What do you know about city services?
In 1930, Greenfield Power and Light was begun in an old brick building on South Riley Avenue, which I think has been torn down. It generated its own power with three steam engines until 1949.
In 1950, Power and Light eased generating its own power and began purchasing it from Public Service Indiana. In 1983, Greenfield became of the Indiana Municipal Power Agency, a charter member.
Also, did you know that until 1970 the Greenfield Police Department was responsible for animal control until a joint agreement was entered into with the county, and Animal Control was established?
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The Greenfield Police Department was established in 1850, and N.P. Howard was the first town marshal.
From the late 1930s until the 1950s, the police department was located in the northwest corner of the courthouse. A red light on the northeast corner of State and Main was the signal for police cars to contact the department.
Police cars in those days had no radios. The police department was later located in a house on West South Street before it moved into the newly constructed city hall in 1956.
It moved one more time to 23 West St. before the facility at 116 S. State St. was built in 1997. Thanks to Pat Elmore for all this information. She knows all the details about city government.
Richard Ratliff, the Henry County historian, provides us with the two old photos from the Ken Myers family.
Myers from Burleson, Texas, writes, “My wife, Cecelia Johnson Moore, is from Knightstown. All her family is buried in Knightstown, including her grandfather in the photo. Mr. Edwin Johnson, her grandfather, is the man in the middle in overalls. As a young man, he was a sulky trainer. His family had the stage stop in Charlottesville. The other photo is the Charlottesville Manufacturing Company, and he is the man on the right, and the others are related to him.”
Does anyone know the location of the Charlottesville Manufacturing Co.? I would assume it would be the late 1890s.
Enough. I have told you everything that I know and some things I don’t. Talk to me.
Joe Skvarenina is a local history expert who has authored several books on Hancock County’s past. You can write to him at [email protected].
