Roll, Indiana
Encyclopedia
Roll is an unincorporated American community in Washington Township
, Blackford County
, Indiana
. Nearly all of the community's businesses have been closed for years. Although the Blackford County Historical Society lists Roll as a ghost town
, home
s are still maintained in the area, and it is still listed as a populated place by the U.S. Geological Survey. The rural community is located on Indiana State Road 18
, about one mile west of its intersection with Indiana State Road 3
.
During the 1890s, Roll participated in the Indiana Gas Boom
, as oil and gas
wells were located nearby. Roll's E.C. Storms Natural Gas Company was one of Blackford County's many gas companies that existed during that time. The Gas Boom gradually ended during the beginning of the 20th century, and many small communities throughout the region never recovered. In addition, the quality of automobiles and roads improved over the following decades — indirectly contributing to the decline of many small communities as consumers drove to larger cities. As the largest community in Washington Township, Roll fared better than smaller communities in the area (such as Silas) because Roll had a better school and more merchants. As transportation improved even more, Roll merchants also lost business to larger communities. After the gas boom prosperity declined, agriculture again ascended to be the most important economic factor in Roll's corner of Blackford County. Unfortunately, prosperity
in agriculture is not always reflected in nearby towns such as Roll, and many small towns in the "Corn Belt
" continue to decline in size and affluence.
was the most powerful group of Indians in the region, and they were known to visit what would become northern Blackford County. Other tribes that visited the area were the Potawatomi
and Delaware
. Non-native settlers began arriving in what would become Blackford County during the 1830s. Blackford County was established in 1838 and 1839, as a section of swampland split from the west side of Jay County
.
for Washington Township in Blackford County. The Dundee population at that time was 353 people living in 71 houses. Eight structures were listed as unoccupied. Almost every occupation cited is farmer. One of the farmers was Ohio-born Mathias Roll, age 55, living with his wife and five children (see picture of census page). Ancestry and Census records indicate the Mathias Roll’s second marriage was in Ohio in 1843, and from this marriage a child was born in Dundee in 1853. This indicates that the Roll family probably came to Dundee between 1843 and 1853. A story told by two Roll family members/descendants states that Mathias Roll used to ride his horse to Hartford City to pickup mail for folks living in Dundee. Eventually, the mail load became too much for one horse, so a Post Office was established in Dundee. Because a community named Dundee already existed elsewhere in the state, the Dundee Post Office in Washington Township was called the Roll Post Office.
Mathias Roll was still living with his family (including Edmund Roll) in Washington Township in 1870 according to the U.S. Census. The Census lists Hartford City
, instead of Dundee, as the Post Office for the Roll family in Washington Township. An 1875 Post Office directory does not list Dundee or Roll. However, an 1876 atlas map still shows the town as Dundee. The community name of Dundee eventually fell out of favor because another town in Indiana already had that name, plus the Post Office was called the Roll Post Office. Gradually, Blackford County’s Dundee became known as Roll.
By 1880, the region was still farming-oriented. The population of Washington Township, at 16 percent of the county total, was 1,273 out of the Blackford County total of 8,020. The county had 866 farms, and 46 manufacturing establishments that employed a total of only 171 people. Blackford County had a total of 25 registered physicians in 1882, and three were listed as living in Roll (not Dundee). A cemetery
located in Roll, and now known as the Roll Cemetery, contains graves for at least twelve members of the Roll family (among other families). All Rolls buried there were born in the 19th century. A Matthias Roll (it has been spelled with one and two “t”s – his father used two) was buried there in 1885.
in east central Indiana. Numerous manufacturing companies moved to the Blackford County area, lured by promises of free or low-cost natural gas. Blackford County had 18 natural gas companies in 1895, including the E.C. Storms Natural Gas Company in Roll. In 1901, oil was struck on the Joseph Bird farm in Washington Township (not far from Roll). Oil was found in Blackford County's Washington and Harrison Townships, and one oil field near Roll was considered the most productive in the state. Blackford County’s population increased from 8,020 in 1880 to 17,213 in 1900. However, by 1905 the boom was mostly over, as much of the natural gas was wasted or mismanaged.
