By A. C. H.
The
city of New Castle is located in central Indiana just east of the city of
Indianapolis. Many people consider it to be a suburban city of Indianapolis.
Today the city of New Castle has a population of 17,805[1]. New Castle is a one
hundred percent urban city. New Castle is most well-known for the New Castle
Fieldhouse which is the largest high school gymnasium in the world. The New
Castle Fieldhouse was built in 1959, and with the use of expanding bleachers it
can hold upward of ten thousand people![2] New Castle is also the
home of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame[3]. The Indiana Basketball
Hall of Fame is a sports museum that honors men and women associated with
Indiana high school, college, and professional basketball. It opened in New
Castle in 1990[4].
The most famous basketball player to come from the city of New Castle is Kent
Benson. Kent Benson went on to play basketball for Indiana University, and
later play for the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA[5]. The city of New Castle also contains an
interesting Native American mound that dates back to 2000 BC, and has drawings
that align with the sunrises and sunsets during equinoxes[6]. As you can see, the city of New Castle,
Indiana is just a small, interesting town with a little bit of interesting
history. March 11, 1917 is another widely known date that of New Castle.
Disaster struck just after 3pm when a deadly tornado roared right through the
heart of the city[7].
Many things would be forever changed from that point on.
In 1910
the population given out by the United States census of New Castle, Indiana was
9,446. That is triple the population given out by the census in 1900[8]. This large population
increase just shows that the city of New Castle was growing, and growing
quickly. Stated from earlier, New Castle is just east of the city of
Indianapolis which makes the city a part of what is known today as Tornado
Alley. Tornado Alley is the region of the United States made up by the Great
Plains and also known as the Midwest. This region is known for being the area
of the country that experiences dangerous tornadoes[9]. This means that the state
of Indiana is one of the most likeliest states to experience a tornado, and on
March 11, 1917 the city of New Castle experienced one of the state’s
worst.
In 1917
the city of New Castle was a growing, lively city. Its population was
consistently increasing and the town was drastically expanding. New Castle is the county seat in Henry
County. That being said it is the home to the Henry County Courthouse and many
other county buildings including the Justice Center and Henry County office
building[10].
J. Leb Watkins had been the mayor since 1914, and he was running the town
smoothly up until the year 1917[11]. The city was booming! It housed something
very unique to the city and to the state. Unique because the climate in Indiana
did not make it easy for these to be grown yearly. This uniqueness of New
Castle was roses, and so it became known as the City of Roses[12] to many locals and
citizens of the state. The city of New Castle produces these beautiful American
Beauty roses on acres of land filled with greenhouse made almost completely out
of glass[13]. But on the dramatic day of March 11, 1917
everything came tumbling down, literally.
Just after 3pm on March 11, 1917 the city of New Castle,
Indiana experienced something that would change its demographics forever. A
storm rolled into the city cutting off power and bring extremely high winds
along with it. This storm was different than any person living in the city had
ever experienced before; this storm was a tornado. Witnesses of the storm said
that the tornado roared as it passed through the city. Harry Cottrell, a resident of New Castle at
the time, wrote in the remembrance article in The Courier Times stating that
his mother thought it was the daily train but he said, “Oh no, that went by a
half an hour ago.”[14] The twister came into the
city, destroying the Rolling Mill first, moving from the northwest to the
southeast. It only took this twister 90 seconds to destroy half of the city.
The South School was greatly damaged, but fortunately it was a Sunday so not a
single child was in the school at the time of the twister[15]. The Indiana Rolling
Mill, New Castle’s largest factory at the time, was completely demolished[16]. The Heller Brothers greenhouses also had
extensive damage with most of their greenhouses being destroyed completely[17]. The greenhouses were so poorly build that all
the glass just shattered from the harsh winds. The left over parts of the
greenhouses were sold and never rebuilt.[18] The City of Roses was in
ruins. Over 500 homes were destroyed by this twister. Most of these homes were
located on Lincoln Avenue, South Main Street, South 14th Street, and
A Avenue. Many more homes were destroyed on the 18th through 25th
streets. The fact that it was a Sunday more than likely save many lives. In the
days following this disastrous tornado, the Western Union Telegraph Company
sent and received as many as twelve thousand messages[19].
