Shirley, IN

Shirley is a town that straddles Hancock and Henry counties in east-central Indiana, with Main Street serving as the county line. It began in 1890 when the Cincinnati, Wabash and Michigan Railway reached the site and was named for railroad official Joseph A. Shirley. The 2020 census counted 819 residents. The tracks are gone, but the town's location between I-70 and I-69 keeps it tied to central Indiana's highway network.

ATTRJRROctagon / CC BY-SA 4.0

Shirley's current center is small and easy to read. The Shirley Trail runs about a mile through downtown, connecting the historic district, Octagon House, and Shirley Park. The town's Fourth of July celebration adds vendors, a golf-cart and ATV parade, live entertainment, and fireworks in the park. Those events and the trail give the old rail crossroads a current civic shape, while the county line still runs through the middle of daily town life. Shirley is a compact community with an unusual jurisdictional map: one main street, two counties, and a history built around rail lines that once made this location a town.