The Crossroads of America: How Indiana Connected a Nation

The Crossroads of America: How Indiana Connected a Nation

Season One of Hoosier State Stories concludes with the story that ties everything together. Why is Indiana known as the Crossroads of America? From Native American trails and winding rivers to the National Road, railroads, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and today’s Interstate Highway System, Mike and Kylie explore how Indiana’s location shaped its history and helped connect a nation.

City Spotlight: Richmond, Indiana

This week on Hoosier State Stories, Mike and Kylie visit Richmond, a city whose influence stretches far beyond Indiana’s eastern border. From its founding by Quaker settlers and its role in the Underground Railroad to the National Road, Wayne Works, and the legendary Gennett Records, Richmond helped shape American transportation, manufacturing, and music. Along the way, they explore Earlham College, the Depot District, Richmond’s basketball tradition, and why this historic border city remains one of Indiana’s hidden gems. Richmond may not be Indiana’s largest city, but its story helped shape the state—and the nation.

Evansville at War: The Indiana City That Built the Ships

During World War II, Evansville became one of Indiana’s most important home-front cities. This week on Hoosier State Stories, Mike and Kylie tell the story of how a southern Indiana river city helped power the war effort. From factories converting to wartime production to the Evansville Shipyard building LSTs on the Ohio River, this episode looks at the workers, welders, women in factories, long shifts, and local pride behind one of Indiana’s biggest World War II contributions. Far from the ocean and far from the front lines, Evansville helped build the ships that carried the fight overseas.

City Spotlight: Vincennes, Indiana

This week on Hoosier State Stories, Mike and Kylie head west to Vincennes, one of Indiana’s oldest and most important cities. Set along the Wabash River, Vincennes was shaped by Indigenous history, French settlement, frontier trade, the American Revolution, and Indiana’s earliest days as a territory. From Fort Sackville and George Rogers Clark’s 1779 victory to Grouseland, Vincennes University, and the George Rogers Clark National Historical Park, this City Spotlight looks at how a small western Indiana city became one of the starting points of the Hoosier story. Indiana history did not begin in Indianapolis. In many ways, it began farther west, along the Wabash, in Vincennes.

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.