10 Facts About Indiana

Indiana

I live in boring, corn-filled Indiana.  Yep, Indiana.  Recently, I was trying to think about interesting things about my state, but I couldn’t.  I could however think of why I don’t like my state.  Other than an occasional mention of Indiana Jones, no one ever thinks of us!  We don’t have any “est” places to make us special like driest, biggest, deepest, widest, highest, lowest, etc.  In fact, the highest elevation in our leveled, farming state is called “Hoosier Hill.”  So, we don’t even have majestic scenery either.  We have corn and racecars.  So, I decided to find some interesting, arcane facts about Indiana.

Indiana means, “Land of the Indians,” and was the 19th state admitted to the Union on December 11, 1816.  Indiana is ranked #15 in state with highest population which, quite frankly, surprised me since we have a lot of farming land.  Indiana is the smallest state, other than Hawaii, west of the Appalachian Mountains.

1. State Symbols

I’m sure everyone in America--and definitely in Indiana--knows that Indiana’s state bird is the cardinal, the state flower is the peony, and the state tree is the tulip tree, riiiighht??  Well, if not, now you know.  Indiana added a state pie recently in 2009. Yep, pie.  And do you know what kind it is?  Sugar cream.  Yuck.  Why couldn’t we have adopted apple? Or French silk?  The land of Indiana was first explored by a Frenchman.  I’ve never even had sugar cream pie before, but it sounds like a pie that’s flavorless and just really sweet.  Anyway, Indiana also has a state song, “On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away,” and a stone which is limestone.

2. Nickname

We have this weird nickname.  Our state is called “The Hoosier State” and everyone who lives in Indiana are also called “Hoosiers.”  And no one knows why!? Or at least, the origin of the nickname is disputed.  One theory is that the name derives from a frontier greeting dating back to the 1760’s, “Who’s here?”  When Indiana became a territory, Congress was the first to apply the term “Hoosier.”  So, I blame it on the government.  I guess it’s a cool nickname, but then we get stupid puns like, “Hoosier daddy?”

3. Indy 500

On May 30, 1911, the first long-distance auto race in the U.S. was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  The winner was averaging 75 mph and won a prize of $14,000.  It’s amazing how much the Indy 500 has progressed because now the average speed is over 167 mph and the prize is more than $1.2 million.  The Indianapolis 500 is held every Memorial Day weekend. The race is 200 laps which totals to being 500 miles.

4. Stupid Laws

Like most states, Indiana has some pretty wacky laws that are either outdated or just extremely absurd. 

Hotel sheets must be exactly 99 inches long and 81 inches wide.

If any person has a puppet show, wire dancing or tumbling act in the state of Indiana and receives money for it, they will be fined $3 under the Act to Prevent Certain Immoral Practices.

Anyone 14 or older who profanely curses, damns or swears by the name of God, Jesus Christ or the Holy Ghost, shall be fined one to three dollars for each offense, with a maximum fine of ten dollars per day.

Baths may not be taken between the months of October and March.

One man may not back into a parking spot because it prevents police officers from seeing the license plate.

These last few are so specific, they had to be made for a certain person.  It makes me wonder--especially the town laws--what idiot actually did these things and how he felt after a town law was made especially for him.

Mustaches are illegal if the bearer has a tendency to habitually kiss other humans.

Within four hours of eating garlic, a person may not enter a movie house, theater, or ride a public streetcar. (Gary)

It is illegal for barbers to threaten to cut off kid's ears. (Elkhart)

5. Famous People

Many famous people were born or lived in Indiana from Johnny Appleseed to notorious bank robber, John Dillinger, to the founder of KFC, Colonel Sanders, to the inventors of Garfield, the Raggedy Ann doll and the rapid-fire machine gun.  Other celebrities from Indiana are David Letterman, Red Skelton, Amelia Earhart, Michael Jackson and family, and Larry Bird.  Three presidents, Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Harrison, and William Henry Harrison, were Hoosiers.

6. State Motto

Indiana’s state motto, "Crossroads of America," is very accurate.  Indiana has more miles of Interstate Highway per square mile than any of the 50 state.  The motto comes from the early years of river traffic of the 1800‘s where rivers were important for transportation and shipping goods.  Today, more major highways intersect in Indiana than in any other state.  It’s logical how that can happen since Indiana is a centralized state.

7. Limestone

Below the earth in Southern Indiana is one of the richest, top-quality deposits of limestone in the world.  Most of the limestone used for buildings in the U.S. is quarried in Indiana.  Famous buildings like New York City's Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, the Pentagon, the U.S. Treasury, and a dozen other government buildings in Washington D.C. as well as 14 U.S. state capitols are made from Indiana limestone.

8. Lake Michigan

Despite having only a 40 mile waterfront on Lake Michigan, Indiana is still considered a Great Lakes state.  Surprisingly, the lake area is one of the world’s finest industrial centers.  Indiana manufactures steel, iron, and oil products including automobile parts, mobile homes, recreation vehicles, plane engines, and farming machinery.

9. Corn

Indiana is a leader in U.S. agriculture.  In a typical year, almost half of Indiana’s cropland is planted with corn.  Though corn is the principal crop, hogs, soybeans, wheat, oats, rye, tomatoes, onions, and poultry also contribute to Indiana's agricultural success.

10. Odd? Funny? I don’t know!

Here’s three little odd facts about specific places located in Indiana.

The first successful goldfish farm in the U.S. was started in Martinsville, Indiana, in 1899.

Santa Claus, Indiana gets over a half of a million letters for Santa every year at Christmas time.

Indiana University’s Main Library sinks over an inch every year because the engineers didn’t think about the weight of all the books that would fill the building.