Muncie, Indiana Totally Explained

Everything about Muncie Indiana totally explained

Muncie is a city in Center Township, Delaware County in east central Indiana, best known as the home of Ball State University and the birthplace of the Ball Corporation. It is the principal city of the Muncie, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of 118,769. The population within city limits, as of 2002, was 67,430.

History

The area was first settled in the 1770s by the Delaware Indians, who had been transported from their tribal lands near the east coast to Ohio and eastern Indiana. They founded several towns along the White River including Muncietown, near the site of present-day Muncie. The tribes were forced to cede their land to the federal government and move further west in 1818, and in 1820 the area was opened to white settlers. The city of Muncie was incorporated in 1865. Contrary to popular legend, the city isn't named after a mythological Chief Munsee, rather it was named after Munsee Town, the white settlers' name for the Indian village on the site.
Muncie was dubbed Middletown after a team of sociologists, led by Robert Lynd and Helen Lynd, initiated a series of sociological studies in Muncie funded by the Rockefeller Institute of Social and Religious Research. "The aim... was to study synchronously the interwoven trends that are the life of a small American city." (Lynd and Lynd 1929: 3) Muncie was considered a typical Middle-American community. In 1929, the Lynds published their first study in a book entitled Middletown: A Study in Modern American Culture. The Lynds returned to Muncie to re-observe the community during the depression. In 1937 they published Middletown in Transition: A Study in Cultural Conflicts. The National Science Foundation then funded a third study resulting in two books by Theodore Caplow, Middletown Families (1982) and All Faithful People (1983). Caplow returned in 1998 to begin another study known as Middletown IV, which became part of a PBS Documentary entitled "The First Measured Century," released in December, 2000. These are only a few of the most notable studies. The Ball State Center for Middletown Studies

continues to survey and analyze the social changes occurring in Muncie. An enormous database of Middletown surveys, conducted from 1978 to 1997, is available online from ARDA, American Religion Data Archive

. Ironically, a Henry County farming community with the authentic name of Middletown, IN, is only a 20-minute drive from Muncie, though it has no relationship to the Middletown Studies.

See also Middletown studies

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 67,430 people, 27,322 households, and 14,589 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,788.2 people per square mile (1,076.7/km²). There were 30,205 housing units at an average density of 1,248.9/sq mi (482.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 85.72% White, 10.97% African American, 0.27% Native American, 0.79% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 0.67% from other races, and 1.49% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.44% of the population.
   There were 27,322 households out of which 23.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.4% were married couples living together, 13.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.6% were non-families. 34.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.86.
   In the city the population was spread out with 19.8% under the age of 18, 24.6% from 18 to 24, 24.2% from 25 to 44, 18.3% from 45 to 64, and 13.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females there were 89.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.5 males.
   The median income for a household in the city was $26,613, and the median income for a family was $36,398. Males had a median income of $30,445 versus $21,872 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,814. About 14.3% of families and 23.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.2% of those under age 18 and 9.7% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Since the late 19th century, Muncie’s economic backbone had been the in the industrial sector, primarily in manufacturing. Notable factories that employed a sizable amount of the population include Delco Remy, Westinghouse (later ABB), Indiana Steel and Wire, General Motors (New Venture Gear), Warner Gear (later BorgWarner), Broderick Co. Inc., Dayton-Walter, and Ball Corporation. However, most of these factories closed during a tumultuous period for the city from the late 1980s and late 1990s. As of 2006, the only aforementioned factory/corporation still in business (or at least operating in Muncie) was BorgWarner Inc. which is slated to close by 2009. However, smaller, non-unionized manufacturing businesses have survived this transition such as Maxon Corporation, Duffy Tool, and a dozen or so other shops that employ anywhere from a few dozen to a couple of hundred workers.
Like many mid-sized cities in the rust belt, Muncie has had to economically reinvent itself due to the collective fall of the manufacturing industry in the latter part of the 20th century. Muncie’s current economic backbone is in the health care, educational, and human resources, and service industries. The largest employers in Muncie are Ball Memorial Hospital/Cardinal Health Services, Ball State University, Muncie Community Schools, The City of Muncie, Sallie Mae, and Wal-mart. The local economy is one of the most controversial topics for Muncie residents, and the city has at times struggled to find cohesion between older unemployed/underemployed Muncie residents who strongly identify with the manufacturing history of the town, and newer residents who identify with the educational, health care and other white-collar industries. Muncie is clearly in a state of economic and social transition, but has experienced moderate economic growth in recent years despite continuing to lose population.

Education

Muncie Southside High School For other Delaware County high schools, click here.

Colleges and universities

Ball State University

Ivy Tech State College

Indiana Business College

Notable natives & residents

See also .

General

Michelle Baena, Playboy model

Ball Brothers, founders of the Ball Corporation, originally a producer of glass canning jars but now a producer of different products.

Benjamin V. Cohen - a key figure in the administrations of Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman.

