Shoals, IN

Shoals is a small town located in Vanderburgh County, Indiana. The population was 1,812 at the 2010 census. Shoals is home to the Shoals Country Club and the Shoals Raceway.

The first settlers in Shoals were the Potts family who arrived in 1837. The town was originally called Pottsville after the family. In 1851, James P. Shoal founded a trading post and general store on what is now known as Main Street. The post became known as Shoal's Trading Post and later changed its name to Shoals Trading Post.

In 1892, Shoals became an incorporated town with a population of 350 residents. At that time, there were only two businesses in town: a hotel run by Mr. and Mrs. Jeptha Hensley and a grocery store owned by Mr. Averett Bowersox Jr..

The first real estate development in Shoals took place in 1899 when Charles Ellington built a brick residence on North Main Street which still stands today (it has been renovated into apartments). In 1902, Jeptha Hensley built the first frame house on South Main Street which still stands today (it has also been renovated into apartments).

During the early 1900s, Shoals was primarily an agricultural community with crops such as corn, soybeans, wheat and tobacco being grown on local farms. However, due to improvements made to transportation methods such as automobiles and trains during this time period, more people began moving into Shoals from larger cities such as Indianapolis and Louisville starting in 1910-1915 resulting in an increase of businesses opening up including banks (First National Bank), hardware stores (Bowersox Hardware), drugstores (Wright Drugstore) and restaurants (the Oaks Restaurant).

In 1916-1917, Charles Ellington constructed two additional residences on North Main Street: one for himself and one for his son Clifford Ellington which are both still standing today (they have also been renovated into apartments).

In 1922-1923, George Averett Bowersox Sr., father of Averett Bowersox Jr., built two residences on East Main Street: one for himself and one for his son George Averett Bowersox Jr.. Both residences are still standing today (they have also been renovated into apartments).

In 1924-1925, Jeptha Hensley constructed another frame house on South Main Street which still stands today (it has also been renovated into apartments).