The brief boom transformed much of east central Indiana from an agriculture-oriented economy to an economy that also included manufacturing. From 1880 to 1900, Blackford
, Delaware
, and Grant
counties all had their populations double. In 1901, Hartford City factories employed 1,077 people, and Montpelier factories employed 269. (A total of 171 people in the entire county worked in manufacturing in 1880.) Unfortunately, Roll did not have access to a navigable waterway or a railroad (see 1890s map) – while nearby Marion
(to the west), Montpelier
(east), and Hartford City
(south) all benefited from vital transportation resources. The lack of transportation facilities meant that Roll could not compete with nearby communities to attract manufacturers, and it did not take advantage of the natural gas and oil to the extent that other communities did.
’s population peaked in the 1910 Census at 17,000, and the county has never again been the home of so many people. (The county’s population in the 2000 Census is 14,048.)
In 1907, Roll’s schoolhouse was condemned by the state of Indiana. The two-room building had been built in 1893. However, by 1916, Roll had a new school facility for all grades through high school, and a gym was added in 1938. The local sports teams eventually became known as the “Red-Rollers”. The last graduating class from Roll High School was the Class of 1963, but the gym was still in use as late as 2010. After Roll’s school was closed, children from the Roll area were bused to nearby Montpelier
. In 1969, the entire county was consolidated into the newly-built Blackford High School
. The new school adopted the colors of red, white, and black – and the red was in honor of the old Roll Red-Rollers.
After the Gas Boom
was over, the region remained transformed. Many of the manufacturers remained in the area, even though the gas was depleted – but these companies were located in cities such as Marion or Hartford City, not Roll. In addition, agricultural communities began to have limited growth in their populace because mechanization
allowed farmers to farm more acreage (or the same acreage could be farmed by fewer people).
By 1930, 73-year-old Edmund Roll was the only person named Roll living in Washington Township. He was buried in the Roll Cemetery in 1943. Another Roll family member “returned” to be buried in the Roll Cemetery in 1951.
In 1951, Hoosier Hysteria
erupted in in the tiny community of Roll, as the Roll Red-Rollers won the Hartford City sectional in the Indiana High School basketball tournament. By the 1960s, Roll was still a small community with a barbershop and general store, a gas station or two, a church or two, and an empty school building. The gym was still used for elementary school basketball games by teams in Blackford County.
Today, the barber shop and general store are closed. The old building in the 2010 photo herein is thought to be one of the few buildings remaining in Roll that was built during the Gas Boom. "Doc" Banter's barber chair is now on display in the Blackford County Historical Society's museum. The old school has been torn down, although the gym still stands. However, Hoosier Hysteria
"rolls" on in Roll and in the red worn by Blackford High School — and one is likely to still find a basketball hoop somewhere in the Roll community.
Washington Township, Blackford County, Indiana
Washington Township is one of four townships in Blackford County, Indiana. As of the 2000 census, its population was 995. County Commissioners named the township after George Washington in 1833, and it was part of Jay County...
, Blackford County
Blackford County, Indiana
Blackford County is located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Indiana. The county is named for Judge Isaac Blackford, who was the first speaker of the Indiana General Assembly and a long-time chief justice of the Indiana Supreme Court. Created in 1838, Blackford County is divided...
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
. Nearly all of the community's businesses have been closed for years. Although the Blackford County Historical Society lists Roll as a ghost town
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
, home
Home
A home is a place of residence or refuge. When it refers to a building, it is usually a place in which an individual or a family can rest and store personal property. Most modern-day households contain sanitary facilities and a means of preparing food. Animals have their own homes as well, either...
s are still maintained in the area, and it is still listed as a populated place by the U.S. Geological Survey. The rural community is located on Indiana State Road 18
Indiana State Road 18
State Road 18 in the U.S. State of Indiana is an east–west route in North Central Indiana running from the Illinois border in Benton County almost to the Ohio border, terminating at U.S. Route 27 /State Road 67 in Jay County...
, about one mile west of its intersection with Indiana State Road 3
Indiana State Road 3
State Road 3 in the U.S. State of Indiana is a discontinuous state road running through east central Indiana from near the Michigan state line to near the Ohio River...
.
During the 1890s, Roll participated in the Indiana Gas Boom
Indiana Gas Boom
The Indiana Gas Boom was a period of active drilling and production of natural gas in the Trenton Gas Field, in the US state of Indiana and the adjacent northwest part of Ohio The boom began in the early 1880s and lasted into the early twentieth century....
