Southern Gateway to Parke County IN, the Covered B
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2/18/2009
The incorporated little town of Rosedale was founded in 1810 by John Doty, one of the first settlers to enter the newly-claimed Northwest Territory. Renamed for entrepreneur-philanthropist Chauncey Rose, who first settled there after migrating from New England in 1818, the town has tenaciously remained steadfast when other small rural communities have turned to dust.
At the peak of its population during the 1880s through 1920's coal boom, the Midwest Coal Field town bloomed to some 1500 residents. At that time, it stretched a string of adjacent residences along roadways as far as neighboring Coxville and Bridgeton, both some six miles distant. Its downtown then included two opera houses, hotels, several restaurants, and many other 'urban' influences. As times would have it, the development of centralized milling of grains via railroads took a bite out of the town. A larger chunk was taken when the end of World War I brought a decline in demand for coal. As was often the custom in those years, many of the houses were moved along with their miner owners, leaving Rosedale with a number of vacant lots. Nonetheless, the town's population did not dwindle below its pre-coal boom figure of roughly 750, where it has steadfastly remained to this day.
During the 1930's and early 1940's, Rosedale got a taste of national fame when the makers of the brand new product Alka-Seltzer sponsored the National Barn Dance program broadcast from Chicago's WGN radio station. The Barn Dance, which played hit songs of the times with a bit of comedy interspersed, was hosted by Uncle Ezra and featured the Hoosier Hot Shots Band. The Hot Shots, a top recording group of the day, were the originators of a unique style of music later copied by the Spike Jones Band of the 1950's. Uncle Ezra claimed to broadcast from his little home town of Rosedale, which led the Hot Shots to write the tribute song, "Rosedale, Everybody's Home Town". The song was soon distributed freely nationwide in the Alka-Seltzer Song Book of sheet music hits of the day. As the National Barn Dance became syndicated coast to coast, Uncle Ezra regularly spun out yarns about Rosedale residents, the opera house, the barber shop, local farming and baseball teams and so on until all the nation learned the atmosphere of Rosedale and its people, making it truly "Everybody's Home Town".
Handily located just eight miles off of US Highway 41 and ten miles north of Terre Haute, Rosedale has for many decades served as a bedroom community for the larger metro's business and industry as well as continuing its farm-based economy. In addition, it has been favored as one of the tour bus route stops during the nationally-recognized Parke County Covered Bridge Festival(TM) which has run for ten days of rustic charm in October each year since 1961 and draws a few million visitors yearly not only from the continental states but also often from outside the U.S. In addition to Covered Bridge Festival activities, the town also entertains visitors during its annual Strawberry Festival held the first weekend of June and its two-day Christmas Arts & Crafts Bazaar. With employments nearby and supplemented by tourism, the steadfast, friendly little Hoosier community has no intention of ever going away.
Bp | Rosedale, IN