Russiaville () is a town in Honey Creek Township, Howard County,

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. The population was 1,094 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Kokomo Metropolitan Statistical Area. Russiaville was incorporated sometime between the 1860 and 1870 US Census.

Etymology

The town was named for Jean Baptiste de Richardville (whose father's surname was Richerville), a

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

chief of

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

-Miami descent who had relations with the United States government in treaty making in the early nineteenth century. Through the French pronunciation of "Ri-shar-ville," the name was gradually corrupted and changed to the current spelling; it has been pronounced "Roo-sha-ville" through much of its history. The apparent association with Russia led to the town high school's naming its athletic teams the “Cossacks” until 1949, when county consolidation changed Russiaville High School to Western High School. Some theorize an alternate history, that during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, residents consciously changed the pronunciation of Russiaville's name in order to disassociate their town from

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, the leading state of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, however, the pronunciation, Roo-sha-ville precedes the Cold War by many, many years. A map from the 1840s to the 1850s in the Quaker Collection of

Earlham College Earlham College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Richmond, Indiana. The college was established in 1847 by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and has a strong focus on Quake ...

Richmond, Indiana Richmond () is a city in eastern Wayne County, Indiana, United States. Bordering the state of Ohio, it is the county seat of Wayne County. In the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 35,720. It is the principal c ...

, clearly shows a county named Richardville, and a town Richardville, at the site of present-day Russiaville. Some local history has suggested "Rouchardville" as the earlier spelling, but Richardville is correct.

History

Russiaville was laid out in 1845. Russiaville became a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

settlement in the years before the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. They created a stop on the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

for fugitive slaves in the antebellum years in nearby New London, then the site of the Friends Meeting serving the entire area. A local legend tells that the stop included a tunnel under New London from a safe house to a cave in the hollow of Honey Creek, near the location of the Friends Meetinghouse. Russiaville is the birthplace of Jonathan Dixon Maxwell (September 3, 1864), builder of the

Maxwell automobile Maxwell was an American automobile manufacturer which ran from 1904 to 1925. The present-day successor to the Maxwell company was Chrysler, now Stellantis North America, which acquired the company in 1925. History Maxwell-Briscoe Company Maxwell ...

. He is buried there. Almost all of the town was destroyed on April 11, 1965, by an F4 tornado, which was part of the Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak. With rebuilding, the town had a population of 1,094 at the 2010 census. In 1985,

Ryan White Ryan Wayne White (December 6, 1971 – April 8, 1990) was an American teenager from Kokomo, Indiana, who became a national poster child for HIV/AIDS in the United States after his school barred him from attending classes following a diagn ...

was an American teenager going to the Western School District's Middle School, who became a national poster child for HIV/AIDS in the United States after being denied re-admittance to school following an AIDS diagnosis. The school district faced pressure from many parents and faculty to ban student Ryan White from the campus after his diagnosis of HIV became widely known. The case, and local families' treatment of the White family, became a focal point in the public debate around funding for HIV treatment and public perception, eventually leading to the

Ryan White CARE Act The Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act (Ryan White CARE Act, ) was an act of the United States Congress and is the largest federally funded program in the United States for people living with HIV/AIDS. The act made federal f ...

. The act provides funding to improve availability of care for low-income, uninsured and under-insured victims of AIDS and their families.

Geography

According to the 2010 census, Russiaville has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 1,094 people, 434 households, and 307 families residing in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 486 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 98.6%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.2%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.2% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 0.1% from other races, and 0.7% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.3% of the population. There were 434 households, of which 39.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.1% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.9% had a male householder with no wife present, and 29.3% were non-families. 27.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.06. The median age in the town was 37.1 years. 27.9% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 27.8% were from 25 to 44; 25.1% were from 45 to 64; and 12.6% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 49.1% male and 50.9% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 1,092 people, 425 households, and 317 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 446 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 99.08%

, 0.09% Native American, 0.18% Asian, 0.27% from other races, and 0.37% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 1.28% of the population. There were 425 households, out of which 39.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.0% were

living together, 11.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.2% were non-families. 24.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.04. In the town, the population was spread out, with 29.3% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 31.6% from 25 to 44, 19.0% from 45 to 64, and 12.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.6 males. The median income for a household in the town was $40,875, and the median income for a family was $46,094. Males had a median income of $38,833 versus $25,875 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $20,804. About 4.4% of families and 5.7% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 7.6% of those under age 18 and 4.4% of those age 65 or over.

Highway

* IN-26 to Lafayette (West) and Hartford City (East)

Education

School districts

* Western School Corporation

(K-12) Western High School competes in the Mid-Indiana Conference (MIC) for athletics.

Public library

Russiaville has a public library, a branch of the Kokomo-Howard County Public Library.

Movies filmed in Russiaville

*'' The Ryan White Story'' (1988), starring

Judith Light Judith Ellen Light (born February 9, 1949) is an American actress. She made her professional stage debut in 1970, before making her Broadway debut in the 1975 revival of ''A Doll's House''. Her breakthrough role was in the ABC daytime soap oper ...

and

Lukas Haas Lukas Daniel Haas (born April 16, 1976) is an American actor and musician. His acting career has spanned four decades, during which he has appeared in more than 50 feature films and a number of television shows and stage productions. His notable ...

Government

Town Council Members include: Jeff Lipinski, President Don Parvin, Vice President Pat Reel, Council Member Greg Landrum, Council Member Myrna Claar, Council Member Karen Smith Corbin King, Town Attorney Megan Reel, Town Clerk/Treasurer

References

External links

Western School Corporation

Howard County Community Net
*https://www.townofrussiaville.com/
Russiaville, Indiana Reddit
{{authority control Towns in Howard County, Indiana Towns in Indiana Kokomo, Indiana metropolitan area Populated places established in 1841 1841 establishments in Indiana