Feb. 28
In 1967, local sheriff’s deputies saw the car as half-full. That’s because someone had pushed the vehicle, stolen the day before in Indianapolis, down a 14-foot embankment into Buck Creek near county roads 500 West and 300 North. The 1966 Pontiac GTO had been stripped of its engine, transmission and seats.
Feb. 29
In 1996, Shirley Town Council accepted a parcel of land from Danny and Richard White. The parcel in the depot area of town, by that time already home to the Depot Museum and the Jane Ross Reeves Octagon House, was about to get another building. It was the former doctor’s office of Dr. Lewis, who delivered an estimated 4,000 babies. Owners of the Marshall and Erlewein Funeral Home – Estell Chapel were willing to donate the building if it was moved, because they wanted to expand parking at the funeral home. The office was later moved and is part of the town’s historic district today.
March 1
In 1828, Hancock County was established from land separated from Madison County. Hancock had three initial townships: Blue River Township was the eastern third, Brandywine Township was the central third, and Sugar Creek Township was the western third.
March 2
In 2013, the Mt. Vernon High School girls basketball team won the Class 3A state championship. Mt. Vernon senior Rachel Houck received the Patricia L. Roy Mental Attitude Award for Class 3A.
March 3
In 1957, Faith Lutheran Church in Greenfield formed as a mission congregation with help from Zion Lutheran Church in New Palestine.
In 1968, the Southern Baptist Chapel of Greenfield was organized as Calvary Southern Baptist Church in a service at the church building on 204 E. North St. The new congregation had been sponsored as a mission of First Baptist Church of Knightstown. Today Calvary Baptist Church meets at 1450 W. Main St.
In 1992, firefighters battled a warehouse fire at D&D Brake Sales for 15 hours. About 250 residents in a one-mile radius were evacuated from their homes.
In 1917, Hancock County Sheriff John Mulvihill and City Marshal William Martin raided the Eagles hall, confiscating 22 cases of beer, 58 pint bottles and less than a gallon of whiskey. It was stored in an upstairs room at the county jail. With Prohibition being in effect during this time, the raid resulted in 11 cases being filed in Circuit Court.
March 4
In 1967, the Daily Reporter noted that in a few days the process would begin to microfilm Hancock County Courthouse records.
March 5
In 1985, voters in the Southern Hancock school district agreed to a local property rate tax increase of about 63 cents over the next three years. The vote was 1,030 in favor and 234 against. Following the vote in favor of the referendum, Superintendent Gene Pruitt said the school board wanted to replace elementary physical education classes and restore electives at Doe Creek Middle School.
In 1990, railroad owner Tom Allison made official his offer to donate a former Carthage, Knightstown and Shirley Railroad depot to the Town of Shirley. He spoke with town council members during their regular meeting.
