Acton is a small community located in the southeast corner of Marion County,

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, United States, and has been included in the city of

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

under the

Unigov Unigov is the colloquial name adopted by the city of Indianapolis, Indiana, to describe its consolidated city–county government. By an act of the Indiana General Assembly, Indianapolis consolidated with the government of Marion County, India ...

legislation passed by the Indiana General Assembly in 1969. The community was named for an early settler, General Acton.

History

The community's original name was Farmersville. The town was renamed in 1854 when the U.S. Postal Service discovered there was already a town named Farmersville in

Posey County, Indiana Posey County is the southernmost, southwesternmost, and westernmost County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Indiana. Its southern border is formed by the Ohio River, and its western border by the Wabash River, a tributary to the Ohi ...

. From 1859 to 1905, a group of Methodists operated the Acton Camp Ground on just north of the town, at the corner of Southport and Acton roads. An agreement with the Indianapolis and Cincinnati Railroad provided good access to the camp grounds. Fire destroyed the camp buildings in 1864, but the association rebuilt them. Another fire in 1905 again destroyed the camp, but this time efforts to raise funds to rebuild fell short, and the land was sold. Actress Marjorie Main was born in Acton in 1890. Born Mary Tomlinson, Marjorie Main, moved from Acton to Elkhart, Indiana as a child

Notable people

Marjorie Main Mary Tomlinson (February 24, 1890 – April 10, 1975), professionally known as Marjorie Main, was an American character actress and singer of the Classical Hollywood period, best known as a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player in the 1940s and 1 ...

, Oscar-nominated American character actress

References

{{Authority control Neighborhoods in Indianapolis Indianapolis metropolitan area Populated places established in 1852 1852 establishments in Indiana