Your Source for Monrovia History

Roughly seven miles southwest of Mooresville is the town of Monrovia, in Monroe Township, Morgan County, Indiana.  Founded in 1834 (ten years after Mooresville), Monrovia was incorporated in 1995 and has a current population of 1,641, as of the 2020 U.S. Census, according to the town's website.

Google Map Showing Monrovia & Mooresville, Indiana

(Click Images to Enlarge)

Monrovia has a long and proud history, and Mooresville Public Library's Indiana Room has some of this information, but if you're really interested in Monrovia history, you should speak with the expert:  Steve Reeder, a history & psychology teacher at Monrovia High School.  Steve knows the history of Monrovia, Monroe Township (and neighboring Gregg Township), and northern Morgan County like the proverbial back of his hand.  His general Morgan County historical knowledge is pretty awesome, too.  When I have a question about Monrovia and vicinity, I contact Steve.  So should you.

Steve Reeder

Monrovia High School

In 2021, Steve received the WISH-TV Channel 8 Golden Apple Award for outstanding teaching, particularly in preserving and promoting history (and, specifically, local history) for and to students and the overall community.

Steve works with students at Monrovia High School to create exemplary local history videos in his Monrovia Moments series, available to watch free on YouTube.  Everyone interested in Monrovia history should definitely subscribe to this channel.  You won't find better local history videos on the Internet.

Besides consulting Steve, those of you with local history questions should also visit the Monrovia History website, as well as the Monrovia Branch of Morgan County Public Library.  For Morgan County history in general, you should visit the Genealogy Department at Morgan County Public Library (main branch in Martinsville), as well as the Morgan County History Center & Museum (also in Martinsville).  Another terrific resource is the Morgan County History & Genealogy Association website.  Of course, Mooresville Public Library's Indiana Room also has many local history materials for the region (and for Indiana overall), so you should surely visit there, too.

No Wonder the Basketball is Flat

Episode #6 of Grandpa Billy Bob's Mooresville History Super Fun Quiz explores where Mooresville High School basketball games were played before the old gymnasium was built (next to the old high school building) in 1920.

Click Video (Above) to Play

The gymnasium was dedicated on December 30, 1920.  It was the first high school gym in Morgan County and was considered state-of-the-art a century ago.  It stood just north of the old Mooresville High School building (completed in 1909), and was across from the original Academy School built by the Mooresville Society of Friends in 1860, which was the first high school in central Indiana.  Both the Academy building and the gymnasium still stand today on the campus of Newby Memorial Elementary School on North Monroe Street (old State Road 267) in Mooresville.  Learn more about the century-old gymnasium from this superb handout by Susan Haynes, communications director for the Mooresville Consolidated School Corporation.

Mooresville High School (1909 Building) with

1920 Gymnasium (circa 1921 photo)

(Click Images to Enlarge)

1920 photo shows the Academy Building (left)

and Mooresville High School (right)

before the gymnasium was constructed

 

Many Mooresville High School basketball teams played home games downtown (you'll have to watch the video above to learn where), including those pictured below (photos courtesy of various Mooresville High School yearbooks and Mooresville Public Library's Indiana Room photo collection).

MHS 1909 Boys' Basketball Team

 

 MHS 1917 Boys' Basketball Team

 MHS 1917 Girls' Basketball Team

 

  MHS 1918 Boys' Basketball Team

You'll notice the basketball is flat when you watch the video.  No wonder--all the hot air is in the host, Grandpa Billy Bob.  (Just kidding.)
  

Sammy Lee Davis (Famous Mooresvillian)

Sammy Lee Davis moved to Waverly, Indiana from California following his junior year to attend Mooresville High School (graduated MHS Class of 1966). After enlisting in the U.S. Army, he distinguished himself in combat service in Vietnam and, on November 19, 1968, was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor by President Lyndon B. Johnson (see the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Monday, November 25, 1968, pp. 1611-12, 1614). Davis has an autobiography available to checkout from our Evergreen Indiana catalog.

Click book cover (above) to go to our online catalog

Sergeant Sammy L. Davis, Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient (1968)

President Lyndon Baines Johnson  (far right) awards the Congressional Medal of Honor to (L to R): Gary G. Wetzel, Dwight H. Johnson, Sammy L. Davis, James Allen Taylor, and Angelo J. Liteky (November 19, 1968)

Mooresville Academy School (Mooresville Moments #9)

We have a new local history video featuring Mooresville Academy School.

Mooresville Academy School

(Mooresville Moments #9)

by Mooresville Public Library

Two-Twenty-Two-Twenty-Two

Click Photos to Enlarge

On February 22, 1922 (that's 2/22/22, at least in the U.S.), Mooresville High School students celebrated a basketball victory over Monrovia High School (24 points to 22 points) around the "silent policeman" pedestal (built by Raymond King) in the middle of the intersection of Main and Indiana Streets in downtown Mooresville, Indiana.  "Yell leaders" (what we now call cheerleaders) Delbert Wilson and Merle "Pinhead" Harvey stand atop the "silent policeman."

Note the horse carriage and the automobile, which were parked in separate areas "reserved" for horse-drawn vehicles (on North Indiana St.) and motor vehicles (on East Main St.) The I.O.O.F. building is in the background, where today (2015) stands Paul Hadley mini-park.  (UPDATE:  In 2017 the area became Mooresville Bicentennial Park.)

Note, too, that the "silent policeman" has been positioned incorrectly--it should have been turned 180 degrees to correctly designate directions to the cities listed. (The stand could be moved. This was a popular prank among high schoolers from neighboring communities. They would steal the "silent policeman" and haul it away somewhere, and Mooresville police would have to bring it back.)

 

"Two-Twenty-Two-Twenty-Two"

by Mooresville Public Library

(Mooresville Moments #27)