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MCC Business Directory and Resource Guide
Submitted photo In 1931 The Trumpet Home (Old Main) on the Anderson College campus, was given to the school. It was built in 1905 by 14 of the Gospel Trumpet workers for housing. The building was replaced in 1970 by Decker Hall. president, James Madison. But there were ambitious plans for Anderson. Conner had sold the land to John and Sarah Berry, who donated 32 acres to Madison County on condition that the county seat be moved from Pendleton, which happened in 1828. Anderson was first incorporated as a town in 1838 after the Mammoth Internal Improvement Act caused a population growth. The Central Canal was planned to come through Anderson, but economic conditions stopped the project. Completion of the Indianapolis Bellefontaine Railroad revived Anderson, which became a city in 1865. Industries began locating in the town, and with the natural gas boom industries such as glassmaking sprang up. A Cincinnati newspaper referred to the city as “The Pittsburgh on White River.” The Interurban Railroad was born in Anderson in 1897, operating between central Indiana cities until 1941. In 1906 the Gospel Trumpet Co. (later Warner Press) moved from Mounds-
Completion of the Indianapolis Bellefontaine Railroad revived Anderson, which became a city in 1865. Industries began locating in the town, and with the natural gas boom industries such as glassmaking sprang up.
ville, W.Va., and Anderson became headquarters for the Church of God. Then disaster hit. People hadn’t worried about the limits of the natural gas supply, running street lights day and night and even lighting a pocket of gas in the middle of White River as an attraction. But the gas ran out, and several factories left. Reinventing the city already was under way, however. Frank and Perry Remy had set up a home wiring business in 1896, and Remy Electric was incorporated in 1901. The Commercial Club, forerunner of the present Chamber of Commerce, per-
suaded the Remy brothers to stay in Anderson, and by 1910 the company was producing 50,000 magnetos a year. It was the start of an automobile accessories boom that would carry the city through its economic golden era. The Remy brothers sold their firm in 1911, and the product line was expanded to include cranking motors, generators and distributors. In 1916 the United Motor Co. purchased both Remy and its competitor, Dayton Engineering Laboratories Co. (Delco), and Delco Remy was born. It became part of General Motors in 1918.
Over the years, 17 types of automobiles were manufactured in Anderson, with the Lambert family among the city’s leaders in its development. Many other inventions were perfected in the city, as well. Another innovation, lighting, drove the second piece of Madison County's future. Three employees of Badger Brass Co. in Kenosha, Wis., which made acetylene gas lamps for night driving, went out on their own to Cleveland, Ohio, and formed the Guide Motor Lamp Co. They turned to electric lighting, and by 1928 General Motors had bought out the firm, forming the Guide Lamp Corp. and locating it in Anderson in 1929. Madison County was an integral part of the formation of the United Auto Workers, Guide Lamp being the site of widely publicized sit-down strikes in the 1930s. Several other industries were going strong in the mid-20th century, including Emge Packing, Nicholson File, National
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