Almost Family Town

The Lady With the Red Hair, although born in Indianapolis, was raised, and has spent a fair portion of adulthood, in Mooresville, Indiana.  Her mother's family lived in Kentucky; her father's in central Indiana (particularly Indianapolis and Greenfield).  But there is a tiny town in extreme southwestern Indiana named after her father's surname. Perhaps it's their "family town."  Who knows about such things?  Well, genealogists, for one, but that's Scowl-Face's department.

Griffin, Indiana became a petroleum boom town in 1938, which was a welcome respite from the Great Depression.  As this handy state historical marker indicates, oil production continued steadily through the 1940s and 1950s, peaking in 1956.

 "Flat" Cauli VI and the Lady With the Red Hair

Pose In Front of This Griffin, Indiana Historical Marker

(Click Images to Bigify)

I would have enjoyed reading what was written on the back of that historical marker, but Scowl-Face stupidly failed to photograph it.  In future, perhaps "Flat" Caulis (there are many, you know) should be entrusted with securing our photographs.  Fortunately, you can find anything on the Internet.  Click here to read the back of the above sign.

Thanks for No Picture of the Back of This Sign, Scowlly (Eye-Roll)
(Click Here to Read the Back of This Sign)

Before economic prosperity struck Griffin, the famous, deadly Tri-State Tornado of 1925 hit town in a terrible way.  Griffin was fully obliterated by the cyclones.  But the town rebuilt; Hoosiers are resilient stock, to be sure. The mythological griffin (gryphon, or griffon), after all, was king of all creatures.  It was the mythological phoenix, however, that arose from its own ashes.

Today, Griffin is a sleepy rural community that has seen better times. Like many such places in the American Midwest, people keep them going because everywhere is home to somebody, and, after all, we want our hometowns to perpetuate.  It provides continuity amid constantly changing lives and times.  Think about that next time you're walking around my (maybe yours, too?) hometown of Mooresville, Indiana, or wherever your hometown may otherwise be.

Your Roving Reporter On The Go,

Cauli Le Chat