The damages to New Castle were drastic. Over 500 homes
were destroyed with over a million dollars worth of damage. The death total
rose to 21 within hours[20]. Ages of the dead in New Castle ranged from 4
years old to 60 years old with most of the dead being in their youth[21]. Hundreds of New Castle residents were injured
by the terrible twister[22]. At this time in history there were not any
available bulldozers or cranes to clear all of the town’s debris. The New Castle city officials called in the
local farmers and asked them to bring their animals into town to help with the
clean up and clearing of debris. The farmers were more than happy to help with
the clean up and relief efforts[23]. Within days, even hours, the state of Indiana
had to make many decisions. Were they going to call in relief? Were they going
to declare martial law? Many things had to be decided.
The state of Indiana brought the Indiana National Guard
in to New Castle and declared martial law to prevent looting of the businesses[24]. The relief didn’t come fast but it came. Soon
the city began cleaning up and clearing the debris of all the fallen houses,
building, and garages. Only persons with military passes were allowed in and
out of the city. Mayor J. Leb Watkins did not want any looting to be happening.
He shut down all businesses. Mayor
Watkins was searching the state for people to come help in the relief and help
restore his town to what it used to be. He was searching for brick masons and
carpenters to help with the relief and rebuilding[25]. It was a long road ahead for the city of New
Castle, Indiana.
The 1917 tornado that ripped through New Castle, Indiana
still ranks today, over 90 years later, as the third most destructive tornado
in Indiana’s history[26]. The New Castle we know today is a completely
new and restored city. Of course it is, it has been almost 100 years since this
tragic tornado! New Castle’s city limits has drastically expanded and many more
people now call it home. Back in the early 1900s the Klu Klux Klan ran many
cities in the state of Indiana, so we can only assume that there were some
members at this time living in the city of New Castle. Going along with many
cities of the state of Indiana, the city of New Castle voted 57% republican in
the 2012 election, meaning that the city is made up of mostly republicans.[27] Today New Castle is 96%
white and 4% other races. New Castle is 53.3% female. The City’s median age is
39.5 years which matches up with the median Indiana resident’s age. The
unemployment rate in New Castle currently is 9.4 whereas the state of Indiana’s
unemployment rate is at 8.3.[28] These statistics show
just how different the city of New Castle is today versus how it was in 1917. Darrell Radford stated in his article that he
wrote for The Courier Times in New Castle that the month of March is has never
been a good month for the city to New Castle. In 1913 there was terrible
flooding through the city of New Castle and also the month of March is when
Catherine Winters mysteriously disappeared.[29] The month of March has brought many strange phenomenons
to the city of New Castle, but the city of New Castle has always prevailed.
This just shows that a strong hearted community can conquer anything, even a
disastrous tornado.
Works
Cited
Forbes,
Dr. Greg. “What and where is Tornado Alley?” The Weather Channel, published October 7, 2005. Accessed February 13, 2014, http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/what-where-is-tornado-alley-forbes_2011-04-14
“Henry
County, Indiana.” Henry County,
accessed February 20, 2014, http://www.henryco.net/
“Kent
Benson.” Wikipedia, last modified
February 5, 2014. Accessed February 16, 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_Benson
“Indiana
Basketball Hall of Fame.” Wikipedia.
Last modified December 6, 2013. Accessed February 16, 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Basketball_Hall_of_Fame
"INDIANA TORNADO KILLS 37." Chicago Daily
Tribune (1872-1922), Mar 12, 1917. http://ezproxy.lib.indiana.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/174179598?accountid=11620
“List
of Mayors of New Castle, Indiana.” Wikipedia, last modified December 21, 2013.
