About Upland

Location

Upland is located in north central Indiana, just two miles east of Interstate 69. It is 50 miles south of Fort Wayne, 65 miles northeast of Indianapolis, 15 miles south east of Marion and 25 miles north of Muncie. Both Fort Wayne and Indianapolis are home to international airports. Marion and Muncie are serviced by municipal airports.

Heritage

As with many Midwestern towns, the founding of Upland was directly related to the expansion of the railroad across the United States. During this time, people in the Upland area understood the prosperity that the railroad could bring. James Johnson and Henry Wise, along with others, joined to organize a town in Grant County to function as a stop on the railroad line. The train station was located on a hill, at the highest elevation point between Columbus, Ohio and Chicago, Illinois. The area was then named “Upland.”

Upland connected New York and Chicago in a straighter line than going south around Indianapolis or by traveling through northern Indiana. The town was organized, stock was sold, and the first railroad in Grant County began. Jacob Bugher, the proprietor of Upland, ushered in a new era to Grant County when the first railroad engine steamed into Upland on August 16, 1867, bringing great prosperity to the area.

In 1887, a new boom occurred with the discovery of large amounts of natural gas. The primary occupation evolved from farming to glass manufacturing. Because of the vast amounts of new industry related to the gas boom, the area became known as the “gas belt,” and soon Upland had three glass factories. Even though the gas boom ended, Upland survived because of the remaining non-gas related business. Today, Upland is home to approximately 3,803 citizens.

Local Government

Town government consists of a five-member town council and a clerk-treasurer. A new town hall serves as the primary meeting facility for Upland Town Council meetings and other community activities. The town hall houses the office of the clerk-treasurer as well as the Barton Rees Pogue Memorial Library. Upland also employs a town manager, who oversees the park, street, water, and sewage departments.

Services

Upland is served by a full-time police department and a well-equipped Volunteer Fire Department, which has a fire protection rating of class seven. An Upland-based Emergency Medical Service unit is on call with 911 service.

The Upland Health and Diagnostic Center features primary care physicians, a laboratory, a pharmacy, physical therapy and radiology services. University Healthcare, a licensed skilled nursing facility, provides residential care and features a special care unit for Alzheimer’s and related diseases. Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie, Marion General Hospital in Marion and Blackford County Hospital in Hartford City also serve the Upland Community.

The town operates its own water and sanitary sewer utilities. Upland’s electric power is provided by Indiana Michigan Power and gas is furnished by Vectren. Cable service is available through Insight Communications of Indiana and telephone service by AT&T. The town also provides weekly waste removal with curbside recycling. The Upland Post Office offers postal service to all area residents. The Barton Rees Pogue Memorial Library, located in the town hall, houses more than 15, 377 volumes along with 185 videos and 215 audio tapes. The Zondervan Library, located Taylor University’s campus, holds more than 190,000 books, videos/DVDs and audio recordings, plus over 20,000 print and online periodical titles. There are dozens of reference databases for use in the Library, including the INSPIRE databases which are available to all Indiana residents.

Business/Industry

Upland is home to numerous businesses, including Avis Industrial Corporation, Ivanhoe’s Ice Cream & Sandwich Shoppe, three convenience stores with gasoline service, a grocery store, local restaurants, a video store, a Laundromat, gift shops, a funeral home, banks, accountants, a tavern, a full service hardware store, insurance companies, auto service centers, hair and tanning salons and others. In addition, local bed and breakfasts have become a unique service for area travelers. Located within five miles are many other restaurants and hotels.

Unique to Upland

Ivanhoe’s Ice Cream & Sandwich Shoppe, established in 1965, is known throughout the region for their food and hundreds of shakes and sundaes. Upland has two unique Christian ministries: Lightrider, a Christian travel ministry featuring a double-decker bus, and Wandering Wheels, a bus and bicycle-based Christian travel ministry. Also unique to Upland is the Ruth Barton House, a turn-of-the-century Victorian home. The historic original train depot was returned to Upland and restored by a local civic organization, Our Town Upland, Inc., which is an organization dedicated to the revitalization of Upland.

Upland hosts the Blooms and Berries Fest every June and the Tree Lighting Ceremony in December. For decades, Labor Day weekend in Upland has been highlighted by such activities as a parade, a town rummage sale, an open rodeo, a beef and noodle dinner and an ice cream social. Also included in the Labor Day weekend festivities is the Bob Moore Memorial Kids’ Day consisting of apple cart races and kiddie tractor pulls. Near Upland other festivals occur such as the Matthews Covered Bridge Festival, the Van Buren Popcorn Festival and the James Dean Festival.