Anderson is a city in Madison County, US. It is also considered the principle city of Anderson. Anderson is currently the headquarters of the Church of God in addition to the home of the Anderson University. This community is reported to have been named after Captain Anderson, which was an English name for Chief Kikthawenund. In the year 1838, Anderson was then incorporated as a town and had 350 inhabitants. The town later became a sleepy village until the year 1849 when efforts were made to incorporate it a second time as a town (Cochran, & McCord, 2001). Several commercial ventures were gradually established. The incorporation was argued to be short-lived, and the country went to be at a village status in the year 1852. Upon the completion of the Indianapolis Bellefontaine Railroad in 1852 the country then busted into life. Further, it has been shown the country’s third incorporation took place in 1853. Since then, the population has continued to increase whereby 1865 it had 1,300 people and Anderson was finally incorporated as a city. The essay will analyze the environmental history of Anderson, Indiana.
Geography and local environmental conditions
Anderson, Indiana comprises of the physical features and the relative location of Anderson, Indiana. First, it is located Anderson is located at 40°06′00″N 85°40′53″W in the north-central US and borders on Lake Michigan. Some of the surrounding states include Michigan to the north, Illinois to the west, Kentucky to the south, and Ohio to the east. Further, it has been shown that the entire southern boundary is the Ohio River. The total area of Anderson is approximately 36,291 square miles and further was ranked 38th regarding size among the 50 states. The 475 mile long Wabash River has been established to bisect Indiana from northeast to southwest then flows south particularly along the Indiana-Illinois border. The Wabash is thus the longest free-flowing river in the east of the Mississippi River and traverses 400 miles from Huntington dam to Ohio River. The White River is considered a tributary of the Wabash, and this zigzags through the central Indiana (Bestplaces.net , 2016).
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The local temperature tends to vary significantly from extreme especially from extreme north to extreme south of Indiana. The mean annual temperature is approximately 49°f-58°f in the north and about 57°f in the south. The average annual temperature for the country is about 53°f. Further, the growing season has been shown to average 155 days in the north and about 185 days in the south. It has also been established that rainfall is often fairly distributed throughout the year but drought is experienced in the southern areas. Based on reports on Indiana, the average annual precipitation is approximately 40 in (102cm) and often ranges from 35 in (89 cm) at Lake Michigan to about 45 in (114 cm) at Ohio River. Indiana’s annual average snowfall was below 22 in (56 cm), and the average wind speed is about 8 mph (13 km/h). Some of the regions in the state are also prone to severe thunderstorm and even tornados (Cochran, & McCord, 2001).
The landscape
It has two types of terrain including slightly rolling land found in the northern of the state and rugged hills found in the southern half which extends to Ohio River. The highest point throughout Anderson state is an area near Bethel in Wayne County, and it is raised to 1275 feet above sea level while the lowest point is Ohio River found to the southwest of Mt. Vernon at 320 feet at sea level. The mean elevation is 700 ft. Further, the richest soil can be found in the north central areas. Four-fifths of Indiana is drained by the Wabash River, and the northern region is specifically drained by the Maumee River (Professional Researchers — Indiana Historical Society , 2016). There are about 400 lakes in the northern part, the largest including Wawasee, Maxinkuckee, Freeman, and Shafer. Further, there exists mineral springs at French Lick and West Baden in Orange County. It has been established that the underlying rock strata were formed from sedimentation during Paleozoic Era a time when the land was submerged. The retreat of the glacier that was experienced about 10,000 years ago left topsoil and drainage conditions considered suitable in Indiana.
Anderson, Indiana has been divided into three major physical regions including The Great Lakes Plain in the northern part, the Tipton Till Plain central third, and Southern Hills and Lowlands region southern third. Approximately two-thirds of the country is reported to be covered with glacial till and this is to about hundreds of feet thick. The visible geology is mainly Quaternary, with rocks buried deeply. However, the southern third of the state is not glaciated, and the bedrock is visible. One of the oldest bedrock is the Ordovician.
