Jeff Rasley

"Dogmatic Beliefs Divide Us, Communal Values Unite US."
GODLESS explores how both secular and religious groups thrive when they focus on shared values, not dogma and creeds. It also describes a way to live by values that uplift individuals and promote community rather than divisiveness.
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GODLESS -- Living a Valuable Life Beyond Beliefs GODLESS -- Living a Valuable Life Beyond Beliefs

The first town we visited yesterday for our “wander ” project was in . We both had classic Hoosier fare--country fried chicken with gravy and fried apples--for lunch at Carrey’s Restaurant. The food and service were excellent, and the helpings large enough for an extra take-home meal.
The town was founded in 1836 and named after Vermont's capital city of Montpelier. However, part of the land was reserved for the family of Chief Francois Godfroy of the Miami Nation by treaty with the U.S. government in 1838. Pursuant to the 1840 Removal Act, most of the Miami people were forced to move west to the Kansas Territory. Still, the “Godfroy Reserve” kept title to the land within the Godfroy family. But white settlers kept encroaching on the reserved land, so Chief Godfroy eventually left the area. By 1872 most of the land was sold to non-Indians, and in 1922 the rest of it was foreclosed on in a tax sale. But there is a monument to, and a grand statue of, Chief Godfroy in the center of town. The statue is featured in the introductory montage on the television show Parks and Recreation.
Montpelier is another town that had a population explosion due to the Gas Boom. The railroad reached Montpelier in 1870, and natural gas was discovered in 1887. During the boom time, the temporary population of the town was as high as 6,000 with a permanent population over 3,400. But when the boom ended by 1910, the population began to decline, and has never been that high since then. The town did experience an increase during the post WWII auto and steel boom from the 1950s through 70s, but it has been declining since then and was down to 1,540 at the 2020 Census.
Montpelier also was a player in Indiana’s history of horse racing and motor sports. A horse track opened in 1903, and races drew crowds of 3,000 spectators. During the 1920s, the rebuilt track was considered the fastest half mile in Indiana. In the 1950s, the track was converted to a stock car racing track, but reverted to horses in the 1960s. The track closed in 1973, but reopened in 1985 as the Montpelier Raceway, which is a dirt-track for stock car racing.
On August 4, 1933, the Montpelier National Bank was robbed by John Dillinger and the Dillinger Gang. Three men robbed the bank without firing a shot. The bank building, the 1907 Carnegie Library building, and the 1907 First Baptist Church are three of the town’s historic buildings. The downtown also has several cool murals, the park dedicated to Chief Godfroy, and another one dedicated to astronaut Kevin Ford, who is from Montpelier.
We saw lots of people attending an event at the town’s Civic Center. The Showtime Dance Academy, founded and owned by Kelly Kirkaldy, has been a local institution and outstanding contributor to the town’s culture for 27 years. The town holds First Friday festivals during the summer. There are several beautiful 19th and early 20th Century Italianate, Queen Ann, and Victorian houses, which were built during the boom times.
Montpelier is another Indiana town that has a lot going for it. And it is kind of heartbreaking that people are not moving in to revitalize the general housing stock and increase the population.

A personal family history of the massacre at Wounded Knee and the Trail of Death

America’s Existential Crisis: Our Inherited Obligation to Native Nations (Culturally and Environmetally Sensitive Spiritual Adventure Travel Memoirs) America’s Existential Crisis: Our Inherited Obligation to Native Nations (Culturally and Environmetally Sensitive Spiritual Adventure Travel Memoirs)

Three other towns we recently explored for our “wander ” project are , which borders Delaware and Randolph counties, and and , which are in Delaware County.
Albany was founded in 1833 by William Venard, who purchased land that became the town from Andrew Kennedy. It was named after Albany, New York. The downtown is classic small-town Indiana with well-maintained 19th and early 20th Century storefronts and a handsome brick church anchoring the center of town. There are several lovely murals and newish benches inscribed with an ‘A’ in the downtown. It’s apparent that community leadership is actively working to maintain the town’s attractiveness. So it’s disappointing that the population has declined from the high of 2,625 in 1980 to 2,295 at the 2020 Census. 111 housing units were reportedly vacant!
Jim Davis, creator of the Garfield cartoons, grew up near Albany. There is a historical marker for James Grover McDonald (November 29, 1886 – September 25, 1964), who made Albany his hometown. He was appointed by Pres. Roosevelt to be the League of Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Coming from Germany after WWII, and was the first U.S. Ambassador to Israel.