Accessed February 20, 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mayors_of_New_Castle,_Indiana
“New
Castle Fieldhouse.” Wikipedia. Last
modified December 6, 2013. Accessed February 16, 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Castle_Fieldhouse
“New
Castle, Indiana.” City Data, accessed
February 13, 2014, http://www.city-data.com/city/New-Castle-Indiana.html
“New
Castle, Indiana Tornado March 11, 1917.” Gendisasters,
accessed February 16, 2014, http://www.gendisasters.com/data1/in/tornadoes/newcastle-tornado1917.htm
“New
Castle, Indiana.” Wikipedia, last
modified December 31, 2013. Accessed February 16, 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Castle,_Indiana
Radford,
Darrell. “From ‘Rose City’ to ruins.” City
of New Castle, published March 30, 2013. Accessed February 23, 2014, http://www.cityofnewcastle.net/eGov/apps/document/center.egov?view=item;id=994
Radford,
Darrell. “New Castle, Indiana: A pictorial history.” (G. Bradley Publishing
Incorporated, 1992). 127-129.
[1] “New
Castle, Indiana.” City Data, accessed
February 13, 2014, http://www.city-data.com/city/New-Castle-Indiana.html
[2] “New Castle Fieldhouse.”
Wikipedia. Last modified December 6,
2013. Accessed February 16, 2014,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Castle_Fieldhouse
[3] “New Castle, Indiana.” Wikipedia, last modified December 31,
2013. Accessed February 16, 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Castle,_Indiana
[4] “Indiana Basketball Hall
of Fame.” Wikipedia. Last modified
December 6, 2013. Accessed February 16, 2014,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Basketball_Hall_of_Fame
[5] “Kent Benson.” Wikipedia, last modified February 5,
2014. Accessed February 16, 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_Benson
[6] “New Castle, Indiana.” City Data.
[7] Darrell Radford. “New
Castle, Indiana: A pictorial history.” (G. Bradley Publishing Incorporated,
1992). 127.
[8] “New Castle, Indiana.” Wikipedia.
[9] Forbes, Dr. Greg. “What
and where is Tornado Alley?” The Weather
Channel, published October 7, 2005.
Accessed February 13, 2014, http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/what-where-is-tornado-alley-forbes_2011-04-14
[10] “Henry County,
Indiana.” Henry County, accessed
February 20, 2014, http://www.henryco.net/
[11] “List of Mayors of New
Castle, Indiana.” Wikipedia, last modified December 21, 2013. Accessed February
20, 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mayors_of_New_Castle,_Indiana
[12] "INDIANA
TORNADO KILLS 37." Chicago Daily Tribune (1872-1922), Mar 12, 1917.
http://ezproxy.lib.indiana.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/174179598?accountid=11620.
[13] “INDIANA TORNADO KILLS
37.” Chicago Daily Tribune.
[14] Darrell Radford. “New
Castle, Indiana: A pictorial story.” 127.
[15] Darrell Radford. “New
Castle, Indiana: A pictorial story.” 127.
[16] Darrell Radford. “From
‘Rose City’ to ruins.” City of New Castle,
published March 30, 2013. Accessed February 23, 2014, http://www.cityofnewcastle.net/eGov/apps/document/center.egov?view=item;id=994
[17] Darrell Radford. “New
Castle, Indiana: A pictorial story.” 129.
[18] Darrell Radford. “From
‘Rose City’ to ruins.”
[19] Darrell Radford. “From
‘Rose City’ to ruins.”
[20] Darrell Radford. “New
Castle, Indiana: A pictorial story.” 127.
[21] “New Castle, Indiana
Tornado March 11, 1917.” Gendisasters,
accessed February 16, 2014,
http://www.gendisasters.com/data1/in/tornadoes/newcastle-tornado1917.htm
[22] Darrell Radford. “From
‘Rose City’ to ruins.”
[23] Darrell Radford. “From
‘Rose City’ to ruins.”
[24] Darrell Radford. “New
Castle, Indiana: A pictorial story.” 127.
[25] “New Castle, Indiana
Tornado March 11, 1917.”
[26] Darrell Radford. “New
Castle, Indiana: A pictorial story.” 129.
[27] “New Castle, Indiana.” City Data.
[28] “New Castle, Indiana.” City Data.
[29] Darrell Radford. “From
‘Rose City’ to ruins.”