George R. Dale, editor of the Muncie Post-Democrat (1920-1936) who gained national attention by speaking out against the Ku Klux Klan.

Bertha Fry - At the time of her death on November 14, 2007, the 3rd oldest person living on earth at 113 years.

Timothy Groeling - Author and University of California, Los Angeles Professor of Communications and New Media.

David Letterman, former student at Ball State University, talk show icon, host of Late Show With David Letterman

Gregory Howard Williams, dean of the Ohio State University School of Law and author of Life on the Color Line: The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He Was Black.

Arts

Ray Boltz - singer, Contemporary Christian musical artist

Everett Bradley - Musician (solo, w/Bon Jovi, David Bowie), actor

Mary Jane Croft - Actress; appeared in The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, I Love Lucy as "Betty Ramsey", and The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy as Mary Jane Lewis

Jim Davis - cartoonist, creator of the Garfield comic strip, which has become tremendously popular since its debut in June 1978. Attended Ball State.

Kemper Harreld, African-American concert violinist and founder of the Morehouse College Glee Club

Bob Ross - Artist of the The Joy of Painting television series

Whitney Spurgeon -- Actor (Eight Men Out, commercials, theater)

Sports

Brian Carr, former Burris High School and Nebraska University (1984-7) basketball standout who is in the hall of fame at Nebraska

Jaime Castro - Boxing writer

Sam Drummer, drafted and then released by Houston Rockets. Played one year for Harlem Globetrotters. Died February 4, 1995, at the age of 38.

Dave Duerson - All-American Defensive Back for the University of Notre Dame; played 11 seasons in the NFL with the Chicago Bears.

Brandon Gorin - National Football League offensive lineman

Matt Painter - Purdue men's basketball head coach

Dave Shondell - Purdue women's volleyball coach

Steve Shondell - Hall of Fame high school volleyball coach with 4 National Championships, 19 state titles and over 1,030 career wins

Preston Shumpert - Two-time All-Big East performer for the Syracuse Orange and current Euroleague prof basketball player.

Bonzi Wells - NBA; plays for the New Orleans Hornets

Cultural references to Muncie

The 1960 Korean War film All the Young Men features Alan Ladd as a soldier from Muncie.

In several episodes of Hogan's Heroes (1965-1971) Carter and other characters refer to Muncie, Carter seems to have either grown up there or spent time there while growing up.

In the 1966 Dick Van Dyke film Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N., Lt. Crusoe complains that his malfunctioning navigational equipment will only tell him how far he's from Muncie.

The "star" of the eponymous Tom Slick segment of the late 1960s animated series George of the Jungle frequently raced to or from Muncie (and, at least once, to and from Muncie).

The "What Are Sex Perverts?"' segment of Woody Allen's Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) (1972) features a rabbi from Muncie.

In the 1976 TV pilot movie for The Love Boat, Tom Bosley plays Muncie native George Havlicek.

The 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind is partially set in Muncie.

Television talk show host David Letterman, whose national career began in 1980, often refers to Muncie when needing to name a small, provincial town.

Though the 1986 movie Hoosiers pits Hickory's basketball team against South Bend's team, the real life story that inspired the movie features Muncie Central High School's 1954 championship loss to the team from Milan.

It is revealed in the 1987 Garfield Goes Hollywood television special that cartoon characters Garfield and Jon live in Muncie.

In the musical revue The Taffetas, about a four sister singing group, Muncie is named as the sisters' home town. The show began off Broadway in 1988.

The cartoon character "Snake" from The Simpsons (1989- ) played lacrosse for Ball State University located in Muncie Indiana. Also, Superintendent Chalmers went to BSU.

Knights of the Dinner Table (1990- ) - A comic strip set in Muncie. Parody of Roleplaying groups and Dungeons & Dragons.

Bikini Summer (1991) features "Holly from Muncie, Indiana" in a wet T-shirt contest.

In the 1994 film The Hudsucker Proxy the main character, Norville Barnes, was born and raised in Muncie. The city is referenced throughout the movie.

Gregory Howard Williams' best selling autobiography, Life on the Color Line: The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He Was Black (first published in 1996), is mostly set in Muncie, his adopted hometown.

The X-Files episode "Salvage," which first aired on January 14, 2001, was set in Muncie.

Toby Keith's 2001 song I Wanna Talk About Me contains the line "We talk about your nanna up in Muncie, Indiana."

The romance in Say It Isn't So (2002) begins in Muncie

In the fifth season (2004-5) of The Gilmore Girls television series one of the characters (Doyle McMaster, a native of the state and boyfriend to Paris Geller) reports that he spent his summer interning at the fictional Muncie Messenger newspaper.

Muncie was the setting for Armed and Famous, a celebrity reality TV show that premiered on CBS in January, 2007.

In the popular viral video spoof of the original Saturday Night Live sketch Lazy Sunday, Lazy Muncie references the Muncie cityscape, including Muncie Mall, McGalliard Road, and a cameo appearance by Jim Davis.Further Information

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