Greenfield City Hall is located at 10 South State Street, Greenfield, IN 46140.
Phone: 317‑477‑4300.
Greenfield [1] is located in central Hancock County, in Center Township, and the city occupies approximately eight square miles of land. Its topography is generally flat, and Brandywine Creek and Potts Ditch run southeast through the city limits. The city’s early residential and commercial development occurred on or near the National Road, known as Main Street, and it followed a grid pattern. Due to the slightly southwestern trajectory of the National Road through Greenfield, nearly all the streets within the district are slightly skewed to follow its angle. As the city expanded north from the main intersection of State and Main Streets this skew was corrected in the grid pattern at approximately Park Avenue.
The National Road brought most settlers to Greenfield after workers cleared its path through Hancock County in 1834. In 1851 the Terre Haute & Richmond Railroad (popularly called by its later name, Pennsylvania Railroad) laid tracks parallel to the National Road to the south, which soon became the main shipping route for area farmers and manufacturers. In 1900 an interurban line extended east through Greenfield from Indianapolis, connecting Greenfield to nearly all parts of the state via the Indianapolis hub. By 1925 the national government paved all of the National Road and renamed it US 40, and the state government had begun to identify state roads and to place them within a systematic numbering system. As a result State Street, a major north-south thoroughfare in Greenfield, became State Road 9 in this period. In the 1960s Interstate 70 was built to the north of downtown Greenfield, creating a development boom along North State Street to the interstate in the 1970s that had previously been farmland. Except for an extant brick road, all streets in the district are paved with asphalt, and the majority of the blocks include two alleys that cross mid-block. Some brick alleys are still extant.
Neighborhoods
Greenfield as described in 1882 [2]
Greenfield, the county seat, metropolis and only city in Hancock County, was laid out by five commissioners appointed for that purpose by the legislature of 1827/1828. The original plat consisted of 60 acres, owned and donated by Cornwell Meek, Benjamin Spillman and John Wingfield. The town was named by the first 3 commissioners of the county: Samuel Vangilder, Elisha Chapman and John Hunter.
The instructions by the legislature were to locate the seat of justice on the National Road, midway between the east and west lines of the county. It is said on reasonably good authority that Cornwell Meek and Benjamin Spillman measured the county from east to west with a string in order to ascertain the center thereof and future location of the prospective county seat.
The land from which Greenfield was carved was entered in 1826/1827 by the aforesaid donors. The town was laid out in the woods by Jared Chapman, the county agent who was authorized to sell and convey on behalf of the county all unreserved lots. The first lot sold was to John Anderson in June, 1828. The first to settle in the town were Cromwell Meek, Morris Pierson, Dr. Lot Edwards, William Carr, and Lewis Tyner. The first business house in Greenfield was built by John Justice some time prior to the organization of the city. It was a primitive structure made by settling posts in the ground and weather-boarding covered with clapboards. The first frame building was erected in 1930 by Benjamin Spillman. The first dwellings, like the stores, were also cheap, rude structures made of poles, the better ones being of hewn logs.
The original plat was just 60 rods wide, extending 30 rods on either side of the National Road and 1/2 mile in length. The original plat consisted of a public square and 34 blocks divided into 160 lots.
The first addition was made by Edward K. Hart, a brother of A. T. Hart, on March 4, 1839, and consisted of 12 blocks, 56 in-lots and 12 out-lots, and lies south of the old plat and east of State Street, except one tier of lots, which lies on the west.
The second addition was made by Morris Pierson, on the 14th of April, 1853, and consisted of 6 blocks, divided into 54 lots, located about the old seminary which it surrounds, except on the north.
The third addition was made by Meek & Hart, on the 23rd of July, 1853, and consisted of 4 blocks, 51 in-lots and 12 out-lots, located north of the western portion of the old plat. The writer's residence is in this addition.
The fourth addition was made by Morris Pierson, being his second addition to the town, on the 28th of February, 1854, and consisted of 23 in-lots and 4 out-lots, located due south of Pierson's first addition, and extending the whole length thereof.
The fifth addition was made by the railroad company, on the 28th of July, 1854, and is located in the south-west corner of the original plat, and west of Pierson's first addition, and consisted of 3 blocks and 15 lots, the 3rd block not being divided into lots.
The sixth addition was made by Captain James R. Bracken; said addition declared null and void.
The seventh addition was made by Fletcher & McCarty , on the 24th of December, 1860, and consisted of 18 lots, located west of the old addition and north of the National Road.
The eighth addition was made by Nelson Bradley, on the 23rd of September, 1867, and consisted of 11 blocks and 44 large lots, located east of North State Street and north of the old town plat.
The ninth addition was made by Benjamin Elder, on the 20th of April, 1870, and consisted of 13 blocks and 92 lots, located north-west of the old plat and west of Meek & Hart's addition.
The tenth addition was made by Thomas Snow, on the 19th of August, 1870, and consisted of 15 lots, located on the west side of North State Street.
The eleventh addition was made by Wood, Pratt & Baldwin, on the 5th of June, 1871, and consisted of 7 blocks and 56 lots, located east of the old plat and north of the National Road.
The twelfth addition was made by William C. Burdett, on the 2nd of July, 1871, and consisted of 47 lots, located west of Elder's addition.
The thirteenth addition was made by Wood, Pratt & Baldwin, being their second addition, on the 28th of October, 1871, and consisted of 9 blocks and 78 lots, located north of their first addition and east of Bradley's addition.
The fourteenth addition was made by Wood, Pratt & Baldwin, and called their first addition of out-lots, on August 30, 1871, and consisted of 7 out-lots of various sizes, from one to seven acres each, and located east of their first addition.
The fifteenth addition was made by William Teal, on the 17th of October, 1871, and consisted of 24 lots, located west of Burdett's addition.
The sixteenth addition was made by Wood, Pratt & Baldwin, on the 26th of October, 1872, and known as their second addition of out-lots, and consisted of 4 out-lots of several acres each, located east of Hart's addition.
The seventeenth addition was made by John Hinchman, on the 2nd of June, 1873, and consisted of 10 lots, located north of Fletcher & McCarty's addition.
The eighteenth addition, known as Stewart's addition, was made by Ithamer Stewart, on the 3rd of July, 1873, and consisted of 4 blocks and 28 lots, located in the west part of town, south of the National Road.
The nineteenth addition, known as O'Donnells' addition, was made by O'Donnell & Brother, on the 28th of May, 1874, and consisted of 21 lots, located in the south-west part of town.
The twentieth addition was made by Wm. S. Woods, and known as Woods' addition, on the 12th of May, 1875, and consisted of 37 lots, located south of the National Road, in the east part of town.
The twenty-first addition was made by John Hinchman, and known as Hinchman 's second addition, on the 2nd of June, 1875, and located between the schoolhouse lot and the National Road, and consisted of 10 lots, the central 2 of which the city council bought and appropriated as a street.
The twenty-second addition was made by Morgan Chandler, on the 4th of June, 1875, and consisted of 5 lots, located south of the National Road and east of the old town plat.
The twenty-third and last addition was made by Wm. C. Burdett, and known as his second addition, on the 10th of October, 1877, and consisted of 20 lots, located in the north-west part of town, north of Teal's addition.
Nearby Towns: Spring Lake Town •