Editing Connersville, Indiana (section)

===Early growth – pre-industrial age===
The [[Roots blower]], a type of air turbine, was invented by the Roots brothers in Connersville in the 1850s, patented in 1859, and manufactured in Connersville for over 150 years.

The town of Connersville became a chartered city in June 1869, and William H. Beck was chosen as its first mayor. The first high school opened in 1875. In 1882, James H. Fearis of Connersville started the Bell telephone exchange. The Connersville Electric Light Company commenced operations in August 1890 as the first supplier of electric power in the city. Central Avenue was paved with brick in 1902, and became the first paved street in the city.

Prior to the advent of automotive manufacturing, Connersville for decades was colloquially known as the "furniture and buggy town" because of the dominance of those two industries in the town.

In 1898, Stant was founded in Connersville, and became the world's largest producer of piano [[tuning pin]]s.

During the school year 1906–07, Dr. [[W. Otto Miessner]] established the first public high school band in the U.S. at [[Connersville High School]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://fayette.k12.in.us/chs/fame/meissner.html |title=Dr. W. O. Meissner |access-date=2009-01-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090830083532/http://fayette.k12.in.us/chs/fame/meissner.html |archive-date=2009-08-30 }}</ref>