Eaton was founded in 1854, but wasn’t incorporated until 1873, when it became a railroad stop. Extremely important to the development of Indiana’s industrial economy was the discovery of natural gas, and it occurred in Eaton in 1876. The discovery set off the Indiana Gas Boom, which facilitated two decades of rapid growth of factories and businesses in north-central Indiana. A weathered historical marker is “near the site” on the lawn in front of the Town Hall. Eaton’s 19th Century prosperity is still apparent in the several magnificent Victorian and Italianate mansions and impressive brick churches. But at the end of the gas boom, the population began to decline. It picked up again with the rise of the auto industry, but then declined again after its peak in 1980 at 1,804, down to 1,595 at the 2020 Census.
Norseman Park is an extensive park with playgrounds and green space. The Eaton Community Garden is another cool benefit the town offers residents. The digital sign outside the Town Hall scrolls announcements of several local events, so Eaton’s leadership is clearly making an effort to make the town attractive. But the Census Bureau reports 118 housing units were vacant in 2020.

Daleville was founded and named by American Revolutionary War veteran Alexander "Campbell" Dale, when his family settled at the site in the 1820s. Although the town is that old, Daleville is actually the newest town in Indiana, because it wasn’t incorporated as a town until 1982. The town incorporated to avoid an annexation attempt by neighboring Chesterfield. The “straight” residents of Daleville probably did not want to join up with the “out there” spiritualists of Chesterfield. Of this group of three small towns, Daleville is the one that is growing. Its population at the 2020 Census was 1,651, which was down from its first count as a town for the 1990 Census at 1,681. However, the unofficial count for 2025 was up to 1,730. The apparent reason for the increase is its proximity to Muncie and being located right on I-69, which affords reasonable commuting to the Indy area.
Daleville looks like a commuter-suburb, because it doesn’t have a downtown business center like Albany and Eaton. The commercial strip is along I-69. There is a beautiful town park on the White River with a splash park, play area, and trail. Canoes can be rented for river paddling from Canoe Country.

For our “wander to small towns,” we explored and River Forest in Madison County and in Grant County. The towns are an interesting contrast. Edgewood was founded in 1916 by General Motors as a suburb of Anderson for its automotive workers. It is divided into several neighborhoods, and each one has a unique entrance off of State Road 32. The houses in the neighborhoods vary from middle-class ranch to grand brick mansions. But they all have fairly large and well-tended lawns. Each neighborhood has it own park with a play area for children. The population has been declining since 1970, when it was 2,326. In 2020 it was down to 2,053. But there is no indication of decline or empty houses. There is no downtown, just a commercial strip along SR 32.
We had a delightful lunch at Edgewood Dining, Events, & Golf, aka Edgewood Country Club. It opened in 1930 as a golf club for the community. The expansive dining room offers views of the golf course, woods, and the golf-ball-on-upside-down-tea water tower (see the photo to make sense of that). Alicia’s steak sandwich and sweet potato casserole and my cod sandwich and chicken and dumplings soup were very tasty. Our young server, Savannah, was charming.
River Forest is surrounded by Anderson and Edgewood. It has one road, River Forest Street, a dead-end road running north to south. The town is 0.02 square miles in size and sits on a bluff overlooking the White River. It is one of the smallest towns we’ve visited with a 2020 population of 26, down from 29 in 1980. It is also one of the wealthiest with over 50% of the residents’ annual income in excess of $100,000 and a third over $200K. 40% of the residents are over 80 years old. My guess is the population decline is due to young people leaving home and the deaths of elderly residents, because the houses are all impressively large with well-tended lawns and mature trees.
Jonesboro, unlike the other two, is a “real town” with a downtown and adjacent neighborhoods. Unfortunately, it is in serious decline. The Census data indicates it’s one of the many Midwestern towns that has not recovered from the auto/steel industry collapse. In 1970 its population was 2,466. At the 2020 Census it was 1,516, which is about a 40% loss!
Jonesboro was founded in 1837 by Obadiah Jones, and named for him. The town grew and prospered until businesses must have closed and jobs lost with the industrial decline in the 1980s. There is a pleasant green space with a shelter at the center of town, and there are 4 large church buildings. One with a grand bell tower is abandoned. There are several handsome Victorian mansions, and the town has lovely views overlooking the Mississinewa River opposite Gas City. There is a paved trail on both sides of the river, and a walking bridge connects the trails. A real cool park is on the Gas City side of the river. It has playgrounds, ball fields, and alpacas!