The region has a uniform climate hence plants are fairly distributed throughout Indiana. There exists about 124 native tree species. The presence of wolves and coyotes has been reported. The red fox is thus the common carnivorous mammal. Other common native mammals include common cottontail, muskrat, raccoon, opossum, and squirrel. There are also several waterfowl and marsh birds. The US Fish and Wildlife Service was reported to have listed about 21 Indiana animal species that are endangered species in 2006. These species include the bald eagle, gray wolf and piping plover.
An analysis of how human habitation has changed the environment over time, from the earliest human settlement to present
The early settlers were the Native Americas who were agriculturalists who moved to the west, French Creoles and European immigrant groups. All these settlers were attracted by the conducive environment and rich agricultural lands of Indiana. According to Bodnar, (2001), the native during the early 19th centuries came from various Algonkian-speaking tribes and included Delaware, Shawnee, and even Potawatomi. By 2000, there were approximately 15,815 Native Americans. These settlers use the land for agriculture hence cleared the forests to create land for agriculture changing the environment. Heavy land moving machines were used to clear forests disfiguring the natural land with the aim of creating land for agriculture.
As a result of industrialization and railroad building the country attracted other immigrants including the Irish, Italians, Pole, Syrians, and the Hungarians. Studies have pointed out that foreign immigration to Indiana dropped sharply by the 20th century. Restrictions on the foreign immigration in addition to the availability of jobs has further been argued to have spurred the migration of black Americans to Indiana immediately after World War I. in the year b2000, the state had approximately 510,034 blacks, which was 8.4% of the total population living in the industrial city of Gary. According to Bestplaces.net, (2016), by 2004, approximately 8.8% of the entire population was black. The majority of these groups were engaged in commercial activities and trading hence there was a massive clearing of forest to create land to build homes for the growing population. The trading led to the construction of roads, rails, and canals that also changed the environment. The period has witnessed increased industrial development that further resulted in increasing clearing of vegetation changing the natural physical feature of the environment.
Legacy land uses such as tanneries or mills that have left an imprint today
Several tanneries and mills have been established in Anderson Indiana today. The majority of the companies dealing with timber have been established resulting massive clearing of forests to generate timber used in the production of diverse timber products and furniture. Numerous industries have been established ranging from pharmaceutical, steel and food industries. All these have significantly affected the environment negatively leaving an imprint. First, lands have been cleared to create room for their establishment which has disfigured the natural physical land shape where machines have been used to drill the land for structure’s establishment (Cochran, & McCord, 2001). Business structures have been developed across the town all resulting to the clearing of forests and vegetation. All these further have been established to result in increased environmental pollution specifically land and water pollution. Mining has also been practiced extensively leaving one pit disfiguring the earth surface more.
An assessment of the hometown today
By the year 2004, Indian had about 2,690,619 housing units, and approximately 2,412,885 of them were already occupied. Further, 71.8 percent of all the housing units were owner-occupied. 21 percent of all the units were constructed before the year 1939. Further, approximately 71.5 percent of all the units are single families and even detached homes. The majority of the units uses gas and electricity for heating, and on the other hand, 1030 units were fully equipped with solar power. 10304 of the units had no complete plumbing facilities. The average household unit had 2.51 members (Visher, 1955).
The housing styles currently are story buildings, flats and permanent houses throughout the country. The neighborhood housing style is also similar to that adopted in Anderson Indiana comprising of story building as the majority of the structures. The street pattern is complex and named distinctly for easier identification. Physical street structures have been established and are kept clear of debris, ice and even from periodic deterioration.
Demographics
In 2005, it had about 6,217,973 as a total population and ranked at position 15. This was an increase of about 3.1 percent since the year 2000. It is projected that the population will reach 6.7 million by the year 2025. The population density in the year 2004 was about 173.9 persons per sq mi. The media was approximately 35.7 (Foster, 1994). Persons under the age of 18 accounted for about 25.7 percent of the entire population while at the same time 12.4 percent were of age 65 and above. In 2000 3.5% were Hispanic, Asian population was 59,126, 14,685 Asian Indians, 12,531 Chinese, 6,674 Filipinos, 7,502 Koreans, 5,065 Japanese, and approximately 4,843 Vietnamese (Anderson Local History , 2016).
