Dec. 31
In 1936, a Marion County Superior Court judge issued an order to abandon interurban service of the Indiana Railroad effective midnight Jan. 9, 1937, as a result of unsuccessful wage negotiations.
Jan. 1
In 1967, services began in a new Fortville Christian Church building. The 22,000-square-foot building was constructed for $250,000. Mary Rushton and her family had donated six acres of land from a field about one mile south of Fortville in memory of Frank M. Rushton.
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In 2002, a tree fell on a car driven by Buck Creek Baptist Church pastor Stan Jones, killing him, his wife, and two of the couple’s three children. Surviving daughter Emily was raised by an aunt and uncle and graduated from New Palestine High School in 2016.
Jan. 2
In 1960, Stringtown Church of the Nazarene burned down. Members met at the Memorial Building in downtown Greenfield while rebuilding their house of worship.
Jan. 3
In 1942, the Daily Reporter published 17,302 as the population of Hancock County according to the U.S. Census of 1940. That was the sum of 8,709 males and 8,593 females. Of that number, 49 county residents were black, two were “of other races,” and the rest were listed as white. Also, 7,805 county residents were classified as “rural farm population.”
In 1971, three escapees from the Indiana Boys School in Plainfield led police on a high-speed chase through Greenfield that ended in the Stringtown area east of the city when police rammed the rear of their car at 95 mph.
Jan. 4
In 1971, Greenfield Planning Commission agreed to recommend to the city council a plan from Indiana Department of Transportation to widen State Road 9 (State Street) from two lanes to four north of McKenzie Road up to Interstate 70.
Jan. 5
In 1988, the first clips from “Pushed Too Far,” a movie filmed in Greenfield, aired during a television interview segment on “Indiana Business Report.” The screenplay was written by Greenfield resident John Kleiman.
Jan. 6
In 1970, Hancock County native Norris Borgman died in Vietnam.
