Travel Oracles 50 States: Indiana
As part of my summer series - Travel Oracles 50 States - I am revisiting each os the fifty American states as an overview on travel culture and history. Today: Indiana
Joined: On December 11, 1816, Indiana was admitted to the union as the 19th state. Indiana, a state in the Midwest, played an important role in supporting the Union during the American Civil War.
Original Indigenous Peoples: Indiana was the historic homeland of many Native American tribes including the Shawnee, Miami, Wea, Potawatomi, Delaware, Wyandot, Kickapoo, Piankashaw, Chickasaw and others. These tribes were removed from the state through a series of treaties in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
First Settlers: Indiana was first explored by Europeans when La Salle visited during the winter of 1679 to 1680. The first permanent settlement was near the French fort at Vincennes, built in 1702, along the Wabash River.
History moment: Many families throughout the state of Indiana provided shelter for runaway slaves both before and during the Civil War. In particular, the farming community of Newport (now Fountain City) became known as the “Grand Central Station of the Underground Railroad” due to Levi and Catherine Coffin’s role in helping more than 2,000 runaway slaves make their way north to freedom. Also, The first train robbery in the United States occurred in Indiana on October 6, 1866. A gang known as the Reno Brothers stopped an Ohio and Mississippi train in Jackson County and made off with $13,000.
Known for: Coren & Farmlands, University of Notre Dame, The Indianapolis 500, home state of David Letterman (who often speaks about it), Its love of basketball and for producing stars such as Larry Bird and Louie Dampier
Places: Indianapolis, Madison
Movie setting: A Christmas Story, Hoosiers, Rudy, Bridges of madison county, The Fault in our Stars
Musicians from: John Mellencamp, The Jackson 5 + Janet Jackson, Axl Rose, David Lee Roth
Surprising facts: Has generated the fifth-highest number of professional basketball players per capita of any state. Indiana has the nation's second-largest automotive industry and is leading the U.S. in manufacturing job growth.
With its feet firmly planted in the heartland, Indiana is like one big small town, where locals take pride in their "Hoosier hospitality." The state is a healthy mix of rural and urban. Indianapolis, the state’s largest city, features big-city culture, yet still retains charm and character. One of Indiana's most treasured natural features, the 15-mile stretch of beaches that is now protected as the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, is in the thick of an industrial belt, home of behemoth steel mills, refineries, and supporting industries. Let’s travel to Indiana
My Experience: I have never been, I have just watched Letterman talk about it on his show over the years
Indianapolis: Indianapolis is one of those places that residents don't want the masses to know about, lest they spoil its perfect blend of bustle and easygoing Midwest mentality that makes it such a livable and lovely city. Downtown buildings, both retail and residential, have been given new life since the 1990s revitalization and continually expanding green corridors add to its walkability.
Madison: Widely known as one of America’s most beautiful river towns, Madison has a rich past as a port town along the Ohio River during the early 1800s, so much that it was dubbed a gateway to the West. While today this proud town of 13,000 is known more for shopping and dining than it is for shipping, its merchants and innkeepers have done a stellar job of preserving that small-town charm. They love Madison and it shows. Winery tasting rooms, antiques shops, and bed-and-breakfasts are icons of the town’s newest incantation.
Nature: Indiana is home to three National Parks sites: Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial, George Rogers Clark National Historical Park and Indiana Dunes National Park (*I had no idea there were beaches here)
Ranking in US: Per the annual US News report, Indiana is currently ranked #32 out of 50 in 2021, up from #36 in 2019.