Social Squares · Indiana · Crossroads of America
Indiana, town by town
One calm page for each Indiana town: what’s on this weekend from the library, the schools, the churches and the town or city hall, its history, and every local shop on one hand-drawn map. Free, no ads, kept by neighbors. The fish fry, the 4-H fair and the Friday night game, all in one place.
Tap a pin to step into that town’s Square.
Open now
Every Indiana Square, A to Z
Made in Indiana
Indiana firsts
- 1732Indiana’s oldest town Vincennes
Vincennes began as a French fur-trading post in 1732 and is the oldest continually lived-in European settlement in Indiana. It was the capital of the Indiana Territory from 1800 to 1813. Source
- 1816The first state capital Corydon
Delegates wrote Indiana’s first constitution in Corydon in June 1816, often working outside under a big elm, and Corydon was the state capital until 1825. Source
- 1871The first pro league ball game Fort Wayne
On May 4, 1871, the Fort Wayne Kekiongas beat Cleveland 2 to 0 in the first game of the first professional baseball league, in front of about 200 people. Source
- 1880Lit by electricity Wabash
On March 31, 1880, four electric lamps hung from the courthouse lit up downtown Wabash. The town claims to be the first electrically lighted city in the world, though only the courthouse grounds were lit. Source
- 1884Circus Capital of the World Peru
Benjamin Wallace started his Great Wallace Show in 1884, and Peru became the winter home of big circuses like Hagenbeck-Wallace; the Circus Hall of Fame sits on the old winter grounds. Every July, young people from 7 to 21 put on the Peru Amateur Circus. Source
- 1894Elwood Haynes’ Pioneer Kokomo
Elwood Haynes test-drove his gasoline car, the Pioneer, on Pumpkinvine Pike outside Kokomo on July 4, 1894. Some historians call it the first true American automobile; the Smithsonian believes it was the second gas car road-tested in the U.S. Source
- 1911The first Indianapolis 500 Speedway
Ray Harroun won the first 500-mile race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 30, 1911. His Marmon Wasp carried what is believed to be the first rearview mirror on a race car. Source
- 1915The Coca-Cola bottle Terre Haute
The curvy Coca-Cola bottle was designed in 1915 at the Root Glass Company in Terre Haute, by bottle designer Earl R. Dean. Source
- 1934RV Capital of the World Elkhart
Elkhart’s first recreational vehicle factory opened in 1934, and by 1949 the city was called the RV Capital of the World. It is known as the Band Instrument Capital of the World too. Source
- 1946Santa Claus Land Santa Claus
Santa Claus Land opened in the town of Santa Claus on August 3, 1946. Now Holiday World, it calls itself the first theme park, a claim Knott’s Berry Farm in California makes too. Source
Your town next?
Each Square opens with its own history, photos and calendar, and a neighbor to keep it. If your Indiana town isn’t here yet, tell us, or add your church’s, school’s or club’s calendar and help it open.