Crawfordsville
©
Crawfordsville

Crawfordsville

West-central Indiana college town linked to Lew Wallace and the writing of Ben-Hur.

Crawfordsville is a small city of around 15,000 in west-central Indiana, about halfway between Indianapolis and the Illinois state line off Interstate 74. It's the seat of Montgomery County and home to Wabash College, a well-regarded all-male liberal arts college that gives the town a certain intellectual edge unusual for a city this size.

The place owes most of its historical fame to Lew Wallace — Civil War general, first governor of New Mexico Territory, and the man who wrote Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ while living here. His study still stands as a museum. The Ropkey Armor Museum, a few miles outside town, houses one of the largest private collections of tanks and armored vehicles in the world — an unlikely but genuinely impressive sight.

Sugar Creek runs through the edge of town and provides the starting point for canoe trips downstream through Shades and Turkey Run state parks, both worth a visit. Every June, the city hosts the Strawberry Festival, a lively community event that draws a decent crowd.

Guide

Getting There

Crawfordsville sits on Interstate 74 about 80 km west of Indianapolis, which is the nearest major airport. The drive from Indianapolis takes under an hour. By car from Chicago it is about two and a half hours via I-65 south and I-74 east.

Amtrak's Cardinal line (New York–Chicago) stops at Crawfordsville station, though the train runs only three times a week in each direction. The station is a few blocks from the city centre. There is no practical bus service from Indianapolis; a car is essentially required for most visits.

Guide

Things to Do

Crawfordsville punches above its size for historical interest. The two best museums — the General Lew Wallace Study and the Rotary Jail — are both genuinely unlike anything you'll find elsewhere. The campus of Wabash College, one of the last all-male liberal arts colleges in the United States, is worth a walk. Outside the city, Sugar Creek provides good canoe access into the state parks to the south and west.