Crawfordsville Travel Guide

Crawfordsville, the Montgomery County seat, has a population of about 15,000 and is situated just south of Interstate 74 about halfway between Indianapolis and the Illinois state line.

Lodging includes a Holiday Inn at the I-74 exit 34 interchange as well as the cozy near-downtown Lew Wallace Inn.

During the recent spike in gasoline prices, Crawfordsville stations had some of the lowest gas prices in the state.

The city is home to Wabash College, an all-male liberal arts college.

The city's most famous son was Gen. Lew Wallace, who fought for the Union in the Civil War, was the first governor of the New Mexico Territory where he commissioned Pat Garrett to bring Billy the Kid to justice, and authored the Biblical novel "Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ."

A new public library opened in 2005.

Crawfordsville is home to the annual Strawberry Festival on the second weekend each June. Festival organizers attempt to book at least one big-name entertainment act each year. The 2005 headliner was Mark Lindsay, former vocalist with Paul Revere and the Raiders.

The city sponsors free WiFi internet connectivity centered on a plaza at Main and Green streets.

The principal news outlet for Crawfordsville and Montgomery County is the Journal Review, a six-day (Monday-Saturday) morning daily.

The city government is developing an industrial/technology park in the hope of attracting more white collar business to the community. The city is home to RR Donnelly publishing (which publishes the Harry Potter books), Nucor Steel Corp. and Pace Dairy Foods of Indiana. Raybestos, which employed as many as 600 people in recent years, is at odds with its union and may close its Crawfordsville facilities.

The city stands on the banks of scenic Sugar Creek and is the departure point for canoeists as they paddle their way downstream through Shades and Turkey Run state parks.

Military historian and collector Fred Ropkey recently moved his Ropkey Armor Museum from Indianapolis to a rural Crawfordsville site. The museum includes one of the largest private collections of tanks and other armored vehicles in the world. Ropkey has more armored vehicles in his collection than do some small countries. The museum is open Mondays through Fridays from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Crawfordsville dining highlights include Little Mexico, an authentic Mexican restaurant in the 200 block of East Main Street and the Creekside Lodge just west of U.S. 231 on the banks of Sugar Creek.