Sin City in the Hills

The Bottle Born in Terre Haute

One of the most recognizable shapes in the world has an Indiana connection. This week on Hoosier State Stories, Mike and Kylie tell the story of the Coca-Cola contour bottle and the Terre Haute glass company that helped create it. In the early 1900s, Coca-Cola needed a bottle that stood apart from copycats, something people could recognize by touch, even in the dark. From the Root Glass Company to Earl R. Dean, the cocoa pod inspiration, and the 1915 patent, this episode looks at how a simple bottle became a global icon and a piece of Hoosier design history.

City Spotlight : Elkhart

Welcome to the first City Spotlight bonus episode of Hoosier State Stories. This week, Mike and Kylie head to Elkhart, a northern Indiana city shaped by rivers, railroads, music, manufacturing, sports, and reinvention. From its early formation near the St. Joseph and Elkhart rivers to its rise as the Band Instrument Capital of the World and the RV Capital of the World, Elkhart has always been a city built around movement. They also explore the city’s sports identity, from North Side Gym and Elkhart High School to the Elkhart Express, Elkhart County Miracle, and Riverview Park softball tournaments. Plus, they look at modern Elkhart through landmarks like The Lerner Theatre, Wellfield Botanic Gardens, the RV/MH Hall of Fame, and companies like NIBCO and THOR Industries. Elkhart is more than one label. It is a working city, a maker city, a sports city, and a community still shaping its place in Indiana today.

Levi and Catharine Coffin: Indiana’s Grand Central Station of the Underground Railroad

In the years before the Civil War, an ordinary brick home in Fountain City became one of Indiana’s most important stops on the Underground Railroad. This week on Hoosier State Stories, Mike and Kylie tell the story of Levi and Catharine Coffin, the Quaker couple whose home became known as the Grand Central Station of the Underground Railroad. From late-night arrivals and hidden danger to the courage of freedom seekers and the quiet work of helping people move north, this episode looks at how one Indiana house became a place of hope, risk, and resistance. Courage does not always look loud. Sometimes it looks like a door opening in the dark.

New Harmony: Indiana’s Utopia on the Wabash

What happens when people try to build the perfect town? This week on Hoosier State Stories, Mike and Kylie travel to New Harmony, Indiana, a quiet town on the Wabash River that became the site of two bold utopian experiments. First came the religious Harmonists, led by George Rapp. Then came Robert Owen and William Maclure with a vision built around education, equality, science, and reform. The perfect society did not last, but New Harmony left behind one of Indiana’s most fascinating stories about faith, ambition, failure, and the dream of building a better world.

Studebaker: The Wheels That Built South Bend

Studebaker was more than a car company. It was a South Bend story. This week on Hoosier State Stories, Mike and Kylie trace Studebaker from a small wagon shop in the 1850s to one of Indiana’s most important industrial names. From wagons and early automobiles to bold designs, racing ties, factory life, and the painful 1963 South Bend plant closing, this episode looks at how one company helped shape a city’s identity.