Hedrick, Indiana

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Hedrick is a small town in Jordan Township, Warren County, Indiana.

1 History
2 Geography
3 References
4 External links

[edit] History

The town of Hedrick began on 31 July 1881 with its platting by locals Parmenas G. Smith and G. W. Compton. The first house was built by John Hendricks and the first store opened by Zarse & Ahrens. The town also gained a drug store operated by Frank Hartman and a school house erected in the early 1880s.^[1] A post office was established in Hedrick on 14 January 1880 and closed on 31 January 1959.^[2]

A tornado nearly destroyed Hedrick on 17 April 1922. The storm cut a path through the town an eight of a mile wide, killing four residents, destroying six homes and ten businesses, and leaving only three buildings intact. Following the storm, newspapers estimated from ten to fifty thousand people flocked to the area to view the destruction, prompting the governor to deploy part of the state militia to control the crowds and prevent looting.^[3]

[edit] Geography

Hedrick is located at 40°18'06" North, 87°29'27" West (40.301667, -87.490833) on open, flat farmland, half a mile west of Redwood Creek. Its elevation is 709 feet.^[4] Prior to the founding of the town, a wooded site called Hedrick's Grove stood to the east of the creek.^[5]

[edit] References

^ Goodspeed, Weston A. "Towns and Villages of Warren County" in Counties of Warren, Benton, Jasper and Newton, Indiana. Historical and Biographical. Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., 1883
^ Warren County Historical Society. A History of Warren County, Indiana (175th Anniversary Edition). 2002. p. 220
^ Ibid. p. 17-18
^ www.topozone.com. Retrieved on April 8, 2007.
^ Indiana Historical Society. Maps of Indiana Counties in 1876. 1968. (Reprinted from Illustrated Historical Atlas of the State of Indiana. Chicago: Baskin, Forster & Company, 1876.)