the national road, U.S. Route 40, which goes through town as "Main Street."

One incident which brought Plainfield national attention occurred in 1842 when President Martin Van Buren was spilled deliberately from his stage coach into the thick mud of the highway. The practical joke came as a result of Van Buren's vetoing a bill from Congress to improve the highway, a move which angered Western settlers. When Van Buren came through Plainfield on a swing to shore up his popularity for the 1844 election, a group of perpetrators set up the incident. The elm tree whose roots caused the president's carriage to topple became known as the Van Buren Elm. An elementary school near this site is named Van Buren Elementary School

Plainfield is the headquarters of the Islamic Society of North America

Plymouth

Plymouth was the site of the first retail outlet of defunct U.S. retailer Montgomery Ward in 1926.

The Blueberry Festival held each Labor Day weekend since 1966. Centered in Plymouth's large Centennial Park, the Blueberry Festival is attended by over 500,000 people each year, second only to the Indianapolis 500 in size for Indiana weekend events.

September 4, 1838 - A sordid story in Plymouth, the Potawatomi Trail of Death begins. The Trail of Death was a forced march of the Potawatomi tribe, at the time led by Chief Menominee, from a location near Plymouth to Osawatomie, Kansas. More than 40 of the more than 850 tribal members died on the march

Notable People

Scott Skiles, NBA basketball player and head coach.

Gerald Archie Mangun, minister and 1938 Lincoln High School graduate, who went on to build one of the largest churches in the United Pentecostal Church organization.

Morgan Mead, film director of critically-acclaimed films such as My Name is Jerry starring Doug Jones.

Nicole Rash, a 2003 Plymouth High School graduate, became the first representative from the city of Plymouth to become Miss Indiana in 2007 and was 1st runner-up in the 2008 Miss America pageant.

Tommye Lou Glaze (Miss Plymouth) become Miss Indiana 1960 and placed as Fourth Runner-up in the Miss American competition after being named a Preliminary Talent winner with her classical vocal.[7]

Barbara Mougin (Miss Plymouth) became the 1977 titleholder and then went on to tie the best-ever finish for a Miss Indiana at the Miss America Pageant with a First Runner-up placing to the new Miss America Susan Perkins of Ohio.[8]

Terry Kaiser made it two in a row for the Plymouth pageant when she walked the runway as Miss Indiana 1978. [9]

The pageant celebrated its 25th year in Michigan City in 1981, and Pam Carlburg (Miss Plymouth) became Miss Indiana 1981. A Third Runner-up finish at Miss America topped off her year.

In 1977 Plymouth High School won the State Football Championship. Pete Buchanan from the 1977 team went on to play college football at Notre Dame. In 1982 Scott Skiles led Plymouth High School to the boys basketball state championship with a 75-74 double overtime victory over Gary Roosevelt High School. On March 24, 2007 Plymouth won the Indiana Class AAA boys' basketball championship. Plymouth beat Evansville Bosse in a 72-61 victory. On March 1, 2008 Plymouth won the Indiana Class AAA Girls' Basketball Championship. The Lady Pilgrims defeated Indianapolis Chatard 47-46 at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis

Portland

Notable People

Leon Ames, actor, founder of Screen Actors Guild in 1933

Stephanie Arnold, competed in Women's Archery in the 2004 Olympics

Pete Brewster, professional football player

Kevin A. Ford, astronaut, piloted NASA space shuttle mission to International Space Station in 2009

Elwood Haynes (born in Portland, 1857) invented the clutch-driven automobile in 1894

Jack Imel, television producer, Lawrence Welk Show

Mary Meeker (born in Portland, 1960) investment banker, made Internet economically viable by promoting it to investors in the 1990s, (becoming known as the "Queen of the Internet")

Twyla Tharp, Emmy and Tony Award-winning choreographer

Richard T. James, Indiana State Representative, State Auditor 2x, Lt. Governor 44-48

Princeton

In 1925, half of Princeton was devastated by the Great Tri-State Tornado. The deadliest tornado in US history claimed 70 lives in Indiana with over half of those in Princeton

Notable People

Michael A. Banks - American author born in Princeton in 1951

Eddie Bush - Singer/Guitarist in country music group One Flew South (Decca/Universal), born in Princeton in 1965

Gary Denbo - New York Yankees Professional Baseball Player and Coach

Gil Hodges - Baseball Player for Brooklyn, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets. Holder of the NL record for career grand slams from 1957 to 1974.

David J. Lawson - Pastor. Played a key role establishing and developing Africa University, the only U.M.C. university in Africa.

Dave Niehaus - Seattle Mariners play-by-play announcer

The Amazing Criswell - Actor and psychic, born in Princeton in 1907.

