County of town: Posey County
Location of town: NW corner of county, N. of I-64 (exit 4)
County is SW corner of state
Elevation: 387 ft (118 m)
Population: 172 (2012)
"Nestled next to a long stretch of timbered hills in the northwest portion of Posey county, about three miles from Wabash, is the town of Griffin. It is a small and seemingly peaceful town, but contrary to its appearance, there are few other towns of similar size and age which have ever had as many moments in history to receive national notoriety.
Griffin lies in section 6 of Bethel township. The town was laid out by William Price on Aug. 11, 1881, and the place was originally called Price’s Station. When the post office was built it was called Griffin in honor of a local resident, and the town soon became known as Griffin.
Some 60 years earlier Bethel township, which was originally a part of Gibson county, had been laid out (Aug. 14, 1823). The earliest land entries in the area were made by John Waller (1807), James Farris (1808), John McQuidy and Mathias Mounts (1811).
Regular Baptists organized the first religious sect in the Bethel township and Griffin area in 1815. They were followed by the Disciples and the Methodists, who organized in 1840. Today there are three churches in Griffin, the Christian, Methodist and Primitive Baptist Churches.
Although most of the early settlers were farmers, the area also had a mill and ferry. The earliest mill, owned and operated by John T. Morehead, was a water-powered saw and grist mill on the bayou. Webb’s ferry was begun near the same time (1823) on the Wabash by George Webb.
With the building of Griffin, however, Bethel township gained added business. Near the turn of the century, Griffin boasted a hotel, grocery, restaurant, hardware store, barber shop, garage, two grain elevators, and a post office.
Residents of the town soon learned, though, that a town could disappear just as quickly as it had been built. In 1890, the first of two tornadoes in the history of Griffin, passed through just north of town. Little damage was reported, due the scarcity of population in the rural areas which the twister hit.
However, on March 18, 1925 another tornado blasted through the area, and this time the whole town was destroyed. Flashing through three states, Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, the Griffin tornado as it was later named, left 813 people dead and an estimated 3,000 injured. Fifty-two persons were killed in Griffin alone and few of the town’s 300 residents escaped injury.
Two days after the Griffin tornado hit, the Poseyville News reported the following story.
“Devastation, Death, Ruin”
“A tornado struck Posey and Gibson counties shortly after 4 o’clock Wednesday afternoon carrying destruction to hundreds of buildings and snuffing out hundreds of lives. Poseyville was undamaged but all was excitement scores and scores of cars rushed to Griffin to aid in the rescue, but were unable to lend much aid as nothing was at hand to work with.
In Posey County the tornado struck at Griffin beginning at its southern limits swept everything clean and eye witnesses say there is not a uninjured house in the town. Fire broke out in the demolished houses adding horror to the sight. The path of the storm was about one-half mile wide and passed northeast through Montgomery township, striking Owensville, Princeton and Oakland city. The wildest of rumors are afloat and it is impossible to sift the truth from the excited tales.”
“The Wake Of Terrible Storm”
“The awfulness of the storm disaster left people dazed and helpless, but hundreds of willing workers and proffers of aid gave hope that ultimately all property will be restored and farmers aided in putting in this season’s crops, everything will be as before save the restoration of the dead.
“Shortly after the disaster the I. C. passenger trains were due at Griffin and immediately the two were turned into relief trains. The north train returned to Olney with the injured, and south one to Evansville with a load of injured that were distributed among the hospitals. Later I. C. official made up a special train and ran it to Griffin with physicians, medical supplies and help.
“The Ribeyre gymnasium at New Harmony was turned into a hospital and many were taken there for temporary relief. Later these were transferred to Evansville hospitals.
“Graham Endicott was the first to send word to the outside world that Griffin was destroyed. He was on his way to that town to sell a car and had reached the outskirts of the place when the storm came upon him. He got into a ditch and when the storm was over the car was two or three hundred yards away battered badly. He walked back from the way he came until he met Morris Davis in a truck, they turned around and motored to Ralph Robb’s home where he was able to inform the outside of what had happened.”
One year later, March 19, 1926, the News reported that Red Cross relief had ended.
“Red Cross relief work in Missouri-Indiana-Illinois tornado belt (closed) March 18, exactly one year after the most destructive tornado in American history. Nearly $3,000,000 was raised for a relief fund to care for the needs of 6,847 families in 13 communities. The number of families reporting need due to the tornado in the area was… Griffin 177, Carmi 247, Princeton 970.”
Oil Boom, I-64, and Soda Pop Rock Festival
Griffin had difficulty recovering from the great tornado of 1925. The population of the town is estimated at 250 today, less people than before the tornado. However, two things which were of great importance to the rebuilding and prosperity of the town were the oil boom in the late 1930’s and the building of Interstate 64 in the 1960’s.
Bethel township and neighboring portions of southern Gibson county became the largest oil producing area in Indiana beginning with the oil boom of 1939. Oil production continued high until 1959, when it began to dwindle off. Many of the wells in the area are now being “water flooded.”
The oil boom, which was experienced around most of Posey county as well, brought workers in from many different states and accounted for a considerable amount of increased business and trade.
The same has and will hold true for I-64. The interstate has become a main artery in connected Griffin to outside world, and at one point, on Labor Day 1972, it seemed that the whole world had indeed descended on Griffin, as an estimated 300,000 young people came to the area to attend the “Soda Pop” rock festival.
The fest, held on the now famous Bull Island, just a few miles to the south of Griffin, lasted three days but a portion of the large crowd was in the area considerably longer.
As the crowds jammed in, food, gas and other supplies dwindled in Griffin and the rock goers soon spread to New Harmony, Poseyville and other surrounding towns in search of supplies.
I-64 at the Griffin exchange became one huge traffic jam, and other county and state highways were blocked off, forcing the rock fans to walk to the Bull Island concert.
The “Soda Pop” rock fest was the biggest thing to hit Griffin since the 1925 tornado, and again the town was the scene of national news. But, even though many of the effects of the fest were destructive, such as the wholesale distribution of almost every type of drug, the known number of deaths attributed to the fest was reported at only two, compared to 52 deaths resulting from the 1925 tornado.
Tornadoes, oil boom and rock fest. Griffin has somehow survived each of these spectacular events and managed to carry-on afterwards.
The town has been out of the new for a few years now, and one can only wonder what will happen next in the small town called Griffin." ~ The Posey County News; September 25, 1975; p. 7