Shelby is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

in Cedar Creek Township, Lake 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 ...

. Shelby had a population of 453 at the 2020 census.

History

Shelby was laid out and

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

ted in 1886 by William R. Shelby, when the railroad was extended to that point.

Geography

Shelby lies in the southeast corner of Cedar Creek Township, bordered to the south by the

Kankakee River The Kankakee River is a tributary of the Illinois River, approximately long, in the Corn Belt, Central Corn Belt Plains of northwestern Indiana and northeastern Illinois in the United States. At one time, the river drained one of the largest we ...

, which forms the Newton County line. Directly across the river is the unincorporated community of Thayer. Shelby is southeast of Lowell, east of Schneider and west of DeMotte. Indiana State Road 55 crosses the Kankakee River at Shelby, making one of the few Kanakee River crossings from Lake County. Shelby, along other small Kankakee River communities, has historically had to contend with periodic flooding from the Kankakee River. According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the Shelby CDP has an area of , all of it recorded as land.

Demographics

Economy

Whiteco Industries, an Indiana business which, with its affiliates, is engaged in advertising (particularly billboard advertising) in Indiana, and in ownership of hotels, grew along with Dean White from a small advertising business in Shelby.White sad at closing of Shelby plant where success story / nwi.com
/ref> The successor to the Shelby location of Whiteco's business (in this location making graphics for commercial vehicles), Modagraphics, closed its doors, however, in 1993, as a result of a consolidation within its new parent company from Illinois.

Education

Students from Shelby attend schools operated by the

Tri-Creek School Corporation Tri-Creek School Corporation is a school district in Lowell, Lake 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, M ...

Lowell, Indiana Lowell ( ) is a town in West Creek and Cedar Creek townships, Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 10,680 at the 2020 census. History Lowell was platted in 1853. It was named after Lowell, Massachusetts. On June 27, 1868, L ...

.The school that was there was changed into a park. The movie ''Now and Then'' is set in Shelby, Indiana, but the Shelby of the movie is fictional. The movie is actually based on the town of

Winchester, Indiana Winchester is a city in White River Township, Randolph County, Indiana, United States. The city is the county seat of Randolph County. The population was 4,843 at the 2020 census. It is the home of Winchester Speedway. History Winchester was l ...

Notable people

* Jigger Sirois, IndyCar driver

References

{{authority control Census-designated places in Lake County, Indiana Census-designated places in Indiana Populated places established in 1886 1886 establishments in Indiana