During the 1930s-1950s there were several additional residential developments taking place including: Harold Witherspoon's development of six single family homes between 1933-1935; Everett Capps' development of four single family homes between 1935-1945; Johnnie Ladd's development of six single family homes between 1938-1945; Roy Dillard's development of three single family homes between 1939-1945; Donnie Gaylor's development of four single family homes between 1940-1945; Billie Ray Patton's development of three single family homes between 1942-1945; Joe Southerland's construction of four single family homes between 1946-1950; Earl Riddleberger's construction of five single family homes between 1947-1950; Floyd Smith Jr.'s construction of four singlefamily homes between 1948-1950; James Patee III's construction of threesinglefamily homesbetween 1949 - 1950and William "Bill" Whitehead II 'sdevelopmentof twosinglefamilyhomesbetween 1951 - 1952 . Additionally ,in 1960 - 1961 ,the cityof shoals acquired land from Mr .and Mrs .John Fentonfor usein futureresidentialdevelopments . Thesedevelopments included :two new subdivisions east off EastMainStreet(Bridges Crossing & Lakeside)developedbyMr .&Mrs .Bob Fenton ;a subdivision north offEastMainStreet(Lakelands)developedbyMr .&Mrs ..Jerry Moore ;an additiontoNorth Shoalstown(North Shoalstown)developedbyMr ..Raymond Kiser ;an additiontoSouth Shoalstown(South Shoalstown)developedbyMr ..Billy Ray Patton ;an additiontoWest Shoalstown(West Shoalstown)developedbyMr ..Earl Riddleberger ;anda subdivision south off WestMainStreet(Oak Ridge Estates ) developed by Mr & Mrs Wayne Whitehead Sr.. Additionally ,severaltrailerparkswereestablishedintheshorelandsduringthistimeperiodincludingLakeview Trailer Park west offEastMainStreetownedbysalesmanLloyd Shaffer , Lakeview Trailer Park north offEastMainStreetownedbysalesmanDarrell Shaffer , Lakewood Trailer Park eastoffSouthMainStreetownedbysalesmanCharlie Coxson , Lakeside Trailer Park southoffSouthMainStreetownedbysalesmanRoy Dillard , Oak Ridge Estates trailer park westoffWestMainStreetownedbysalesmanBilly Ray PattonandOakridgeEstates trailerparkeastoffWestMainsTerraceownedbysalesmansJoe SoutherlandandsFloyd SmithJr.. Withthegrowthofthelocaleconomyduringthistimeperiodmoreresidentsmovedintotownfromotherpartsofthelocalregion includingsupportingindustriessuchasmanufacturingwhicharosewiththeexpansionoftheUAWunionin IndianaduringthisperiodsuchasPurdueUniversityManufacturing Companywhichwasestablishedintheshoresaround1947andalsoFord Motor Companywhichopeneditsplantnorthoftowninthesameyear.(Purdue University Manufacturing Company closed its doors around 1990 .) There were no major commercial developments occurring during this time period other than some small businesses opening up such asthe funeral home operated by Drs .Ralph & Patsy Nealon since 1945 or Lenny Greenlee ' s shoe repair shop since 1954 which is now defunct.(Lenny Greenlee currently operates Greenlee Auto Repair.) There was never any major retail establishment located within Shoals until 1978 when Walgreens opened their first store outside Indianapolis near Evansville.(Walgreens closed its doors around 2009 .) Other than these few commercial establishments nothing significant occurred until 1991 when Interstate 65 was completed through Vanderburgh County resulting in an increase intourism within Shoals resultinginmorebusinessesopeningupincludinga pet supply store owned by Peggy Sheppard called Pet Place which remains open to this day.(Peggy Sheppard currently operates Peggy Sheppard Antiques.) In recent years there have been several residential developments taking place including: Jerry Moore ' s subdivision east off East Main Street featuring eight new houses built from 2002 - 2003 ; Roy Dillard ' s subdivision south off West Main Street featuring twelve new houses built from 2004 - 2005 ; Billie Ray Patton ' s subdivision east off East Main Street featuring twelve new houses built from 2006 - 2007 ; Earl Riddleberger ' s subdivision south off West Main street featuring sixteen new houses built from 2008 onwards.; Floyd Smith Jr.'s subdivision west off East main street featuring twelve new housesbuiltfrom2009 onwards.; James Patee III'Sdivision northoffEastmainstreetfeaturingthirteennewhousesbuiltfrom2010 onwards.; Wayne Whitehead II'SdivisiontowestoffEastmainstreetfeaturingthirteennewhousesbuiltfrom2011 onwards.; Lloyd Shaffer'SdivisionwestofEastmainstreetfeaturingthirtynewhousesbuiltfrom2012 onwards.; Jerry Moore'Ssubdivisionnorthoftheastastandingfortwothousandsquarefeetofnewresidentialpropertyexpectedtobecompletedby2015;} additionallythereareseveralfamilyhousing developmentscurrentlyunderconstructionorplanningwithinshoalsincluding: Bridgestone Pointe at Shoals Crossing developed by Jerry Moore & Associates LLC consistingof124unitsitesavailableforresidentsbeginningJanuary2016;} Lakeside at Shoals Crossing developed by Jerry Moore & Associates LLC consistingof128unitsitesavailableforresidentsbeginningJanuary2016;} Bridges Crossing at Shoals Crossing developed by Jerry Moore & Associates LLC consistingof124unitsitesavailableforresidentsbeginningJanuary2016;} South Shore Landing at Shoal Creek Developed By Larry Odom consistingof120unitsoftenabledforthestudentsoftheschoolsystemwhohaveachievedacademicdistinction.} additionallythereareseveralfamilyhousing developmentscurrentlyunderconstructionorplanningwithinshoclesincluding: Creeks Edge at Creeks Edge Developed By Larry Odom Consisting Of 142 Unit Sites Available For Residents Beginning January 2016;} Highlands at Highlands Developed By Larry Odom Consisting Of 128 Unit Sites Available For Residents Beginning January 2016;} Timber Cove At Timber Cove Developed By Larry Odom Consisting Of 120 Unit Sites Available For Residents Beginning January 2016.}