A true tale of hitchhiking through the deep South and encounters with the K*K, a Voodoo priestess, a brain-washing cult, an alligator hunter, college preppies and radicals, hoboes, George Wallace, and Shirley Chisholm in 1972. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CPVR4TLJ

Our “wander ” ramble this weekend was to the nearby towns of , in Johnson County, and in Marion County. We lunched at the Crowbar Inn Restaurant & Lounge on State Road 135 in Trafalgar. I knew it as a popular stop by bikers, because I passed it many times when I was riding SR 135 on my Harley. Today was a beautiful day for riding, and there were several bikers in the restaurant. You must be 21 to enter, but it is much more than a biker bar. The menu has a huge choice of offerings. Alicia had a Philly prime-rib sandwich with chips, and I had a pulled pork sandwich with green beans. The food and service were excellent.
Trafalgar was originally called Liberty and was first incorporated in 1816. But the town declined when the post office and railroad stop moved to Morgantown. It was reincorporated in 1946. Once again, the original town is almost abandoned. But its population almost doubled in the last 20 years. It was 798 at the 2000 Census and 1,422 at the 2020 Census. Impressive new housing developments have surrounded the old town, and SR 135 has turned into a sprawling commercial strip. The recently built Public Library, Town Hall, and Fire Station surround a pond, and are handsome brick buildings. But they are outside of the old town center. There is a nicely maintained city park inside the old town, and a bunch of kids were on the playground.
I chatted with one old-timer who is a third generation resident of Trafalgar. He wistfully pointed out to where businesses and buildings used to be that his family had owned. The historic Farmers International Bank building has been repurposed as a beauty parlor. And the old gym and school building have been saved and are being completely renovated by Yes Ministries to become a multi-purpose ministry with church, preschool, youth camp, and counseling & retreat center. We spoke to the head pastor, Jason Abney, who is extremely excited about the future of the ministry in Trafalgar. The old-timer seemed skeptical, when I asked him how he felt about the ministry.
A few miles south of Trafalgar is Betley Woods at Glacier’s End. The Central Indiana Land Trust maintains the property as a nature preserve with 3 hiking trails. As the name implies, this is where the glaciers stopped their southward march.

By 1828 Southport was a stagecoach stop on the Madison–Indianapolis road, which became US 421. The town was founded in 1832. In 1847 the Jeffersonville, Madison and Indianapolis Railroad was opened through Southport. Unlike Trafalgar, Southport grew steadily, until 1960-70. It lost its Post Office in 1960. Southport’s population declined from 2,342 in 1970 to 1,712 in 2010. There was an up tick at the 2020 Census to 2,123. So, Southport’s population might now be on the upswing too. A large, new apartment building has recently opened in the center of town with a sign offering 3-months free rent and a $1,500 gift card!
Southport’s downtown looks vibrant compared to Trafalgar’s old center. The locally famous and award-winning Long’s Bakery is an anchor. There was a line, when we stopped in to pick up a chocolate éclair and German chocolate brownie for our desserts.
A picturesque church and cemetery sit above a bubbling brook near the center of town. The Old Southport Cemetery dates back to 1837. Several Revolutionary War soldiers are buried there. There is a historical marker for Samuel and Mary Bryan, who arrived in 1828. Mary Bryan is buried in the cemetery, and is recognized as one of the first White women to cross the Cumberland Mountains.

Basketball is the state religion in . Hoosier boy and Purdue Braden Smith entered our Pantheon by setting the NCAA all-time assist record last night.

Braden Smith sets NCAA all-time assists record, breaks Bobby Hurley's mark Purdue's Braden Smith is the new king of assists in college basketball history, breaking Bobby Hurley's record of 1,076 career dimes.

