Waldron, IN

Waldron is a census-designated place centered on an older town site in Liberty Township, Shelby County, about eight miles south of Shelbyville. George Stroup laid out the community in 1854 with 24 lots, and it was first called Stroupville. The post office was known as Conn’s Creek before taking the Waldron name in 1876. The Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Lafayette Railroad passed through town, turning the settlement into a trading and travel stop for the surrounding farm country.

Railroad growth brought stores, workshops, and residents, while the discovery of natural gas in 1888 added another burst of prosperity; more than 25 wells operated in the area at one point. Waldron Junior-Senior High School and Waldron Elementary School are part of Shelby Eastern School District, continuing a school tradition that began with a local schoolhouse in the nineteenth century. The 2020 census counted 805 residents. Waldron still sits in an agricultural landscape, but its older identity is easy to trace through the original town plat, the railroad corridor, the former gas field, and the school buildings that keep the community connected.