Editing Anderson, Indiana (section)

==History==
Prior to the organization of Madison County, [[William Conner]] entered the land upon which Anderson is located. Conner later sold the ground to John and Sarah Berry, who donated {{cvt|32|acre}} of their land to Madison County on the condition that the county seat be moved from [[Pendleton, Indiana|Pendleton]] to Anderson. John Berry laid out the first plat of Anderson on November 7, 1827. In 1828 the seat of justice was moved from Pendleton to Anderson.

The city is named for Chief William "Adam" Anderson, whose mother was [[Lenape]] and whose father was of [[Sweden|Swedish]] descent. Chief Anderson's name in Lenape was ''Kikthawenund'', meaning "creaking boughs".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.andersonmchs.com/chief-anderson.php|title=Madison County Historical Society|website=andersonmchs.com|access-date=April 24, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180130013842/http://www.andersonmchs.com/chief-anderson.php|archive-date=January 30, 2018|df=mdy-all}}</ref> The Lenape village was known as "Anderson's Town", though the Moravian missionaries called it "The Heathen Town Four Miles Away". Anderson was also known as "Andersonton" before being formally organized as Anderson.

Introduction of [[internal improvements]] by the [[Indiana Mammoth Internal Improvement Act|Mammoth Internal Improvement Act]] caused a growth in the population in 1837. In December 1838, Anderson was incorporated as a town with 350 inhabitants. The [[Indiana Central Canal|Central Canal]], a branch of the [[Wabash and Erie Canal]], was planned to come through Anderson. Work continued on the canal during 1838 and the beginning of 1839, but the work was soon suspended by the state following effects of the [[Panic of 1837]]. The town again became a sleepy village until 1849, when it was incorporated a second time as a town. Many new commercial ventures located around the courthouse square.

This incorporation was short-lived, and Anderson once again went back to village status in 1852. However, with the completion of the [[Indianapolis and Bellefontaine Railroad|Indianapolis Bellefontaine Railroad]], as well as their station in 1852, Anderson burst to life. The third incorporation of Anderson as a town occurred on June 9, 1853. The population continued to increase. On August 28, 1865, with a population of nearly 1,300 people, Anderson was incorporated as a city.

Between 1853 and the late 19th century, twenty industries of various sizes located there. On March 31, 1887, [[natural gas]] was discovered in Anderson. As the [[Indiana gas boom]] began, this discovery led new businesses that could use natural gas, such as glass-making, to move to the city. Anderson grew to such proportions that a [[Cincinnati]] newspaper editor labeled the city "The [[Pittsburgh]] on [[White River (Indiana)|White River]]". Other appellations were "Queen City of the Gas Belt" and (because of the [[vulcanizing]] and rubber tire manufacturing business) "Puncture Proof City".

In 1897 the [[Interurban]] Railroad was born in Anderson. [[Charles L. Henry|Charles Henry]], a large stock holder, coined the term "Interurban" in 1893. It continued to operate until 1941. The Commercial Club (formed on November 18, 1905) was the forerunner of the present [[chamber of commerce]].

The year 1912 spelled disaster for Anderson: the natural gas ran out. The city had left its gas-powered lights on day and night, and there are stories of a pocket of natural gas being lit in the river and burning for a prolonged period for the spectacle of it. The result of the loss of natural gas was that several factories moved out. The whole city slowed down. 

This club persuaded the Remy brothers to stay in Anderson and others to locate there. For decades, Delco Remy and Guide Lamp (later Fisher Guide), which during World War II built the [[M3 submachine gun]] and the [[FP-45 Liberator]] pistol for the Allies, were the top two employers in the city. From 1913 through the 1950s, the Ward-Stilson Company was one of the country's largest producers of uniforms, regalia, furniture and props for the [[Freemasons]], the [[Odd Fellows]], and dozens of other U.S. [[fraternal organizations]].

The [[Church of God (Anderson, Indiana)|Church of God of Anderson]] located its world headquarters in Anderson in 1905. Anderson Bible School was opened in 1917, and this was separated from Gospel Trumpet (now known as Warner Press) in 1925. At the same time, it became known as Anderson Bible School and Seminary. In 1925, the name was changed to Anderson College and eventually to [[Anderson University (Indiana)|Anderson University]] in 1988.

Over the years, 17 different types of [[automobile]]s were manufactured in Anderson, with the [[John William Lambert|Lambert]] family among the city's leaders in its development and the Buckeye Gasoline Buggy the Lambert product. Many other inventions were perfected in Anderson, including the gas regulator (Miron G. Reynolds), the stamp vending machine (Frank P. Dunn), clothes presser (H. Donald Forse), "Irish Mail" handcars (Hugh Hill), flower car for funeral homes (Francis M. McClain, automatic gearshift{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}} (Von D. Polhemus)), Sisson choke (Glenn Sisson), and the [[vulcanization|vulcanizing]] process to [[retread]] tires (Charles E. Miller).

Anderson hosted a [[National Basketball Association]] (NBA) franchise for the 1949–50 season, being one of the smaller cities to have had a major league franchise in a [[Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada|Big Four]] American sport. The [[Anderson Packers]] were a founding member of the NBA (under that name), but folded after one season.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/AND/ |title=Anderson Packers |publisher=Sports Reference LLC |work=basketball-reference.com |access-date=July 4, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100511003050/http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/AND/ |archive-date=May 11, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Anderson Leaves Pro Hoop Ranks |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=OZYVAAAAIBAJ&pg=6834,4059067&dq=anderson |newspaper=Spokane Daily Chronicle |date=1950-04-11 |access-date=2009-09-04 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Like most other industrial cities in Indiana and the [[Rust Belt]] as a whole, Anderson suffered tremendously from [[deindustrialization]] in the 1970s and 1980s. For example, nearly 22,000 people were employed by [[General Motors]] in the 1970s in Anderson; by 2006 this number had declined to fewer than 2,600. Anderson has since struggled with higher rates of poverty and unemployment.