Dresser was a small town in Steuben Township, Warren County, in the U.S. state of

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. It was founded shortly before the turn of the 20th century and consisted of several residences and a post office. The post office operated only from 1899 to 1903.Helbock, Richard W. ''United States Post Offices, Volume V - The Ohio Valley'' (2002) Scappoose, Oregon: La Posta Publications, p. 62 The town was named after

Paul Dresser Paul Dresser (born Johann Paul Dreiser Jr.; April 22, 1857 – January 30, 1906) was an American singer, songwriter, and comedic actor of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Dresser performed in traveling minstrel and medicine-wa ...

, the American songwriter who wrote "

On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away "On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away" was among the best-selling songs of the 19th century, earning over $100,000 from sheet music, sheet-music revenues. Written and composed by American songwriter Paul Dresser, it was published by the Tin ...

" (which became Indiana's state song); Harvey Porter Layton, the first postmaster, had met Dresser at the

Hotel Mudlavia Hotel Mudlavia (commonly referred to simply as Mudlavia, and originally named the Indiana Springs Company) was a hotel and spa built on the site of a natural spring near the town of Kramer in Warren County, Indiana, US. The spring was discovered ...

and was so impressed with the man that he named the town after him. H P Layton

References

* Warren County Historical Society. ''A History of Warren County, Indiana'' (1966). Former populated places in Warren County, Indiana Former populated places in Indiana {{WarrenCountyIN-geo-stub