, as oil and gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
wells were located nearby. Roll's E.C. Storms Natural Gas Company was one of Blackford County's many gas companies that existed during that time. The Gas Boom gradually ended during the beginning of the 20th century, and many small communities throughout the region never recovered. In addition, the quality of automobiles and roads improved over the following decades — indirectly contributing to the decline of many small communities as consumers drove to larger cities. As the largest community in Washington Township, Roll fared better than smaller communities in the area (such as Silas) because Roll had a better school and more merchants. As transportation improved even more, Roll merchants also lost business to larger communities. After the gas boom prosperity declined, agriculture again ascended to be the most important economic factor in Roll's corner of Blackford County. Unfortunately, prosperity
Prosperity
Prosperity is the state of flourishing, thriving, good fortune and/or successful social status. Prosperity often encompasses wealth but also includes others factors which are independent of wealth to varying degrees, such as happiness and health....
in agriculture is not always reflected in nearby towns such as Roll, and many small towns in the "Corn Belt
Corn Belt
The Corn Belt is a region of the Midwestern United States where corn has, since the 1850s, been the predominant crop, replacing the native tall grasses. By 1950, 99% of the corn was grown from hybrids. Most corn is fed to livestock, especially hogs and poultry. In recent decades soybeans have...
" continue to decline in size and affluence.
History
In the early 19th century, much of what would become the state of Indiana was still frequented by native Indian tribes. The Miami tribeMiami tribe
The Miami are a Native American nation originally found in what is now Indiana, southwest Michigan, and western Ohio. The Miami Tribe of Oklahoma is the only federally recognized tribe of Miami Indians in the United States...
was the most powerful group of Indians in the region, and they were known to visit what would become northern Blackford County. Other tribes that visited the area were the Potawatomi
Potawatomi
The Potawatomi are a Native American people of the upper Mississippi River region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquian family. In the Potawatomi language, they generally call themselves Bodéwadmi, a name that means "keepers of the fire" and that was applied...
and Delaware
Lenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
. Non-native settlers began arriving in what would become Blackford County during the 1830s. Blackford County was established in 1838 and 1839, as a section of swampland split from the west side of Jay County
Jay County, Indiana
As of the census of 2000, there were 21,806 people, 8,405 households, and 6,017 families residing in the county. The population density was 57 people per square mile . There were 9,074 housing units at an average density of 24 per square mile...
.
Dundee
Originally, the Roll community was named Dundee. A national Post Office directory for 1855 lists a Dundee in Blackford County. The 1860 United States Census lists Dundee as the Post OfficePost office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
for Washington Township in Blackford County. The Dundee population at that time was 353 people living in 71 houses. Eight structures were listed as unoccupied. Almost every occupation cited is farmer. One of the farmers was Ohio-born Mathias Roll, age 55, living with his wife and five children (see picture of census page). Ancestry and Census records indicate the Mathias Roll’s second marriage was in Ohio in 1843, and from this marriage a child was born in Dundee in 1853. This indicates that the Roll family probably came to Dundee between 1843 and 1853. A story told by two Roll family members/descendants states that Mathias Roll used to ride his horse to Hartford City to pickup mail for folks living in Dundee. Eventually, the mail load became too much for one horse, so a Post Office was established in Dundee. Because a community named Dundee already existed elsewhere in the state, the Dundee Post Office in Washington Township was called the Roll Post Office.
Mathias Roll was still living with his family (including Edmund Roll) in Washington Township in 1870 according to the U.S. Census. The Census lists Hartford City
Hartford City, Indiana
Hartford City is a city in the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Blackford County. Located in the northeast central portion of the state, the small farming community experienced a 15-year “boom” beginning in the late 1880s...
, instead of Dundee, as the Post Office for the Roll family in Washington Township. An 1875 Post Office directory does not list Dundee or Roll. However, an 1876 atlas map still shows the town as Dundee. The community name of Dundee eventually fell out of favor because another town in Indiana already had that name, plus the Post Office was called the Roll Post Office. Gradually, Blackford County’s Dundee became known as Roll.
