On a cold and blustery winter night in 1855 in southern Indiana, citizens of a village with no name had gathered inside the local church. They had just been informed that their requested name, Santa Fe, could not be approved by the postmaster general because there was already a Santa Fe, Indiana.
The village had been around for several years without a post office. During that time, locals had to travel to the nearby town of Dale to retrieve their mail. A night like this was a reminder that traveling for mail was more than an inconvenience—it could be quite dangerous. A name needed to be agreed upon, but that was easier said than done.
