Editing Montpelier, Indiana (section)

===Gas Boom===
[[File:Montpelier Indiana DM Spaulding Building.jpg|thumb|Spaulding building built during the Gas Boom]]In 1887, [[natural gas]] was discovered in Blackford County, and the area began its participation in the [[Indiana Gas Boom]].<ref>''A History of Blackford County...,'' p. 46.</ref> While natural gas was found throughout Blackford County, [[Petroleum|crude oil]] was found mostly in the county's [[Harrison Township, Blackford County, Indiana|Harrison Township]], which includes Montpelier. Blackford County's first successful oil well, located just south of Montpelier, began producing during 1890.<ref name="Blatchley71">Blatchley, p. 71</ref>    Montpelier was thought to be "the very heart of the greatest natural gas and oil field in the world".<ref>''A History of Blackford County...,'' p. 90, quoting the November 19, 1895 edition of the ''Montpelier Herald.''</ref> By the mid-1890s, about two-thirds of Harrison Township (25 square miles) was considered part of an oil-producing region.<ref name="Blatchley71" /> Montpelier became a city where “money and whiskey flowed frequently”, and numerous other “recreational activities” were available.<ref>''A History of Blackford County….,'' p. 92.</ref> Oil production from the Trenton Gas and Oil Field surrounding Montpelier began decreasing during the first decade of the 20th century, and the Gas Boom (or Montpelier's oil boom) gradually came to an end.<ref>Rupp,  [http://igs.indiana.edu/geology/coalOilGas/oilandgas/index.cfm “Oil and Gas in Indiana” web site.]</ref><ref>Glass, p. 91</ref> Montpelier began a return to normalcy and its population (like many boom towns) has never exceeded its Gas Boom peak.<ref>See U.S. Census population counts for Montpelier shown elsewhere in this article.  See also page 16 of ''A History of Blackford County….''.</ref>