Town file
Cynthiana, Indiana
Cynthiana, Indiana (Posey County, Indiana) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 337, "Much Stranger Things" (17 November 2022). Cynthiana, Indiana, is a village of about 532 people in Posey County, in the south-western corner of the state where Indiana narrows towards the Ohio River.
- Town
- Cynthiana
- County
- Posey County
- State
- Indiana
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 337
- Approximate location
- 38.187, -87.709
Episode 337 / 17 November 2022 / 171 min / full
Much Stranger Things
"'We are going to Cynthiana, Indiana'; south-western Indiana, in Posey County." about 0:05:17
The case: Murder of Ginger Gassaway (August 30, 2000); Armed robbery and kidnapping of Joe Bender (July 12, 1977). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2022
- Population
- 532 people
- Median age
- about 46
- Median household income
- $48,250
- Two-bedroom rent
- about $770
- Religious
- 50%
- Property crime
- ▼ about 25% under the national average
- Violent crime
- about the national average, slightly lower, a couple of percent
History, in brief
- Cynthiana was named for Cynthiana, Kentucky, where 44 settlers came from in 1815. about 0:07:01
- The town was laid out in 1817. about 0:07:21
- It was first settled mainly by people from the south, who came up the Ohio River in the early 1800s. about 0:07:28
- The Erie Canal Soda Pop Festival was held in 1972 at Bull Island, ten minutes away near Griffin, Indiana. about 0:07:48
- Promoters estimated a crowd of 15,000; between 200,000 and 300,000 people came. about 0:08:20
- Traffic into the festival was backed up for more than 20 miles, and only three county deputy sheriffs were on the festival grounds. about 0:08:54
- A food truck was hijacked, looted and burned; vendors were robbed and a local farmer's cow was killed and eaten. about 0:11:28
- Three concertgoers drowned in the Wabash River during the festival. about 0:12:32
- When the festival ended, the remaining crowd destroyed the site and burned down the stage. about 0:12:43
- Tickets cost $20 and $25; promoters had expected 55,000 people, and lawsuits followed, with the court finding the promoters in contempt. about 0:12:51
The reviews read out
5 stars
"Small, quiet and clean; the schools are five stars; local restaurants, bars, churches and events are old-timey but fun; people are helpful and friendly; streets are kept up and downtown sidewalks recently updated; fresh air, clean water and plenty of wildlife."about 0:13:56
5 stars
"A quiet town that is crime-free; the school is only five minutes away; a great place for kids, with everything within walking distance and a great amount of agriculture."about 0:14:25
1 star
"Headline 'Run!'; the reviewer moved there 20 years ago and is still an outsider, because if your parents and grandparents were not born there you will always be an outsider. Their advice is to look elsewhere."about 0:14:46
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Vincennes, Indiana35 miles
- Eldorado, Illinois48 miles
- Madisonville, Kentucky60 miles
- Depoy, Kentucky72 miles
- Tiline, Kentucky76 miles
- Middlebury, Indiana81 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.