Gary Burton - b Anderson, Indiana - American jazz vibraphonist

Michael E. Pegram - b Fort Knox, Kentucky - Horse Jockey

William Prince - b Ireland - politician

Orville Redenbacher - b Brazil, Indiana - Pop Corn

Icon Frosty Stillwell - b Evansville, Indiana - Popular radio personality in California

Dave Thomas b Atlantic City, New Jersey - Founder of Wendy's

Rensselaer

Rensselaer is home to Saint Joseph's College of Indiana:

Notable Alumni:

Major League Baseball player Gil Hodges played college ball at Saint Joseph's College, and later went on to play for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets.

Philip F. Deaver, writer and poet, graduated from St. Joseph's College in 1968. He went on to win O. Henry and Flannery O'Connor awards for short fiction, and to publish poetry and fiction in dozens of literary journals.

Award-winning sports columnist Jim Sacco

Former Canadian Member of Parliament and Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons Gilbert Parent.

Thomas Dudley Harmon, 1940 Heisman Trophy winner at the University of Michigan, played football professionally with the New York Americans and the Los Angeles Rams, Actor, Radio and Television Sports Broadcaster. As a pilot in the Army Air Corps during World War II, he was awarded the Purple Heart and the Silver Star for his actions.

Steve Buyer, U.S. House of Representatives for Indiana's 4th Congressional District.

Charles A. Halleck, Republican leader of the United States House of Representatives from the Second District of Indiana. He served as the House Majority Leader after the elections of 1946 and 1952; was the House Minority Leader 1959-1964.

James Frederick "Jimmy" Hanley, American songwriter, best remembered for the hit songs "Indiana" (1917), "Second Hand Rose" (1921) and "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart" (1934).

Nellie Donegan, Actress, Ziegfeld Girl, Artistic Roller Skating Vaudeville Performer & International Speed Roller Skater.

Augustus Phillips, Actor during the silent film era, appeared in 134 films between 1910 and 1921.

Eleanor Stackhouse Atkinson, Author, Journalist and Teacher, she is best known for her 1912 novel Greyfriars Bobby.

Edison Marshall, nationally known author and adventurer. Won the prestigious O. Henry Award for "The Heart of Little Shikara."

Reynolds

In 2005, the Indiana State Department of Agriculture began a program to make Reynolds an energy self-sufficient community, able to subsist almost entirely on locally produced alternative energy. Called "BioTown, USA", the pilot project involved converting local vehicles to run on ethanol and biodiesel fuels and converting animal waste into electricity and natural gas

Ridgeville

Notable People

Wendell Meredith Stanley (1904–1971), winner of the 1946 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, was born in Ridgeville.

Rochester

Notable People

Otis R. Bowen, fourth United States Secretary of Health and Human Services was born nearby.

Thurman C. Crook, one-term U.S. congressman.

Gene DeWeese , science fiction writer, was born in Rochester.

Ron Herrell, a current member of the Indiana House of Representatives

Elmo Lincoln, a film actor and subject of the biography My Father, Elmo Lincoln: The Original Tarzan

Ray Mowe, shortstop for the 1913 Brooklyn Dodgers

Nicole Anderson, actress

Rockport

Notable People

Thomas G. Pitcher, (1824-1895), Union general in the Civil War and was 1845 graduate of the United States Military Academy later serving as Superintendent from 1866-1871. Born in Rockport, Indiana, later lived in Mount Vernon and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Rockville

It is known as "The Covered Bridge Capital of the World".

Notable People

Morris K. Jessup - UFO conspiracy theorist.

Don Lash - Champion long-distance runner, settled in Rockville after retiring from a career in the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Rushville

Tony Stewart NASCAR driver, former IRL Champion is also referred to as the "Rushville Rocket". Stewart grew up in Columbus, Indiana but started his racing career while living in Rushville. There is a small drive next to Rushville Consolidated High School named Tony Stewart Drive after the famous NASCAR driver.

Leonidas Sexton (May 19, 1827 – July 4, 1880) was a U.S. Representative from Indiana.

Wendell Willkie claimed residence in and ran his unsuccessful 1940 presidential campaign from Rushville. He remains the only native of Indiana to be nominated as the presidential candidate for a national party. He is buried in the East Hill Cemetery. His wife, Edith Wilk, was a native of Rushville.

Frazier Thomas was born in Rushville, Indiana on June 13, 1918 and died in Chicago, Illinois on April 3, 1985. He was an American television personality. He is best known for having hosted the long-running children's television program Garfield Goose and Friends on WGN-TV. He also hosted various radio and television programs in a long career that spanned from before World War II until his death. He hosted Family Classics and took over as circus manager on Bozo's Circus after the retirement of ringmaster Ned Locke, both shows on WGN-TV.