How residents get to work
To get to their work, the Indiana’s uses roads, railroads, and canals to allow the farmers to get access to the national market. By the year 2003, there were about 37 railroads that were operating on approximately 5,136 rail mi (8,269 km) of the track. The Indiana’s five Class I railroads operate 3,828 route mi (6,163 km) of the track. By the year 2003, there was approximate of 94,597 mi (152,301 km) of public roads in the country. Water transportation has been argued to have been the most important means of transport since the European settlement. The most common canals include Wabash and Erie Canal. By the year 2004, they had 353 mi (586 km) of navigable inland waterways (Anderson IN, 2016).
Room set aside for recreation
There are libraries and museums. In the year 2001, Anderson Indiana had about 239 public library system with 430 libraries, and among them 191 were branches. Indiana's historical sites that have attracted tourists across the globe include the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial near Gentryville, the Levi Coffin Home in Fountain City and the Benjamin Harrison Memorial Home. Famous archaeological sites are at Mounds State Park near Anderson and a reconstructed village site located at Angel Mounds, Newburgh.
Summer resorts are also located in the North along the Lake Michigan, Steuben, and even Kosciusko counties. Most popular tourist sites in Indiana include Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Museums and the reconstructed village of the New Harmony. Studies have shown that in the city of Huntington, there is a museum that is dedicated to the US vice president while Fort Wayne has a Lincoln Museum. Further, Indiana has about 23 state parks that are comprised of 59,292 acres with the largest being Brown County with approximately 15,543 acres/6,290 hectares, at Nashville. In addition to this, there are about 15 state fish and wildlife preserves on approximately 75, 2000 acres and the largest include Pigeon River and Willow Slough. Hunting season is also practiced on specific animals such as deer, rabbit, ducks, birds, squirrel and even geese. Besides Indiana State Museum, there are also 15 state memorials including Wilbur Write State Memorial at Millville, Old state capitol at Corydon and even Ernie a Pyle birthplace at Dana. Other natural attractions include Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore on Lake Michigan on about 12,534 acres/5,072 hectares; Cataract Falls, and the largest underground cavern located at Wyandotte.
The “activity spaces” of typical residents and their uses of the local environment
There are numerous activity spaces, and the locals have extensively used the local environment in several ways for their wellbeing, these include:
Agriculture: studies have pointed out that agriculture is the extensive and diverse industry in the country and plays a critical role in the economic stability of the state. With approximately 59,300 farms about 15000,000 acres have been put into farmland. About 80% of all the Indiana's farm operators live on these farms; while on the other hand, more than 55% of farmers have a principal occupation besides farming. The average farm size is approximately 250 acres (101 hectares).
Animal husbandry is another major local activity carried out in the Indiana environment. They keep dairy cows and poultry.
Fishing is also carried out, but it is not of commercial importance in Indiana. Fishing is specifically done as a sport, and the fish include bass, pike, perch, catfish, and trout. There exist eight state fish hatcheries. Further in the year 2004, it was established that approximately 522,389 sport fishing licenses were issued by the state.
Forestry: It has been established that approximately 20npercent of all the Indiana’s total land was heavily forested by the year 2004. The report has shown that Indians has approximately 4,501,000 acres of its land as a forestland and 96 percent of these lands is considered for commercial timberland. About 75 percent of all the commercial forest land in Indiana is found in the southern half of Indiana and the common trees found here include oak, hickory, beech, maple and even yellow poplar. Several wood-using industries manufacture all types of furniture and other products including pallets, desks, fancy face veneer, millwork, flooring, mobile homes, and recreational vehicle components. Reports have shown that in the year 2004, the country produced approximately 333 million board feet of lumber in addition to about 99 percent hardwood. Globally, Indiana is well known for high-quality hardwood forest and trees hence considered the major suppliers of quality products and timber.
Mining is considered another major activity in Indiana. It is considered a major activity because the value of the country’s nonfuel mineral production in the year 2004 was approximately $764 million which was an increase of about 7 percent from 2003. It was ranked 22nd among the top 50 states regarding total value of nonfuel mineral production and accounts for about 1.7 percent of the total output in the US. Some of the materials that are mined in Indiana include cement, crushed stone, construction sand and gravel, and even lime.
Energy and power are also extensively produced in Indiana. They produce petroleum, crude oil, gas, and coal. Electricity is also generated in Indiana where 72 are public owned, and about 41 are cooperatives. The other six are investor-owned ( Anderson, Indiana City Information – ePodunk , 2016).
