I had a lot of fun proposing a 160-foot Garfield statue for downtown Muncie. Unfortunately, many of the people I shared it with on Facebook didn’t enjoy my concept so much. People on Facebook don’t have a sense of humor? That’s news to me! Still, Delaware County’s impeccable fiscal condition, immaculate infrastructure, and famous lack of corruption lead me to continue past Garfield. Surely the boomtowns of Yorktown, Selma, Gaston, Daleville, Eaton, and Albany deserve monumental landmarks of their own.
Before we hit the road to those towns, my friend JPC reminded me that Muncie was once known for much more than Garfield and Ball jars. During the muscle-car era, the city lent its name to GM’s legendary M22 “Rock Crusher” four-speed manual transmission! Muncie’s western gateway along State Road 32 has been barren since BorgWarner closed and its enormous factory complex was demolished1. The Rock Crusher wasn’t assembled there, but I’m thinking big-picture here: a portion of the site along Kilgore Avenue should be repurposed into a plaza anchored by an enormous M22 transmission. To complete the effect, let’s recreate the towering Eighth Street Chevy smokestack demolished in 20082. Why not, and why not add some rebar? It’s the perfect idea. It’s not like there isn’t plenty of parking already.
From the west side of Muncie, let’s head to Yorktown. I serve on the historical society board and feel uniquely qualified to propose a 120-foot grocery-store sign. Aside from its schools, Yorktown is probably best known as the longtime home of Marsh Supermarkets. The company bought an old milk condensery there and established its headquarters and distribution center in 19523. Marsh remained headquartered for nearly forty years4, but its warehouse presence continued until just before its new owner declared bankruptcy. That history deserves recognition, and I can think of no better way to provide it than by erecting a larger-than-life Marsh Foodliner sign in the Morrow’s Meadow park. People travel across the country to see the Gateway Arch and Statue of Liberty, and I’m positive that a sufficiently large Marsh sign will capture some of that traffic.
Next, we’ll take State Road 32 east to I-69 and Daleville, one of Delaware County’s most significant interstate gateways. The famed villain John Dillinger, who robbed the town bank in 19335, has long played a role in the community’s story. As a matter of fact, Daleville still holds a Dillinger-themed car show each year! Fortunately, the town has already provided a large roundabout to be home to a 100-foot bronze Dillinger. I imagine that Daleville PD’s fleet of Teslas will scoop up the revenue necessary to build it lickety-split. Meanwhile, I won’t be driving through until they make enough money to fund the Dillinger statue.
From Daleville, let’s go to Selma. Near the eastern edge of Delaware County, Selma was platted in 1852 thanks to the progression of the railroad6. The town’s high school sports mascot was the Bluebirds, but the nearby “Selma Sink” was home to a flowing well for many years7. It’s appropriate to honor both at the western turnoff from State Road 32 to East Jackson Street. Not only will the monument encourage traffic past Selma, it’ll convince people to drive in and see what the community has to offer.
Eaton may be an inconvenient four-way stop on State Road 3 between Muncie and Hartford City these days, but the town has serious history. After all, it’s where East-Central Indiana’s gas boom began! A marker that commemorates Indiana’s first significant was put in place in 19818, but it’s not really that close to the place the well was actually drilled. That said, nothing’s stopping Eaton from building a 140-foot flambeau at the southwestern corner of the town park. I’d go visit it, and I assume that means thousands of others would too.
Albany’s next. The town of about 2,300 was platted in 18339, and expanded during the gas boom. Albany grew to feature a vibrant downtown! That said, remnants of Albany’s prominence exist through its downtown district, an old schoolhouse-turned-interurban station, and the McCormick Brothers factory that’s now an event space. What I propose is a monument to the Albany Runabout, an early motorcar built between 1907 and 1908. A barren plot of land just across from McDonald’s near Albany’s western bounds would do well to feature a monumental plaza with the Runabout on top.
Finally, there’s Gaston, the sole incorporated community of Washington Township in Delaware County’s northwestern corner. Some know that Gaston was first called Snag Town before it was platted under the name of New Corner in 185510. The Snag Town name apparently came from the number of trees that had been cut up into stumps11. Pioneers often caught their pant legs on them! There’s no better way to celebrate the community’s history than a 100-foot fiberglass statue of a pioneer doing just that. Let’s repurpose the fantastic old gym next door into a cultural center while we’re at it.
There you have it: seven communities, seven enormous monuments, and a comprehensive economic-development strategy that I’m frankly shocked hasn’t already been implemented. From Garfield astride the White River to a pioneer tearing his pants on a stump in Gaston, Delaware County has more than enough history and weirdness to build an entire tourism industry and cultural trail around! Other places have arches, statues, towers, and giant roadside attractions, but we have transmissions, grocery stores, bank robbers, flowing wells, natural gas, obscure automobiles, and tree stumps. The history is already here. All we need now is several hundred million dollars and the tide to turn on Facebook.
Sources Cited
1 Roysdon, K. (2009, June 19). “A rare look inside BorgWarner.” The Muncie Star Press, p. 17.
2 Roysdon, K., & Gibson, R. (2014, September 14). “Remembering the local factory workers that BUILT THIS CITY.” The Muncie Star Press, pp. A1–A4.
3 “Marsh ready to break ground on new HQ.” (1989, August 25). The Muncie Evening Press, p. 11.
|4 See footnote 3.
5 Cutter, J. L. (1933, September 27). “Leach Brands Escaped Men As Worst Desperados in Michigan City’s Prison.” TheMuncie Evening Press, p. 3
6 Kemper, G. W. H. (1908). Education in Delaware County. In A Twentieth Century History of Delaware County, Indiana, Volume 1. book, Lewis Publishing Company
7 Garinger, A. (1990, June 10). The Muncie Star. p. 17.
8 First Indiana Gas Well (n.d.). Indiana Historical Bureau [Indianapolis]. Web. Retrieved September 2, 2026.
9 Kemper, G. W. H. (1908). Education in Delaware County. In A Twentieth Century History of Delaware County, Indiana, Volume 1. book, Lewis Publishing Company.
10 Lasley, N. (2012). Delaware County. Arcadia Publishing [Mount Pleasant]. Book.
11 Green, D. (1967, February 28). Seen and Heard in Our Neighborhood. The Muncie Star. p. 4.