Philip Willkie, Indiana politian and businessman

Russiaville

Russiaville is the birthplace of Jonathan Dixon Maxwell (Sept. 3, 1864), builder of the Maxwell automobile. He is buried there

Movies Filmed in Russiaville - The Ryan White Story (1988), starring Judith Light and Lukas Haas

Salem

Morgan's Raid

In June 1863, the Confederate cavalry under John Hunt Morgan had departed Tennessee on what would later became known as Morgan's Raid. Traveling through Tennessee and into Kentucky, Morgan eventually crossed into Indiana; he reached Salem on July 10, 1863, coming north from Corydon. Upon entering Salem at approximately 9 a.m., Morgan immediately took possession of the town and placed guards over the stores and streets. The cavalrymen burned the large, brick railroad depot, along with all the train cars on the track and the railroad bridges on each side of the town. Morgan demanded taxes from the two flour mills that belonged to DePauw and Knight, and from the Allen Wollen Mill. Morgan's men looted stores and took about $500 from the area before departing about 3 p.m.

Notable People

John Hay, private secretary to President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of State to Presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt, was born in Salem and is generally known as Salem's most prominent citizen. A variety of museums and local buildings make reference to Mr. Hay's connections to the town.

Roy Robertson invented the process for making 2% milk while working at the Salem Creamery, where it was first produced and marketed. He was unable to obtain a patent and the invention was credited to someone else

Salem is also home to the legendary Salem Speedway. It is a half mile high banked paved oval that was first built in 1947. Many of the most legendary drivers of the past 50 years have raced there including Ted Horn, Parnelli Jones, AJ Foyt, Bobby and Al Unser, Mario Andretti, Larry Dickson, Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Gordon. AJ Foyt at one time held the world record for a half mile oval at the speedway. One of ESPN's first televised auto racing events was held there in 1979.

Santa Claus

The town has the world’s only post office to bear the name of Santa Claus. Because of this popular name, the post office receives thousands of letters to Santa from all over the world each year. A group of volunteers known as "Santa’s Elves" ensures each child receives a reply from Santa Claus; this tradition has been around since at least 1914

Santa Claus is the home to numerous themed attractions including: Santa's Candy Castle, Santa Claus Museum [1], Holiday World & Splashin' Safari, Frosty's Fun Center, and Christmas Lake Golf Course

Notable People

Basketball Hall of Fame Coach Arad McCutchan -- Retired to Santa Claus after stepping down as the Head Basketball Coach at the University of Evansville.

Former Purdue Boilermakers fullback/linebacker Jon Goldsberry – Native

Jay Cutler, Quarterback Chicago Bears - Native

Sellerburg

In 1994, local PGA golfer Fuzzy Zoeller opened Covered Bridge Golf Club, which he designed. Covered Bridge has hosted many pro/celebrity golf tournaments which have raised money for local charities. The Wolf Challenge takes place annually. Notable celebrities played in the 2006 Wolf Challenge in Sellersburg, including Bill Murray, Kevin Costner, John Daly, and Cris Judd

Seymour

Singer John Mellencamp,

Seymour is the birthplace of Texas lawyer Paul Eggers,

Miss America 2009, Katie Stam

Robert Shields whose personal diary earned him a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Robert William Shields was a distant cousin of Seymour founder Meedy Shields.

Also Seymour is the home of rock band The Elms

Seymour was the site of the World's First Train Robbery, committed by the local Reno Gang, on October 6, 1866 just east of town. The gang was put into prison for the robbery, and later hanged at Hangman's Crossing outside of town.

The Freeman Field Mutiny occurred in 1945, in which African-American members of the 477th Bombardment Group attempted to integrate an all-white officers' club at Freeman Army Air Corps Base. The mutiny later led to the integration of United States Military.

Shelbyville

Notable People

Sandy Allen, the world's tallest woman

Bill Garrett, Indiana Mr. Basketball of 1947 and first African-American basketball player in the Big Ten Conference

Thomas Hendricks, the 21st Vice President of the United States, under Grover Cleveland

Eric Knecht, sportscaster

Charles Major, author

Edna Parker, the oldest living person from August 13, 2007 until her death on November 26, 2008

James Pierce, son-in-law of Edgar Rice Burroughs and one of the first actors to play Tarzan on film

Wilbur Shaw, three-time Indianapolis 500 winner

James Buchanan Barnes, the former Winter Soldier and current Captain America.

Say It Isn't So - The 2001 comedy film, Say It Isn't So, which stars Chris Klein and Heather Graham, begins with Graham's character who is employed at an animal shelter in Shelbyville.

West Baden Springs

It is well known for its West Baden Springs Hotel Built in 1902, the West Baden Springs Hotel became known for the 200-foot (61 m) dome covering its atrium.

Notable People

Birthplace of Larry Bird.