Sometimes demands that we engage in what John Lewis called "good trouble." He said, “Speak up, speak out, get in the way.” Read more about John in https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BJYGHZCM

and were the next small towns we explored for our Wander project in White County. Both towns have lost population since their high point. Reynolds peaked in 1970 at 641 and was down to 531 at the 2020 Census. Chalmers peak was in 1980 at 554, and it had declined to 523 in the 2020 Census. The good news for Chalmers is that there was a 3% gain in population between 2010 (508) and 2020.
Reynolds was founded in 1853, when its Post Office was opened and the railroad reached the settlement. The town was named for Benjamin Reynolds, one of its earliest settlers. A really interesting development for the town began in 2005. The Indiana Department of Agriculture began a program to turn Reynolds into "BioTown, USA." The goal was to make the town an energy self-sufficient community, so that the town and residents would only use locally produced alternative energy. The pilot project encouraged residents to convert their vehicles to run on ethanol or biodiesel fuels. Animal waste would be the energy source for electricity and natural gas. Reynolds was selected for the BioTown, USA experiment because of its size, its easy accessibility by road and by rail, its proximity to a huge wind farm and large-scale livestock farms, and to Purdue University. The process is not complete, but the town claims the title of the most energy self-sufficient community in Indiana.
There are two beautiful, large brick churches, a community center, and a city park in the town.
Like most of the towns in the area, Chalmers began as a railroad stop. Land was donated by Gardner Mudge to the Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville Railway in 1854 after the company constructed a rail line to the settlement in 1853. Mudge opened a general store, and a Post Office was also established in 1854 with Mudge serving as postmaster. The town was originally known as Mudge's Station, but the name was changed to Chalmers in 1856.
One of the reasons for the town’s population decline was the railroads terminated its depot as a stop. The depot was demolished in 1976, although the railroad going through Chalmers is still in use by CSX. The town has two very nice parks. Chalmers Community Park has a playground, pavilion, trails, and sports facilities. Downtown Park has cute gazebo and a cool, locally designed mural.
Given their proximity to Purdue University and West Lafayette, both of these small towns could be idyllic places to live for people who appreciate the benefits of small-town life but would also like to be near a bigger city and major university. Both towns have highly rated schools.

With Chelsea Wiley – I just got recognized as one of their top fans! 🎉

We explored three small towns in White County for our “wander ” project, Wolcott, Reynolds, and Chalmers. Our first stop was lunch at Roots Eatery and Pub in Wolcott. The food was delicious and our server, Kathy, was charming. Alicia had the classic Hoosier sandwich, breaded tenderloin, which had just the right combination of “breading” and meat. My apple walnut salad with chicken strips was perfectly balanced, and was large enough that it made a second meal.
Like so many Indiana towns in the area, Wolcott was founded as a railroad stop in 1861. It is named for its founder, Anson Wolcott, a descendant of Oliver Wolcott, who was a signatory of the Declaration of Independence. The Wolcott House, just east of the downtown on the walnut-tree-lined main street, US 24, is a magnificent Italianate-style wood-frame building. It was built in 1859 by Anson Wolcott and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The Anson Wolcott Historical Society is the caretaker of the house and arranges tours. The Town Park is right behind Wolcott House. The Wolcott July 4 Summer Festival has been celebrated every year since 1967 on the grounds of the Wolcott House and park.
Kathy told us that Wolcott has a special beauty, and part of that seems to be a unique sense of community. The town is committed to being the quietest town in America. The Council passed an ordinance in 2022 which allows residents to be fined for producing any audible sound that can be heard from a neighbor's property line. This could cover dogs barking, loud conversations, generators, radios, wind chimes, etc. However, running lawn and power tools are specifically allowed. We also saw many “No Data Centers” signs posted in lawns and at businesses, and a large billboard with signs about protecting the water system and gun safety. There are attractive murals on downtown buildings, and the theater has been repurposed as the Wolcott Theater Café. The housing stock is well maintained and includes several impressive Victorians and Italianates. Although, huge granaries loom around the downtown, which create a sort of ominous feel, but indicate how important agriculture still is to this area.
It’s disappointing that such an interesting community lost population in the last Census, down from 2010 at 1,001 to 950 in 2020. (The next post will cover Reynolds and Chalmers.)