NEW CASTLE, INDIANA

'New Castle' is a city in Henry County, Indiana, 44 miles (71 km) east-northeast of Indianapolis, on the Big Blue River. In 1900, 3,406 people lived in New Castle, Indiana; in 1910, 9,446; in 1920, 14,458; and in 1940, 16,620. The population was 17,780 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Henry County. New Castle is home to New Castle Fieldhouse, the largest high school gymnasium in the world, and has produced many basketball stars including College All-American and NBA star, Kent Benson; as well as College All-American, NBA player, and University of New Mexico basketball coach, Steve Alford.
The city is surrounded by a farming district. In the past, it was an industrial centre of importance, the leading manufactures included sheet iron and steel, automobiles, caskets, clothing, scales, bridges, pianos, furniture, handles, shovels, lathes, bricks, flour, etc.
New Castle Correctional Facility is located just north of the city with a capacity of over 2,000 inmates.

Contents

Geography

Government

Demographics

Education

Notable natives and former residents

Trivia

Notes

External links

News & Media

Geography

New Castle is located at (39.923733, -85.365045).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 15.4 km² (5.9 mi²), all land.

Government

★ List of mayors of New Castle, Indiana

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 17,780 people, 7,462 households, and 4,805 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,153.8/km² (2,987.5/mi²). There were 8,042 housing units at an average density of 521.9/km² (1,351.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.37% White, 1.85% African American, 0.22% Native American, 0.21% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.41% from other races, and 0.91% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.09% of the population.

There were 7,462 households out of which 28.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.7% were married couples living together, 13.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.6% were non-families. 31.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.90.
In the city the population was spread out with 23.5% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 28.9% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 17.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 88.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $30,688, and the median income for a family was $37,463. Males had a median income of $32,624 versus $20,554 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,587. About 10.6% of families and 12.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.7% of those under age 18 and 9.2% of those age 65 or over.

Education

★ Indiana University East: Henry County Danielson Center

★ New Castle Community School Corporation

Notable natives and former residents

★ Robert Allen, former Chairman and CEO of AT&T

★ Kent Benson, former NBA player

★ Major General Omar Bundy, Commanded 1st Expeditionary Division during World War One

★ Major General William Grose, Civil War General

★ Tracy Hines, NASCAR driver

★ Robert Indiana, artist

★ Randall Woods, former CEO of the now extinct Corvas Corporation in San Diego

★ Steve Alford, head coach of the University of New Mexico men's basketball team, 1983 "Mr. Basketball" of Indiana, 1984 Olympic gold medalist (basketball)

Trivia

New Castle was the home of the Hoosier Manufacturing Co. that made the popular and still prized collectible kitchen cabinets. The years between 1900 and 1920 they sold over 700,000 of their step saver cabinets.

★ Nine of the ten largest high school gyms in the United States are in Indiana. The largest of these is the New Castle Fieldhouse at Chrysler High School. The fieldhouse has a capacity of 9,325. ^[1]

★ New Castle is home to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame located near New Castle Chrysler High School.

★ Next to New Castle Chrysler High School is a Native American mound dated to approximately 2000 BP. This mound contains depressions which align to sunrise/sunset during the equinoxs as well as to aligning with depressions in similar mounds tens of miles away

★ New Castle is home to one of kart racing's most popular tracks, New Castle Motorsports Park.

Notes

1. News article, paragraph three, from USA Today, February 25, 2004.

External links

★ City of New Castle

News & Media

★ The Courier-Times

★ New Castle Online

★ WMDH 102.5 FM

★ WMDH 1550 AM

★ WBSH 91.1 FM