Shelbyville, Indiana

Shelbyville, Indiana
—  City  —
Shelbyville from the air.
Nickname(s): The 'ville
Motto: "Pride in Progress"
Location in the state of Indiana
Coordinates: 39°31′19″N 85°46′35″W
Country	United States
State	Indiana
County	Shelby
Township	Addison
Government
• Mayor	Tom DeBaun(D)
Area
• Total	9.0 sq mi (23.3 km2)
• Land	8.9 sq mi (23.0 km2)
• Water	0.1 sq mi (0.3 km2)  1.22%
Elevation	764 ft (233 m)
Population (2000)
• Total	17,951
• Density	2,023.0/sq mi (781.4/km2)
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	46176
Area code(s)	317
FIPS code	18-69318
GNIS feature ID	0443347
Website	http://www.cityofshelbyvillein.com/

Shelbyville is a city in Addison Township, Shelby County, Indiana, United States. The population was 17,951 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Shelby County. The current mayor is Democrat Tom DeBaun.

History

Shelbyville was named in honor of Isaac Shelby, Kentucky governor and Indian fighter.

Shelbyville was incorporated January 21, 1850, by a special act of the Legislature, according to county histories.

The city charter received at that time was destroyed in the City Hall fire on January 1, 1928.

The 1901 coming-of-age historical fiction novel "The Bears of Blue River" by Indianapolis's Charles Major is set in present-day Shelbyville and according to Major's descriptions in the text occurred near the now-aptly named Bear Chase Golf Club.

A railroad was built connecting Shelbyville to Indianapolis in the late 1830s, the first railroad in the state, that later expanded to connect to Madison and Jeffersonville.

Allegheny Airlines Flight 853 crashed on Sept. 9, 1969 near Fairland, IN. Nearly half of the 82 passengers killed were never identified and were buried in a mass grave in Shelbyville.

Geography

Shelbyville is located at 39°31′19″N 85°46′35″W (39.521832, -85.776347), at the fork of the Little Blue and Big Blue Rivers. It is 26 miles (42 km) southeast of Indianapolis

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 9.0 square miles (23 km²), of which, 8.9 square miles (23 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km²) of it (1.22%) is water.

Climate

Annual precipitation: 40.14 inches Average temperature: 54.14 degrees

Education

Shelby County is home to Shelby Eastern Schools, Shelbyville Central Schools, Northwestern Consolidated Schools, and Southwestern Consolidated School Corporation. Shelby Eastern Schools is made up of two sister schools, Morristown and Waldron. Both of these schools reside in the towns they are named after, and both consist of an elementary and a high school. They share similar building patterns and have roughly the same number of students. Morristown's mascot is "The Yellow Jackets," and Waldron's is "The Mohawks."

Shelbyville Central Schools consists of Shelbyville High School, Shelbyville Middle School, Coulston Elementary, Loper Elementary, Hendricks Elementary and Blue River Career Programs, a vocational school. The high school and middle school's nickname is Golden Bears. Coulston is the Comets, Hendricks is the Hurricanes and Loper is the Bulldogs.

St. Joseph Elementary School is a private school, associated with St. Joseph Catholic Church, in Shelbyville.

Southwestern Consolidated School Corporation consists of Southwestern Elementary and Southwestern Junior/Senior High Schools. These schools are located in the southwestern portion of the county, near Marietta, Mount Auburn and Smithland. Southwestern's nickname is the Spartans.

Northwestern Consolidated Schools consists of Triton Elementary, Triton Middle School and Triton Central New Tech High School, all in Fairland, in the northwestern part of the county. The athletic teams are nicknamed the Tigers. In 2009, the high school began its change toward a New Tech High, which is a project-based learning system.

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1840	446		—
1850	995		123.1%
1860	1,960		97.0%
1870	2,731		39.3%
1880	3,745		37.1%
1890	5,451		45.6%
1900	7,169		31.5%
1910	9,500		32.5%
1920	9,701		2.1%
1930	10,618		9.5%
1940	10,791		1.6%
1950	11,734		8.7%
1960	14,317		22.0%
1970	15,094		5.4%
1980	14,989		−0.7%
1990	15,336		2.3%
2000	17,951		17.1%
Source: US Census Bureau

As of the census of 2000, there were 17,951 people, 7,307 households, and 4,654 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,023.0 people per square mile (781.4/km²). There were 7,930 housing units at an average density of 893.7 per square mile (345.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 95.28% White, 1.58% African American, 0.15% Native American, 1.16% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.90% from other races, and 0.91% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.91% of the population.

There were 7,307 households out of which 32.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.3% were married couples living together, 12.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.3% were non-families. 30.3% 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 2.39 and the average family size was 2.96. In the city the population was spread out with 26.2% under the age of 18, 9.5% from 18 to 24, 31.6% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 13.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 94.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $36,824, and the median income for a family was $46,379. Males had a median income of $34,550 versus $24,331 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,670. About 6.1% of families and 9.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.8% of those under age 18 and 11.6% of those age 65 or over.

Notable natives and residents

• Sandy Allen, the world's tallest woman
• Bill Garrett, Indiana Mr. Basketball of 1947 and first African-American basketball player in the Big Ten Conference
• Thomas Hendricks, the 21st Vice President of the United States, under Grover Cleveland
• Charles Major, author
• Edna Parker, the oldest living person from August 13, 2007 until her death on November 26, 2008
• [Rev. Richard "Shrimpy" Ramsey] Local minister, paranormal investigator, former CWO wrestling champion and special effects makeup artist.
• Mike Phipps NFL Quarterback for the Cleveland Browns and Chicago Bears 1970-81 and member of the College Football Hall of Fame
• James Pierce, son-in-law of Edgar Rice Burroughs and one of the first actors to play Tarzan on film
• Wilbur Shaw, three-time Indianapolis 500 winner
• James Buchanan Barnes, the former Winter Soldier and current Captain America.
• Rebecca Brown (Christian author), born on May 21, 1948.

Say It Isn't So

The 2001 comedy film, Say It Isn't So, which stars Chris Klein and Heather Graham, begins with Graham's character who is employed at an animal shelter in Shelbyville.

References

• Hamilton, Ron (October 20, 2003). "Shelbyville notables". Indianapolis Star. http://www2.indystar.com/articles/6/084461-6226-157.html. 

External links

• City of Shelbyville, Indiana website
• The Shelbyville News
• Shelbyville Community Church
• Shelby Central Schools
• Shelbyville Police Department