Here’s something we bet you didn’t know: Indiana is known as the “Mother of Vice Presidents,” having produced six VPs to date. Schuyler Colfax, who served under Ulysses S. Grant, hailed from South Bend.
Indiana is full of lesser-known facts just like this. From the northern touch along Lake Michigan to the southern border tracing the Ohio River, we’re crisscrossing the entire Hoosier State—small towns, big cities and everything in between—to round up some interesting facts for your next trivia night.
Northern Indiana: Technology, Ecology and Transportation
Fort Wayne played a secret role in World War II as a production site for the TDR-1 Assault Drone, a wooden, twin-engine, remote-controlled aircraft that was an early version of the cruise missile.
Fort Wayne helped eliminate the household icebox when General Electric developed the Monitor Top refrigerator, the first home refrigerator with a hermetically sealed compressor.
Fort Wayne hosted the first professional league baseball game in history on May 4, 1871—decades before Major League Baseball formally existed.
LaGrange County ranks first in the state and second in the nation for largest horse population, reflecting a historically transportation-driven and agricultural economy that later evolved into one of the largest Amish communities in the United States. Shipshewana, in LaGrange County, now welcomes over 2 million visitors annually, making it a global Amish tourism destination.
South Bend was home to the Studebaker Corporation, the only company in history to successfully transition from manufacturing horse-drawn wagons to gasoline-powered automobiles.
Porter County’s Indiana Dunes are considered the “birthplace of ecology” in North America. In the 1890s, University of Chicago Botanist Henry Cowles studied how the region’s plant life changed over time, establishing the concept of ecological succession. In fact, the Indiana Dunes region contains more plant species than the entire state of Hawaii!
Central Indiana: The Moving City
Indianapolis stunned the nation in 1930 by rotating the 11,000-ton (22-million-pound), eight-story brick-and-steel Indiana Bell Building 90 degrees at 15 inches per hour for 34 days, all while employees continued working inside.
Johnson County is home to “The Grave in the Middle of the Road.” In the early 1900s, County officials decided to move the cemetery to build a road. The grandson of one resident protected his grandmother’s grave and kept her remains from being moved. To this day, the two-lane road splits at the gravesite, and a plaque commemorates the site.
Martinsville became the “Goldfish Capital of the World” in 1899 after a local entrepreneur established the first successful commercial goldfish farm in the United States.
Wayne County, near the Ohio border, boasts the highest natural point in Indiana. Called Hoosier Hill, it sits 1,257 feet above sea level.
DePauw University, located in Putnam County, was among the first colleges outside New England to go co-ed. Founded in 1837 as Indiana Asbury University, the school opened its doors to women in 1867.
Southern Indiana: The Limestone and the Lawless
Jackson County made national headlines when the Reno Gang carried out the first-ever robbery of a moving train in U.S. history on October 6, 1866. The four brothers made off with over $10,000, inspiring generations of Western crime stories.
Lawrence and Monroe Counties produce Indiana Limestone. Known as “The Nation’s Building Stone,” it has been used to construct such iconic structures as the Lincoln Memorial, the National Cathedral, the Empire State Building, the Pentagon and many state capitol buildings.
Haubstadt is home to The Log Inn, serving food since 1825 and officially recognized as Indiana’s oldest restaurant, with Abraham Lincoln among its early patrons.
We hope you learned a thing or two about the Hoosier state! If you’re interested in more Indiana happenings, check out the roundup of our favorite northeast Indiana events.
About One Lucky Guitar
One Lucky Guitar is a boutique creative agency in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana. Our mission statement is “We communicate brand soul.” We believe we can generate the greatest results, through the best work—creating pride in those we serve.
We provide brand development services to mission-driven people, organizations and companies who make the worlds of those they serve a little better.
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