By 1880, the region was still farming-oriented. The population of Washington Township, at 16 percent of the county total, was 1,273 out of the Blackford County total of 8,020. The county had 866 farms, and 46 manufacturing establishments that employed a total of only 171 people. Blackford County had a total of 25 registered physicians in 1882, and three were listed as living in Roll (not Dundee). A cemetery
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
located in Roll, and now known as the Roll Cemetery, contains graves for at least twelve members of the Roll family (among other families). All Rolls buried there were born in the 19th century. A Matthias Roll (it has been spelled with one and two “t”s – his father used two) was buried there in 1885.
Gas boom
During the late 1880s, the discovery of natural gas in east central Indiana led to a gas boomIndiana Gas Boom
The Indiana Gas Boom was a period of active drilling and production of natural gas in the Trenton Gas Field, in the US state of Indiana and the adjacent northwest part of Ohio The boom began in the early 1880s and lasted into the early twentieth century....
in east central Indiana. Numerous manufacturing companies moved to the Blackford County area, lured by promises of free or low-cost natural gas. Blackford County had 18 natural gas companies in 1895, including the E.C. Storms Natural Gas Company in Roll. In 1901, oil was struck on the Joseph Bird farm in Washington Township (not far from Roll). Oil was found in Blackford County's Washington and Harrison Townships, and one oil field near Roll was considered the most productive in the state. Blackford County’s population increased from 8,020 in 1880 to 17,213 in 1900. However, by 1905 the boom was mostly over, as much of the natural gas was wasted or mismanaged.
The brief boom transformed much of east central Indiana from an agriculture-oriented economy to an economy that also included manufacturing. From 1880 to 1900, Blackford
Blackford County, Indiana
Blackford County is located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Indiana. The county is named for Judge Isaac Blackford, who was the first speaker of the Indiana General Assembly and a long-time chief justice of the Indiana Supreme Court. Created in 1838, Blackford County is divided...
, Delaware
Delaware County, Indiana
As of the census of 2000, there were 118,769 people, 47,131 households, and 29,692 families residing in the county. The population density was 302 people per square mile . There were 51,032 housing units at an average density of 130 per square mile...
, and Grant
Grant County, Indiana
Grant County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 70,061. The county seat is Marion. Important paleontological discoveries dating from the Pliocene epoch have been made at Pipe Creek Sinkhole in Grant County.-Geography:According to the 2010...
counties all had their populations double. In 1901, Hartford City factories employed 1,077 people, and Montpelier factories employed 269. (A total of 171 people in the entire county worked in manufacturing in 1880.) Unfortunately, Roll did not have access to a navigable waterway or a railroad (see 1890s map) – while nearby Marion
Marion, Indiana
Marion is a city in Grant County, Indiana, United States. The population was 29,948 as of the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Grant County...
(to the west), Montpelier
Montpelier, Indiana
Montpelier is an American city in Blackford County, Indiana. This small rural community, the county’s first to be platted, was established by settlers from Vermont, and is named after Vermont’s capital city – Montpelier....
(east), and Hartford City
Hartford City, Indiana
Hartford City is a city in the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Blackford County. Located in the northeast central portion of the state, the small farming community experienced a 15-year “boom” beginning in the late 1880s...
(south) all benefited from vital transportation resources. The lack of transportation facilities meant that Roll could not compete with nearby communities to attract manufacturers, and it did not take advantage of the natural gas and oil to the extent that other communities did.
After the boom
The boom ended in the first decade of the 20th century as the natural gas became depleted. Blackford CountyBlackford County, Indiana
Blackford County is located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Indiana. The county is named for Judge Isaac Blackford, who was the first speaker of the Indiana General Assembly and a long-time chief justice of the Indiana Supreme Court. Created in 1838, Blackford County is divided...
’s population peaked in the 1910 Census at 17,000, and the county has never again been the home of so many people. (The county’s population in the 2000 Census is 14,048.)
In 1907, Roll’s schoolhouse was condemned by the state of Indiana. The two-room building had been built in 1893. However, by 1916, Roll had a new school facility for all grades through high school, and a gym was added in 1938. The local sports teams eventually became known as the “Red-Rollers”. The last graduating class from Roll High School was the Class of 1963, but the gym was still in use as late as 2010. After Roll’s school was closed, children from the Roll area were bused to nearby Montpelier
Montpelier, Indiana
Montpelier is an American city in Blackford County, Indiana. This small rural community, the county’s first to be platted, was established by settlers from Vermont, and is named after Vermont’s capital city – Montpelier....
