Around 1794-1795, our city was called Anderson’s Town. A small Delaware Indian village, it was the home of the Great and Sovereign Chief Kikthawenund or Chief William Anderson, whose mother was a Delaware (Lenape) Indian and whose father was of Swedish descent.

In 1801 three Moravian missionaries settled here and remained until 1806. After the signing of the Treaty of St. Mary’s in 1818, the Delaware Indians moved westward.

Madison County, Indiana was first created in 1823 from the New Delaware Purchase. The county was named for James Madison, the 4th President of the United States.

John and William Conner arrived in the county about 1823. William, son-in-law of Chief Anderson established a large trading post. He later sold it to John and Sarah Berry. They donated 32 acres (downtown Anderson) to the state for a town and November 7, 1827, Berry laid out the first plat and one year later Anderson’s Town becamethe county seat, having previously been in Pendleton. It remained a small village until the early 1850’s with the coming of the Indianapolis Bellefontaine Railroad.

On March 31, 1887, natural gas was discovered in Anderson. With this discovery, several businesses located here, lured by the prospect of cheap energy. The natural wells which supplied the city with inexpensive energy began to run out by 1912. Many of the industries which located here moved to other locations, but the Commercial Club (the early Chamber of Commerce) was able to persuade the Remy Brothers to stay. Remy Electric Company was eventually bought by General Motors and expanded.