1813History
== History ==
=== Early 19th century ===
In 1813, Williamson Dunn, Henry Ristine, and Major Ambrose Whitlock, U.S.
1821Architecture
In 1821, William and Jennie Offield had built a cabin on a little creek, later to be known as Offield Creek, four miles (6.4 km) southwest of the future site of Crawfordsville.
1823Government
The city was founded in 1823 on the bank of Sugar Creek, a southern tributary of the Wabash River and named for U.S.
1824Military
Cox, who in 1824 was one of the first schoolmasters in the area, "Crawfordsville is the only town between Terre Haute and Fort Wayne...
1832Government
In November 1832, Wabash College was founded in Crawfordsville as "The Wabash Teachers Seminary and Manual Labor College".
1833Education
On December 18, 1833, the Crawfordsville Record carried a paid announcement of the opening of this school.
1834Government
David Vance [is the] sheriff."
It was successfully incorporated as a town in 1834, following a failed attempt three years earlier.
1842History
In 1842, 9-year-old Horace Hovey discovered remarkably well-preserved Pentacrinites or Crinoids along the banks of Sugar Creek, which drew researchers and fossil enthusiasts to ...
1849History
Representative (1849–1850), U.S.
1862History
=== Late 19th century ===
In 1862, Joseph F.
1865Government
It gained status as a city in 1865 when the state of Indiana granted its charters.
1870History
Hanna – Indiana Attorney General (1870–1872), U.S.
1871History
Representative (1871–1873), resident of Crawfordsville
James W.
1872History
—PDFs of 1,180 issues, dating from 1872 through 1898.
1880History
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 o...
1881Education
Minister to the Ottoman Empire from 1881 to 1885; resided in Crawfordsville; attended Wabash College.
1882Architecture
In 1882, one of the first rotary jails in the country opened.
1885History
Minister to Argentina (1885–1889), publisher of the Crawfordsville Review (1883–1885)
Elizabeth Boynton Harbert – 19th-century American author, lecturer, reformer, and philanthr...
1894Civil Rights
Hoosiers have long believed that the first basketball game in Indiana occurred on March 16, 1894, at the Crawfordsville YMCA between the teams from Crawfordsville's and Lafayett...
1900History
—PDFs of 1,050 issues, dating from 1900 through 1903.
1902Architecture
=== 20th century ===
The beginning of the 20th century marked important steps for Crawfordsville, as Culver Union Hospital and the Carnegie Library were built in 1902.
1904Government
The electric interurban railway to Lebanon opened in 1904, offering fast frequent transportation to Indianapolis and Lafayette.
1906Education
Tuttle, after whom Tuttle Grade School was named in 1906 and Tuttle Junior High School (now Crawfordsville Middle School) was named in 1960, became president of Wabash College a...
1907History
This was followed in 1907 with the Ben Hur Route, which ran directly to Indianapolis.
1910Government
In 1910, the city limits were expanded to annex the adjoining towns of Englewood, Fiskville, Highland, and Longview.
1911Government
In 1911, Crawfordsville High School was founded, and promptly won the state's first high school basketball title.
1921Culture
Donnelley & Sons Company started a printing plant in Crawfordsville in 1921 that continues to employ many local residents.
1922History
Crawfordsville's major employer for much of the century, commercial printer RR Donnelley, began operations in Crawfordsville in 1922.
1941Architecture
The original clock tower had been taken down in 1941 due to structural concerns.
1971Infrastructure
The Monon merged into the Louisville and Nashville Railroad in 1971.
1982Education
Wabash College won the Division III NCAA basketball title in 1982.
1984Government
Culver operated as a not-for-profit, municipally owned facility for 80 years, but was then sold to for-profit American Medical International, and in 1984 was relocated from its ...
1987Economy
Nucor Steel broke ground on its first sheet steel mill and first galvanizing line at its billion-dollar Crawfordsville facility in 1987.
1998History
In 1998, the state began a proposed project to widen U.S.
2000History
in 2000 and renamed St.
2005Architecture
=== 21st century ===
In 2005, the Crawfordsville District Public Library moved into a new building across the street from the city's Carnegie library.
2007Architecture
The library retained ownership of the old building and re-opened it as the Carnegie Museum of Montgomery County in 2007.
2008History
In 2008, Raybestos laid off the majority of its workforce with less than 100 employees left.
2010History
== Demographics ==
=== 2010 census ===
As of the census of 2010, there were 15,915 people, 6,396 households, and 3,837 families residing in the city.
2011History
In 2011, it was again renamed, to Franciscan St.
2015Sports
In 2015, Crawfordsville won a Stellar Community grant from Indiana Office of Community & Rural Affairs.
2016History
=== National Register of Historic Places ===
As of 2016, Crawfordsville has twelve properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
2018Architecture
On May 17, 2018, a new clock tower built by Kentucky-based Campbellsville Industries was put into place on the courthouse's original clock tower base.