70 Interesting & Awesome Facts and Trivia about Indiana

Hello Indiana! It’s not just the first name of a certain iconic film character with a leather jacket and a fedora. It’s also the 19th state! We’ve talked about Alabama and Arkansas and Maine and Massachusetts. And now, after covering Idaho and Illinois in our Content Bash 50 Nifty States series, we’re smack in the middle of states that start with the letter I that includes Iowa. There are lots of facts about the so-called Hoosier State — so much that we were able to gather many of them here for you in this convenient spot. Read on!

What is Indiana known for?

1. Indianapolis! It’s the capital of Indiana, as well as the biggest population of any city in the state. It’s home to the Indiana Pacers of the NBA and Indianapolis Colts of the NFL, where fans have rooted for superstars like Reggie Miller and Peyton Manning. It’s a pretty big city, too, the 19th-biggest by area in the United States, as well as a top 30 American city by economics.

2. Basketball! Indiana is very much known for basketball. It may have been invented by James Naismith in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1891, but it didn’t take off until a couple decades later when people were going crazy over Indiana high school basketball. A lot of sports fans know that Larry Bird is from French Lick, Indiana, but the state also has the best hotbed of NBA talent per capita, according to Deadspin. That includes Hall-of-Fame NBA players like Larry Bird, Louie Dampier, and Oscar Robertson, as well as stars like Glenn Robinson, Zach Randolph, Shawn Kemp, Eric Gordon, George Hill, and Gordon Hayward — as well as many dozens of other NBA players. The Indiana Hoosiers men and women’s NCAA basketball teams are also a big deal here, and the Indiana Fever was added to the WNBA in 2000.

3. The Indianapolis 500! Colloquially referred to as the Indy 500, is a huge event for racing fans. It’s typically held over Memorial Day weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The first race was held over 100 years ago in 1911, and there have been 4 drivers who have won 4 times: Hélio Castroneves, A.J. Foyt, Al Unser, and Rick Mears.

4. Hooisers! Indiana has been known as the Hoosier State for over 150 years, and folks from Indiana affectionately describe themselves as Hoosiers. Hoosiers is also the name of the Indiana University sports teams. It’s not exactly clear where the word came from, but it’s a term of endearment among Indiana residents. You’ll find the word everywhere in Indiana.

5. Colleges! Indiana University Bloomington isn’t the only big-shot fancy-pants institute of higher education in Indiana. The state is also home to Purdue University in West Lafayette, as well as the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. There are 40 more colleges in Indiana, like Ball State University lol, most of which are probably perfectly good schools.

6. Corn! Indiana has lots and lots of farmland, and it’s known for being a top producer and supplier of both corn and popcorn. Pretty much half of all the cropland in Indiana is dedicated to corn. Corn is so important that the mechanical corn picker was invented by John Powell in Kokomo, Indiana in 1920. Believe it or not, there is even a town called Popcorn, Indiana. And if that were not enough, the town of Brazil, Indiana is the birthplace of popcorn maven Orville Redenbacher.

What are the official state symbols of Indiana?

7. The current Indiana State Poet Laureate is Matthew Graham. He’s been writing poetry for about 40 years and is considered a master who is at the top of his game right now. You should buy his books and support the arts.

8. Adopted in 1937, the official state motto of Indiana is the “Crossroads of America.”

9. The Indiana state flower is the peony, made official in 1957. And they’re very pretty! Look at it.

10. In 1931, the tulip tree became the official state tree of Indiana.

11. Paul Dresser’s “On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away” was named the state song of Indiana on March 14, 1913. This would be the first official symbol of Indiana.

12. Like Illinois and Kentucky and North Carolina and Ohio and Virginia and West Virginia, Indiana is one of 7 states that have designated the Northern Cardinal as the official state bird.

13. The Say’s firefly was made the official Indiana state insect in 2018. The lightning bug is named for an Indiana naturalist named Thomas Say. Maybe someday you’ll have a bug named after you, too.

14. The Indiana state stone is limestone. In fact, the limestone found in Indiana is some of the richest on Earth. Many important buildings like the Empire State Building and Rockefeller Center in New York City were built out of Indiana limestone.

15. The state poem of Indiana is conveniently titled “Indiana,” and it was written by Arthur Franklin Mapes, who was the Indiana State Poet Laureate for awhile. His poetry reflected obvious affection for his home state, with collections titled The Hoosier Way and Indiana Memories.

