New Castle at200 War generals. Floor generals. Manufacturing. A heart for art. And two centuries of lasting legacies.
New Castle A 200-YEAR TIMELINE
1819
Asahel Woodward, born in 1791, 25 years after the American Revolution, is the first settler in what is now New Castle.
1869
The third and present Henry County Courthouse is constructed. Cost: $120,000.
1870
Gen. William Grose, who was in many historic battles during the Civil War, has his 16-room home built on what is now S. 14th Street
1886
The Henry County Historical Society is founded in New Castle. It is believed to be the oldest, continuously operating organization of its kind in Indiana.
1897
New Castle artist Frances Goodwin’s bust of U.S. Vice President Schuyler Colfax is placed in our nation’s capital.
1823
New Castle is platted and named after New Castle in Henry County, Kentucky.
In 1901, brothers Myer Heller (left) and Herbert Heller created “the American Beauty Rose,” a flower inspired New Castle’s nickname of “Rose City.”
1902
The former home of Civil War General William Grose is dedicated by the Henry County Historical Society as its new headquarters and museum.
1841
The Indiana Courier, forerunner of The Courier-Times, now the eighth-oldest newspaper in Indiana, is first published in New Castle.
1853
David Nation, future husband of future temperance leader Carrie Nation, opens a book shop in New Castle.
1864
Henry County’s second courthouse is destroyed by fire. 20
General William Grose, stands on the first step (far right) at the Courthouse with the 1885 Henry County Bar Association.
1871
President Ulysses S. Grant and family stop in New Castle on their way to Chicago.
1873
Citizens State Bank, the third bank to receive an Indiana charter, opens it doors, three days after the state’s new banking laws went into effect.
CHAMBER MAGAZINE │ SPRING 2023
1907
U.S. Vice President Charles Fairbanks is in New Castle for the laying of the cornerstone at the MaxwellBriscoe Automobile Plant, regarded as the largest in the country.
1918
New Castle artist Frances Goodwin puts the finishing touches on her bust of U.S. Vice President Schuyler Colfax. The bust remains on display at the U.S. Capitol.
1900
Gen. William Grose dies at his home in New Castle. The Civil War general was 87 -- or -somewhat poetically, four score and seven years.
The stately former home of Civil War General William Grose has been the site of the Henry County Historical Society for more than 100 years.
1913
Bus service is brought to New Castle by Ray Ridenour. A national magazine calls him “America’s first bus driver.”
New Castle native Gen. Omar Bundy refuses an order to retreat during the battle of Belleau Wood and his forces repel the enemy, likely saving Paris from capture by the Germans.