Town of Whiteland: History

Whiteland is a town in Pleasant, Franklin and Clark townships, Johnson County, Indiana, United States. Whiteland is located in north/central Johnson County approximately 19 miles (31 km) south of Indianapolis in Johnson County, which is one of the counties circling the capital city itself and therefore considered part of the Indianapolis metropolitan area. Major access roads to get to Whiteland are I-65 (exit 95 is the Whiteland exit), south on U.S. 31 from Indianapolis and north from Columbus.

Whiteland was formally incorporated as a town on May 3, 1886; however, the town was beginning to blossom as early as 1853. Three businesses formed the center of that early Whiteland; today, many times that number are located in the town. When the first plat was laid out in 1863, it consisted of 40 lots. Today, Whiteland has approximately 1,600 lots. In the 1900 Census, Whiteland was home to 334 people; as of 2020, the population is 4,599 fine residents. The town is continuing to grow & offer many new great opportunities to its citizens.

Formal education began when the first schoolhouse was built in 1869 and served as the town’s school until the 1950s. In 1957, a new high school was built. The Class of 1958 was the first class to graduate from the new Whiteland High School. In 1965, Clark High School and Whiteland High School united to form Clark-Pleasant Community School Corporation and what is now known as Whiteland Community High School. The old Clark High School became Clark Elementary School and additional schools Break-O-Day Elementary School and Whiteland Elementary School were built between the 1960s and ’70s. In 1971 the Clark-Pleasant Middle school opened housing 6th, 7th and 8th grades. That building is now used as the Math and Science building for the High School. Clark-Pleasant Intermediate School was added to the district as of 2004 but it is now known to be Grassy Creek Elementary. Pleasant Crossing Elementary School is the newest addition, completed in the winter of 2007. Then the Clark-Pleasant Middle School was finished in 2011 and is known as one of the largest middle schools in the state.

Some notable people from the town are:

George Crowe, professional baseball player

George Melloan, Writer

Guilford M. Wiley, politician[11]

Bob Glidden, professional Drag Racer

C. Todd Corn, famous cowboy