Industry: Industrialization began in Indiana during the civil war and was spurred by the technological advances that enhanced agricultural product processing, farmland equipment, and improved transportation facilities. There are diverse industries that have been established in Indiana.
Reflection on the imprint of the past on the present
Throughout the 19th century, most of the early settlers extensively cut down much of the trees, clearing the Indiana forests for farms. As a result of these activities, the majority of the lands were left highly vulnerable to soil erosion and flood damage. The destruction was most severe in the southern part of Anderson.
Anderson town in 20 | 50 | 100 years
It has been reported that approximately 85% of Indiana's original wetlands was greatly lost and in the year 1997, it was estimated that the country will still lose about 1-3% of its remaining wetlands yearly. It has thus been projected that in the next 50 years, Anderson Indiana will be highly developed with sophisticated structures which will result in increased land usage. The population will also increase rapidly demanding more land usage to create homes for the large population.
Environmental or sustainability issues awareness
The level of awareness among the residents regarding environmental and sustainability issues are very high. The majority of the environmental programs that have been established are aimed at protecting Indiana’s air, water resources and even land. They understand that protecting and managing these resources will contribute to the country’s health and the wellbeing of the citizens. The citizens are educated and trained on the importance of sustainability and ways to protect the environment (Glass, 2000).
The Department of Natural Resources is responsible for the management of the Indiana's lands, waters, forests, and even the wildlife resources. The department further is responsible for the management of the property that is subject to flooding, to grant mining permits to companies, preserve the natural rivers, repair, and manage abandoned oil and gas wells, regulate hunting and fishing and at the same time control pollution of waters and land. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management aims to public health by implementing and managing environmental programs.
Sustainability Plan
Anderson, Indiana has a well-established sustainability plan in place. Some of the bodies that have been established to aid in the management of the environment include Air Pollution Control Board, Water Pollution Control Board, Pollution Prevention Control Board, and Solid Waste Management Board. In the year 1990, landmark legislation established the Office of Pollution Prevention and Technical Assistance. The long-term goals of the Office of Pollution Prevention and Technical Assistance is specifically to make sure that the industries established in the co8ntry adopt and implement effective population prevention strategies to reduce waste and at the same time protect the environment. In 1990, Indiana's Water Pollution Control Board further adopted strictest water quality standards that set criteria for all chemicals and designated water bodies for the protection of aquatic life and recreational use. It is anticipated that the standards will help improve and protect the quality of water throughout Indiana's lakes, rivers, and streams. Serious environmental challenges were experienced in Lake and Porter counties in Indiana. A century of spills, emission in addition to massive discharges to the land demanded comprehensive and coordinated programs to eradicate them.
Efforts to add parks or open space
Currently, there are widespread specific efforts that are made by the government of Anderson Indiana to add parks or even Space.
References
Cochran, D. R., & McCord, B. K. (2001). The Archaeology of Anderson Mounds, Mounds State Park, Anderson Indiana.
Glass, J. A. (2000). The gas boom in east central Indiana. The Indiana Magazine of History , 313- 335.
Foster, K. T. (1994). Environmentally sensitive land use for golf course design: the Vulcan property, Anderson, Indiana: CAP undergraduate thesis/Kevin Todd Foster.
Visher, S. S. (1955). The Location of Indiana Towns and Cities. The Indiana Magazine of History , 341-346.
Bodnar, J. E. (2001). Our Towns: Remembering Community in Indiana . Indiana Historical Society.
Anderson, Indiana City Information - ePodunk . (2016). Epodunk.com . Retrieved from http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=5156
Anderson Local History . (2016). And.lib.in.us . Retrieved from http://www.and.lib.in.us/local-history/
Anderson, IN (2016). Cityofanderson.com . Retrieved from http://www.cityofanderson.com/
Professional Researchers — Indiana Historical Society . (2016). Indianahistory.org . Retrieved , from http://www.indianahistory.org/our -collections/reference/professional- researchers#.WC2hFsmq7IU
Best Places to Live in Anderson, Indiana . (2016). Bestplaces.net . Retrieved from http://www.bestplaces.net/city/indiana/anderson
