Feb. 19
In 1997, consultants working on a land use plan for Greenfield urged officials to pay particular attention to the zoning of the intersection of Interstate 70 and State Road 9. “That’s the golden egg in terms of sustaining growth and development and broadening your tax base,” said one. “… If that is allowed to develop residentially, you’re going to lose a key revenue source.”
Feb. 20
In 2016, New Palestine High School wrestler Chad “C.J.” Red defeated Evansville Mater Dei’s Nick Lee by decision 6-5 to win the 132-pound state championship, his fourth state title. The win capped an undefeated high school career and brought his high school record to 183-0.
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Feb. 21
In 1914, the town of Wilkinson was incorporated.
Feb. 22
In 1918, the New Palestine company of the Liberty Guard was organized.
In 1972, researchers from Ball State University told a joint meeting of the New Palestine Elementary and Brandywine Elementary PTOs that the Southern Hancock school district should consider building a middle school and, later on, another elementary building so New Palestine Elementary would no longer be housed in the high school building. The Ball State survey report noted that while Hancock County’s population increased 31.6 percent from 1960-70, the Southern Hancock district school population increased by 79.3 percent during the same period.
Feb. 23
In 1970, a heater hose ruptured on an Eastern Hancock bus, momentarily blinding the driver and sending the vehicle into a ditch. The malfunction spewed scalding water onto the driver’s legs and feet; he suffered first- and second-degree burns over 85 percent of his left leg. Students and chaperones on the bus were returning from a junior high Girls Athletic Association bowling trip in New Castle. Thirty-two were injured, though those hospitalized — the driver and five girls — were later reported in fair condition.
Feb. 24
In 1979, Greenfield-Central High School senior Terry Edon won a state title in wrestling, defeating Muncie Central’s Dave Palmer 3-2 to win the 155-pound weight class. Edon died in 2016.
In 1988, the film “Pushed Too Far” premiered in Greenfield.
Feb. 25
In 1912, Cordia Martin, who was facing a burglary charge in connection with a robbery at New Palestine Bank, escaped from Hancock County Jail the day before his trial was to start. He was aided by someone who entered from a basement window; the two left shoeless, and Martin took Sheriff Jesse Cox’s revolvers when he left. Martin was arrested in Litchfield, Illinois, in October 1913 and finally stood trial in the 1910 robbery in January 1914; the jury returned a guilty verdict. He was released from the state prison in Michigan City in 1920 and returned home to Greenfield.
In 2017, Greenfield-Central High School junior Zachary Cook won a state championship in the 100-yard butterfly in the IHSAA Boys Swimming and Diving State Finals at IU Natatorium at IUPUI. He finished the race in 48.6 seconds, a school record.
