The Indiana City Where Roller Skating Was the King of Recreation

In this installment of ‘History Off the Beaten Path,’ we visit Richmond, Indiana, where Micajah Henley improved upon and helped popularize the roller skate.

Roller skating was a phenomenon in the late 1800s and early 1900s, especially before the advent of the car. Enthusiasts even roller skated on boats, as in this illustration. Public Domain

Richmond, Virginia, the Confederate government’s seat during the Civil War might be the most famous city with that name. But surrounded by corn and soybean fields in the flatlands of Eastern Indiana and about 50 miles from Dayton, Ohio, lies the lesser-known Richmond, Indiana. It can boast having the most inventive or brave people born or bred there.

The Wright brothers lived in downtown Richmond from 1881 to 1884. The inventor of the artificial heart valve, Dr. Charles A. Hufnagel (1916–1989), was raised there, and Levi Coffin, active in the Underground Railroad, operated businesses and a farm there. Another of Richmond’s well-known residents was inventor Micajah C. Henley (1856–1927).