. In 1969, the entire county was consolidated into the newly-built Blackford High School
Blackford High School (Hartford City, Indiana)
Blackford High School is a public high school in Hartford City, Indiana, which includes grades 9 through 12. It is part of the , and is the sole public high school serving all of Blackford County...
. The new school adopted the colors of red, white, and black – and the red was in honor of the old Roll Red-Rollers.
After the Gas Boom
Indiana Gas Boom
The Indiana Gas Boom was a period of active drilling and production of natural gas in the Trenton Gas Field, in the US state of Indiana and the adjacent northwest part of Ohio The boom began in the early 1880s and lasted into the early twentieth century....
was over, the region remained transformed. Many of the manufacturers remained in the area, even though the gas was depleted – but these companies were located in cities such as Marion or Hartford City, not Roll. In addition, agricultural communities began to have limited growth in their populace because mechanization
Mechanization
Mechanization or mechanisation is providing human operators with machinery that assists them with the muscular requirements of work or displaces muscular work. In some fields, mechanization includes the use of hand tools...
allowed farmers to farm more acreage (or the same acreage could be farmed by fewer people).
By 1930, 73-year-old Edmund Roll was the only person named Roll living in Washington Township. He was buried in the Roll Cemetery in 1943. Another Roll family member “returned” to be buried in the Roll Cemetery in 1951.
In 1951, Hoosier Hysteria
Hoosier Hysteria
Hoosier Hysteria is the state of excitement surrounding basketball in Indiana, or more specifically the Indiana high school basketball tournament. In part, the excitement stemmed from the inclusion of all tournament entrants into the same tournament, where a small town's David might knock off a...
erupted in in the tiny community of Roll, as the Roll Red-Rollers won the Hartford City sectional in the Indiana High School basketball tournament. By the 1960s, Roll was still a small community with a barbershop and general store, a gas station or two, a church or two, and an empty school building. The gym was still used for elementary school basketball games by teams in Blackford County.
Today, the barber shop and general store are closed. The old building in the 2010 photo herein is thought to be one of the few buildings remaining in Roll that was built during the Gas Boom. "Doc" Banter's barber chair is now on display in the Blackford County Historical Society's museum. The old school has been torn down, although the gym still stands. However, Hoosier Hysteria
Hoosier Hysteria
Hoosier Hysteria is the state of excitement surrounding basketball in Indiana, or more specifically the Indiana high school basketball tournament. In part, the excitement stemmed from the inclusion of all tournament entrants into the same tournament, where a small town's David might knock off a...
"rolls" on in Roll and in the red worn by Blackford High School — and one is likely to still find a basketball hoop somewhere in the Roll community.
Geography and geology
Roll is located at 40°33′08"N 85°23′25"W. The Blackford County area sits on top of former gas and oil fields. The area also has limestone formed from silt and mud deposited from an ancient sea. The land is flat from the work of a glacier, and the soil is excellent for farming.Major highways
Indiana State Road 3Indiana State Road 3State Road 3 in the U.S. State of Indiana is a discontinuous state road running through east central Indiana from near the Michigan state line to near the Ohio River...
is one mile east
Indiana State Road 18Indiana State Road 18State Road 18 in the U.S. State of Indiana is an east–west route in North Central Indiana running from the Illinois border in Benton County almost to the Ohio border, terminating at U.S. Route 27 /State Road 67 in Jay County...
Adjacent cities
- Hartford CityHartford City, IndianaHartford City is a city in the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Blackford County. Located in the northeast central portion of the state, the small farming community experienced a 15-year “boom” beginning in the late 1880s...
(about 5 miles south) - MontpelierMontpelier, IndianaMontpelier is an American city in Blackford County, Indiana. This small rural community, the county’s first to be platted, was established by settlers from Vermont, and is named after Vermont’s capital city – Montpelier....
(about 6 miles east) - MarionMarion, IndianaMarion is a city in Grant County, Indiana, United States. The population was 29,948 as of the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Grant County...
(about 14 miles west)