Russiaville, Indiana

Russiaville, Indiana
—  Town  —
Along Main Street in Russiaville
Location of Russiaville in the state of Indiana
Coordinates: 40°25′8″N 86°16′19″W
Country	United States
State	Indiana
County	Howard
Township	Honey Creek
Named for	Jean Baptiste Richardville
Area
• Total	0.8 sq mi (2.1 km2)
• Land	0.8 sq mi (2.1 km2)
• Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation	843 ft (257 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	1,094
• Density	1,361.4/sq mi (525.6/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	46979
Area code(s)	765
FIPS code	18-66546
GNIS feature ID	0442420

Russiaville is a town in Liberty Township, Howard County, Indiana, United States. The population was 1,094 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Kokomo, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Etymology

The French pronunciation of "Ri-shar-ville" led through corruption to the current spelling, maintaining the approximate pronunciation "Roo-sha-ville" throughout its history. Seeming connection through spelling to Russia led to the naming of the town high school mascot "Cossacks" until county consolidation changed Russiaville High School to Western High School in 1949. Some theorize an alternate history, that during the Cold War, residents consciously changed the pronunciation of Russiaville's name in order to disassociate their town from Russia, the leading state of the Soviet Union. A map from the 1840s-1850s hanging in the Quaker Collection of Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, clearly shows a county named Richardville including the current town of Russiaville with the older spelling. Oral history has suggested "Rouchardville" as the earlier spelling, but Richardville is correct.

History

Organized in 1844, Howard County itself was first known as Richardville County in honor of Miami Chief Jean Baptiste Richardville, . His Miami name was Pe-che-wa, which translates to Wildcat. The Wildcat Creek watershed contains most of Howard and Clinton Counties. Another chief of the Miami, She-Moc-E-Nish, was granted the Anthony Wayne Flag, also known as the Greenville Treaty Flag. This was passed down to French-Indian descendants of the family name Aveline, who were eventually linked by marriage to one of the earliest Honey Creek Township families. The Evans family is linked to both the Thomases and the Brubakers, all of whom have lands within the Wildcat Creek watershed dating back to the times of the earliest settlements. A history of this flag can be seen at the Indiana Historical Bureau, (**in.gov/history/2901.htm)

As stated on the Honey Creek Township entry, "Honey Creek was organized in 1841 as a township in the northeastern corner of neighboring Clinton County. The township's early population tended to be politically Republican, so the Republican party in Howard County and the Democrats in Clinton County collaborated to have Honey Creek Township removed from Clinton and added in 1850 to Howard.[2]"

Russiaville became a Quaker settlement in the years before the Civil War, and a stop on the Underground Railroad could be found in nearby New London, then the location of the Friends Meeting serving the entire area. There is a legend that the stop included a tunnel under the town from a house to a cave in the hollow of Honey Creek very near the location of the Friends Meetinghouse.

Russiaville is the birthplace of Jonathan Dixon Maxwell (Sept. 3, 1864), builder of the Maxwell automobile. He is buried there.

Almost all of the town was destroyed on April 11, 1965, by an F4 tornado that was part of the Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak. It had a population of 1,094 at the 2010 census.

Geography

Russiaville is located at 40°25′8″N 86°16′19″W (40.418852, -86.272010).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.8 square miles (2.1 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,092 people, 425 households, and 317 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,361.4 people per square mile (527.0/km²). There were 446 housing units at an average density of 556.0 per square mile (215.3/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 99.08% White, 0.09% Native American, 0.18% Asian, 0.27% from other races, and 0.37% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.28% of the population.

There were 425 households out of which 39.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.0% were married couples living together, 11.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.2% were non-families. 24.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.04.

In the town the population was spread out with 29.3% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 31.6% from 25 to 44, 19.0% from 45 to 64, and 12.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 92.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.6 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $40,875, and the median income for a family was $46,094. Males had a median income of $38,833 versus $25,875 for females. The per capita income for the town was $20,804. About 4.4% of families and 5.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.6% of those under age 18 and 4.4% of those age 65 or over.

Highway

• IN-26 to Lafayette (West) and Hartford City (East)

Education

School districts

• Western School Corporation[2] (K-12)

Western High School competes in the Mid-Indiana Conference (MIC) for athletics.

Local churches

• First Baptist Church
• Honeycreek Missionary Baptist Church
• Lynn Friends Church
• Main Street Christian Church
• New London Friends Church
• Russiaville Friends Church
• Russiaville United Methodist Church

Business

Some local businesses in Russiaville are Martin Bros. Appliances, NAPA Auto Parts, Waddells IGA, The Rose Garden flower shop, Subway, Pizza King, Gambino's Pizza, a doctor's office, Stout and Sons Funeral Service and Furniture Store, a Phillip's 66 convenience store, a Petro Plus service station, and an ice cream parlor.

Local media

Newspapers

• Western Union, Western High School Student Newspaper

Festivals

• Western Days: Friday, Saturday and Sunday immediately following Memorial Day
• Koh-Koh-Mah & Foster Living History Encampment, mid-September

Movies Filmed in Russiaville

• The Ryan White Story (1988), starring Judith Light and Lukas Haas

Government

Town Council Mark Fulk, President Jeff Lipinski, Vice President Don Parvin, Counil Member Cynthia Aeschliman, Council Member Robert Hewitt, Council Member

Town Attorney, King & Scott LLP Clerk Treasurer, Linda Downey

Regular Town Council Meetings are held monthly on the third Monday of each month.

External links

• Western School Corporation
• Howard County Community Net