16. The Indiana state flag was adopted on May 1917 and has basically remained unchanged since the original design, with 19 stars representing Indiana being the 19th state of the Union. Here is the Indiana state flag!

Fun, cool & weird facts about Indiana

17. There is a Santa Claus, Indiana — and it’s exactly what you’d hope to expect from a town called Santa Claus. There’s a big 22-feet tall statue of Santa Claus and they also have the Santa Claus Museum & Village. There is even a Santa Claus Post Office that hosts letter-writing events for children in December. The town is definitely big on celebrating Christmas.

18. The very first professional baseball game took place in Fort Wayne, Indiana on May 4, 1871. The Fort Wayne Kekiongas squared off against the Cleveland Forest Cities for the season debut of the National Association of Professional Base Ball. The Kekiongas won 2-0!

19. Having goldfish for pets weren’t always a thing. They certainly weren’t really a thing when the first goldfish farm was started in Martinsville, Indiana over 100 years ago in 1899 by the Grassyfork Fishery. They expanded over the next few years as goldfish caught on, and eventually Martinsville became known as the Goldfish Capital of the World.

20. Bob Ross learned how to paint in Anchorage, Alaska, but The Joy of Painting episodes were shot at the PBS studio in Muncie, Indiana.

21. Not everyone loves tomato juice, but we have Indiana to thank for the Bloody Mary. In 1971, a bartender named Louis Perrin was working at the French Lick Springs Hotel when the place ran out of orange juice. He squeezed some tomatoes and made a cocktail out of it, and a new thing became a thing.

22. The popular television sitcom Parks and Recreation takes place in Pawnee, Indiana. However, the town does not exist. There was another show in the early 90s called Eerie, Indiana that was about weird things happening in a spooky town but there’s no city by that name, either.

23. Fort Wayne, Indiana is the birthplace of the invention of the gasoline pump, over 135 years ago in 1885. It was invented by a dude named Sylvanus Freelove Bowser. That is his real name.

24. When we think of Kentucky Fried Chicken, we probably don’t think of Indiana. But the iconic white-bearded Colonel Sanders was born in Henryville, Indiana.

25. In 1880, Wabash, Indiana became the first city in the United States to use electric street lights. This was a tremendous deal 140 years ago, and lots of people showed up to see it being lit up for the first time.

26. The last time Elvis Presley ever played in concert was at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Indiana on June 26, 1977. In August 1977, less than two months later, Elvis Presley was gone. The venue was demolished in 2001.

Early history of Indiana state facts

37. The very first known inhabitants of Indiana were the Paleo-Indians who settled on that land around 10,000 years ago after the end of the last Ice Age.

38. The first white guy to visit Indiana was the French explorer René-Robert Cavelier in 1679. Good for him, I guess.

39. The first trading post in Indiana was established in 1702 near Vincennes. More forts and trading posts were built over the next couple decades, establishing a strong French Canadian presence in the area.

40. When the Seven Years’ War came to town, the Native Americans of Indiana sided with the French Canadians — but lost to the British in 1763, which meant the French had to cede their land to the British. Some of the Native Americans had different ideas, and later that year, a bunch of them banded together and attacked a bunch of British forts in an uprising known as Pontiac’s Rebellion. This led to a stalemate of sorts, and the Royal Proclamation of 1763 established a dividing line between the Native Americans and colonists. This became known as Indian Territory.

41. The Northwest Territory was established in 1787, which included Ohio and Indiana.

42. The Indiana Territory — named after the Native Indians — was officially created on May 7, 1800, removing themselves from Ohio.

43. All of this did not happen without Native Americans putting up a fight. The Battle of Fallen Timbers (1794), Battle of Tippecanoe (1811), and the Battle of Thames (1813) — this is where Tecumseh was killed — were all events of indigenous tribes resisting the European settlers.

44. Indiana was admitted to the United States on December 11, 1816 as the 19th state. The day is also known as Indiana Day.

45. Indianapolis became the capital of Indiana in 1925. Before, Corydon was the capital of Indiana since 1813. Before Corydon, Vincennes was the capital.

Topography & geography of Indiana

46. Indiana is the 38th-largest state out of all 50. The total area is about 36,000 square miles.

47. Driving the length of Indiana from north to south would be 270 miles long, and driving east to west would be 140 miles.

48. The highest point in the state of Indiana is the aptly-named Hoosier Hill in Wayne County, which is 1,257 feet above sea level.

