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Hayden, Indiana

Coordinates: 38°58′17″N 85°44′20″W / 38.97139°N 85.73889°W / 38.97139; -85.73889
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Hayden, Indiana
Census-designated place
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Interactive map of Hayden, Indiana
Coordinates: 38°58′17″N 85°44′20″W / 38.97139°N 85.73889°W / 38.97139; -85.73889
CountryUnited States
StateIndiana
CountyJennings
TownshipSpencer
Area
[2]
 • Total
2.47 sq mi (6.41 km2)
 • Land2.47 sq mi (6.41 km2)
 • Water0 sq mi (0.00 km2)
Elevation
[1]
604 ft (184 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total
501
 • Density202.5/sq mi (78.18/km2)
ZIP code
47245
GNIS feature ID2587019[1]
FIPS code18-32584

Hayden (also Hardenburg or Six Mile) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in central Spencer Township, Jennings County, Indiana, United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 501.[3] It is the birthplace of Edgar Whitcomb, the 43rd Governor of Indiana.

History

Hayden was platted in 1854, the year the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad (later the Baltimore and Ohio Southwestern) reached the site; J. P. Swarthout built the first house and served as the community's first railroad station agent.[4][5] The settlement was first called Hardenburg and was renamed Hayden in 1889, reportedly because large quantities of hay were shipped from the community; the railroad depot in the center of town served as a community gathering place.[5]

A carpenter who worked on the town's Methodist church was later identified as a member of the Reno Gang and was among the gang members hanged by a Seymour vigilance committee in 1868.[5]

Hayden is the birthplace of Edgar Whitcomb (1917–2016), the 43rd Governor of Indiana, a World War II veteran, and an author.[6]

The Hayden Historical Museum was organized in 1990, after Whitcomb and his siblings donated a former chicken house and its lot, which volunteers converted into a museum of Hayden and Spencer Township history.[7][8] The grounds later grew to include a community-center pavilion, built in 1999 with a Lilly Endowment grant, and a reconstructed early-20th-century blacksmith shop.[8] In 2001 the museum acquired the John Doud Sinclair filling station—a 16-by-16-foot (4.9 m × 4.9 m) wood-frame building erected in 1926 and said to be the first gas station between North Vernon and Seymour—donated by its last owner, John Barlow, and relocated from its site at U.S. 50 and County Road 700W to make room for highway turn lanes.[9] The museum's displays include re-created period rooms—a pre-1900 bedroom, a 1933 kitchen, a 1965 living room, and a mid-1950s classroom—depicting daily life in early Jennings and Jackson counties, and it hosts an annual living-history day.[9][8]

The oldest building in downtown Hayden—a two-story store built in 1875 for James P. Swarthout and long known as the Dodd Store—was destroyed by fire on October 2, 2025.[10]

Geography

It lies along CR700W, west of the town of Vernon, the county seat of Jennings County.[11] U.S. Route 50 passes through the CDP south of the village center; the highway leads northeast 7 miles (11 km) to North Vernon and west 8 miles (13 km) to Seymour.

The Hayden post office has the ZIP code of 47245.[12]

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Hayden has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.[13]

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
2020501—
U.S. Decennial Census[14]

As of the 2020 census, Hayden had a population of 501. Of those residents, 459 were white, three were Black, four were Native American or Alaskan Native, two were of some other race, and 33 were of two or more races.[3]

Education

Hayden Elementary School, part of the Jennings County School Corporation, serves students from kindergarten through sixth grade.[15] The community was formerly served by a consolidated high school housed in a twelve-room brick building.[5]

Notable people

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Hayden, Indiana
  2. ↑ "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
  4. ↑ Baker, Ronald L. (October 1995). From Needmore to Prosperity: Hoosier Place Names in Folklore and History. Indiana University Press. p. 160. ISBN 978-0-253-32866-3.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "History". Spencer Township, Jennings County, Indiana. Retrieved June 21, 2026.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Indiana Governor Edgar D. Whitcomb (1917–2016)". Indiana Historical Bureau. Retrieved June 21, 2026.
  7. ↑ "Hayden Historical Museum sets summer hours". The Republic. Columbus, Indiana. June 5, 2022. Retrieved June 21, 2026.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "The Hayden Historical Museum Keeps Evolving, Becomes the Anchor of the Community". Hayden Historical Museum. Retrieved June 21, 2026 – via Facebook.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Schneider, Nick. "Filling station gets new home". The Tribune. Seymour, Indiana.
  10. ↑ "Fire destroys downtown Hayden landmark". Madison Courier. Madison, Indiana. October 2025. Retrieved June 21, 2026.
  11. ↑ DeLorme. Indiana Atlas & Gazetteer. 3rd ed. Yarmouth: DeLorme, 2004, p. 52. ISBN 0-89933-319-2.
  12. ↑ Zip Code Lookup
  13. ↑ Climate Summary for Hayden, Indiana
  14. ↑ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Hayden Elementary School". Jennings County School Corporation. Retrieved June 21, 2026.
  16. ↑ Cava, Pete (2015). Indiana-Born Major League Baseball Players a Biographical Dictionary, 1871-2014. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4766-2270-5. OCLC 946542327.
  17. ↑ Jennings Co, in - Pictorial. Turner Publishing Company. June 15, 1999. ISBN 978-1-56311-521-9.
  18. ↑ Davies, Tom (February 8, 2016). "Edgar Whitcomb, Indiana governor with late-life wanderlust, dies at 98". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
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