05/19/2019
Shirley, Indiana a tough little town that has survived even after the factories and railroads left many years ago. At least 3 huge fires failed to kill the residents spirits and send them running. Floods, drought, and the depletion of the gas wells made it hard to keep businesses here, but the people stayed
Shirley’s kind of unique in that the Hancock/Henry line follows Main Street
right through the town. Established in 1891 it is the youngest incorporated town in either county. Shirley came to be located where it’s at because of the Railroad. Shirley was a place where trains that were traveling East-West could change and go South/North. Those spots were not to plentiful then, so this became a place for the areas farmers to ship their goods off to markets around the country. A popular train conductor named Don Shirley is where the town got its name. The first Railroad Depot was a train car that sat just east of where the Depot sits today. It was used for about 2 years before the Depot was built in 1891. The original depot was was longer from east to west. There was a Diamond section of track where a train going East or West could back up then go North or South. The original center to the diamond track setup sits in front of the Caboose, the area it was used.
Shirley was a thriving town in its early days due the the excess of natural gas used for heating, lighting and to supply its many factories. Shirley leaders advertised the great opportunities to be had in its rapidly growing town. Besides property values guaranteed to jump in value they offered Industry to come in and set up shop, by offering a free plot of land, and free gas for it to use in the plants/factories.
Things were really looking up for Shirley, besides the railroad, new housing construction and the factories, shops were opening up offering a great variety of merchandise.
Schools were built on both sides of the county line. A Grand Hotel “as fine as any” was built, on Main Street only to be consumed in the first large fire. The Depot are also housed a livestock stockyard, a lumberyard, and a warehouse for goods being shipped.
There were several glass companies in Shirley, making a variety of glass items. The items ranged from trinkets and paperweights to plate glass for windows, and glass chimneys for oil lamps and gas lights “wall sconces.” Kraft Foods was located where the post office now sits. Just North of 234 on the west side was the “World’s Largest Creosote Company” were Railroad ties and other woods were treated. A cannery was located at the site of Metals Technologies also on the NW side of town was a seasonal migrant community for workers who would come to pick tomatoes and other crops.
The Big 4 RR didn’t have the only rails running through town in the early days the Interurban passenger cars came through bringing workers to and from town as well as being used as a regular mode of transportation for many people. A large transformer building used to power the Interurban was at the east end of South Railroad by the park. Webster’s Grocery building sits on its foundation.
Rapid growth and plenty of well paid workers brought into existence five bars, a pool hall, card houses, and cat house’s. While these establishments came to all towns showing great
Wealth and expansion, the towns leaders and “moral citizens” quickly saw the need for a jail.
The first of which had a jail cell that now sits on the tracks by the depot. It was used to house inmates typically overnight, until the proper authorities from either Henry or Hancock County would come to pick them up for trial. The cell was in a building where those being held could be seen through the window on main street. It was said to have kept many a child on the straight and arrow, as they could see what happens when your caught being bad. Legend has it that one night it housed 27 migrant workers overnight awaiting pickup.
A few other Industries operating in Shirley’s early years a manufacturer of barbed wire,
Cast-iron radiators for heating, Soda pop, and many more. With the manufacturing needs, Shirley’s population would swell from 1,000-1,200 up to 3,500-5,000 during the work week as workers came into town, depending on seasonal needs. Shirley was also the starting place and home office for White Petroleum, later known as White Flash Gasoline and later Gas America. It was run by the White family up until just a few years ago. The White family continues to support many non-profit groups and activities in Henry and Hancock county areas, through the White Family Foundation and The Hancock Community Foundation.
Besides the bars, pool halls, and cards, other sources of entertainment were the horse track out by 234 and 109 called Alfalfa Downs, and in the mid 1930’s Mt.Lawn Resort, Restaurant, and Race track was started. It was one of the fastest, most competitive and best paying tracks in the country. Its racing was sanctioned by the Mutual Racing Association, and its “Roaring Roadsters” One of its most famous drivers was Dick Frazier, his fastest car resides in the Smithsonian Museum, in Washington DC. Tom Cherry was another well known Mutual Driver. Racers from California would come to race attracted by the big money being paid but few could be competitive with the Mutual racers. Because it was so highly organized Mt. Lawn and the Mutual Timing Ass. was the first track opened and racing after the WW2 ban on racing was lifted. 10,000-people showed up for the first post war race. Mount Lawn is one of the 2 oldest tracks in the country still being run by the original families that started them. The other is in Kansas. It’s still a great bargain for family fun.
Although we’ve lost many more businesses in the last decade Shirley continues to evolve and is quickly becoming a “bedroom” community for persons working in and around central Indiana. Groups like the Shirley Historical Society and the Shirley Visionaries, continue to work towards keeping/making Shirley a great place to live and to raise children. The Charles A Beard school corporation and Eastern Hancock school systems are both very good places to attend. They offer so much more in learning opportunities, and their students excel much more than those in larger school systems.
Shirley is a great little town, if you’d like to help insure it stays that way and continues to be a great little town, consider volunteering with the Shirley Historical Society. They have had most of their older members retire from volunteering because of age and physical limitations so they are in a rebuilding stage right now. It is an excellent time for new members and new ideas to continue and expand upon what has been done in the past and what will and can be done in the future. They meet the 4th Tuesday of each month, 7:30 PM at the Depot, January thru October. Stop in and visit, lets see if we can all work together. We are seeking new ideas and energetic people, sound like someone you know?