49. The lowest point in the state of Indiana would be the confluence of the Ohio River and Wabash River.

50. Speaking of the Wabash River, that’s the official river of Indiana. It’s 475 miles and the longest free-flowing river we’ll find east of the Mississippi River.

51. According to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, there are like 900 lakes in the state of Indiana. The deepest of which is Tippecanoe Lake, which is 120 feet.

52. There are 450 towns in Indiana, and they’re spread out across 92 counties.

53. Indianapolis is the biggest city in Indiana and it’s also the capital. The other bigger cities in Indiana are Fort Wayne, Evansville, and South Bend.

54. Military Park in downtown Indianapolis was the first state-owned park established in 1852, and it’s the oldest park in Indiana.

Where should I visit in Indiana?

55. The Indiana State Museum in downtown Indianapolis has a collection of more than 500,000 artifacts and items covering the history of Indiana — from the arts and culture to natural sciences and technology. It also has the biggest IMAX screen in the state of Indiana!

56. Love cookies? Then you’ll also love Grannie’s Cookie Jars & Ice Cream Parlor in Metamora, Indiana. This place is serious about showing off how much they’re passionate about cookies and cookie jars — with over 3,000 jars displayed on shelves throughout the modest space. The collection has been building since 1988 and is getting bigger all the time.

57. The Allison Mansion in Indianapolis, Indiana is just a drop-dead gorgeous example of how a mansion can capture space. The magnificent and stunning marble aviary with stained-glass Tiffany windows in the ceiling looks like it should be hosting the grandest of balls. Built by James Allison, who happened to be one of the co-founders of the Indianapolis 500, the rest of the house is pretty incredible too. UPDATE: You can’t go there anymore. It’s now closed to the public. Sorry. It’s still pretty cool, tho, and we’re not going to just throw away a perfectly good fact.

58. The Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) boasts a strong collection that includes works by Paul Cézanne, Claude Monet, Georgia O’Keeffe, Edgar Degas, Paul Gauguin, Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, and tons of other big-name favorites. A visit to the IMA should be part of every art lover’s bucket list.

59. The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis is a great way to build memories with the little ones in your life. It’s an educational, interactive, and intellectually stimulating experience for children and their friends — and and equally pleasurable experience of adults accompanying these children. It’s actually the largest children’s museum in the world! The place is also so huge that you may need more than one visit to see everything it has to offer.

60. A state that has basketball so ingrained into the culture deserves a special museum for that passion, and the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in New Castle, Indiana fulfills exactly that. It has its own set of inductees that includes Indiana basketball legends like Larry Bird and Oscar Robertson.

What famous people are from Indiana?

61. Kurt Vonnegut was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on November 11, 1922. He was so fond of his hometown that he once said “If I ever severed myself from Indianapolis, I would be out of business.” There is even a Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library in Indianapolis.

62. Actor Steve McQueen of The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) and Bullitt (1968) fame was born in Beech Grove, Indiana.

63. Jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery — a smooth jazz pioneer who often played with his brothers — was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on March 6, 1923. Wes Montgomery did not use a guitar pick when he played, a skill he picked up because he did not want to play loudly enough to wake his neighbors when he was practicing.

64. Garfield creator Jim Davis was born in Marion, Indiana, in 1945. If you accept the Happy Birthday, Garfield television special as canon — and who among us does not? — then Garfield takes place in Muncie, Indiana.

65. Jane Pauley got her broadcasting start in the Indianapolis local media scene. Jane Pauley was born in Indianapolis in 1950 and spent more than two decades between hosting the morning Today show and Dateline NBC.

66. David Letterman is another Indianapolis-born television host that cut his teeth on local talk radio and television before he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in comedy. His early training clearly helped.

67. Janet Jackson (or Ms. Jackson, if you’re nasty) and her brothers were born and raised in Gary, Indiana. Her childhood home — now called 2300 Jackson Street — still remains.

68. Rock-n-roll musicians from Indiana include David Lee Roth (born in Bloomington), Axl Rose (Lafayette), John Mellencamp (Seymour), and Izzy Stradlin (Lafayette).

69. James Dean — perhaps our most iconic definition of cool — was born in Marion, Indiana in 1931.

70. Baseball players from Indiana include Oscar Charleston (born in Indianapolis), Tommy John (Terre Haute), Scott Rolen (Evansville), Don Mattingly (Evansville), Kenny Lofton (East Chicago), and Gil Hodges (Princeton).

Cover Image Credit: Image by Yinan Chen from Pixabay

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