West Grove, Indiana

Unincorporated community in Indiana, United States

West Grove, Indiana

Unincorporated community

Excerpt of 1876 county map showing West Grove laying NW of Centerville

West Grove

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West Grove

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Coordinates: 39°50′47″N 85°00′50″W﻿ / ﻿39.84639°N 85.01389°W﻿ / 39.84639; -85.01389
Country| United States
State| Indiana
County| Wayne
Township| Center
Elevation

[1]

| 1,050 ft (320 m)
Time zone| UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)| UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code|

47330

Area code| 765
GNIS feature ID| 452207[1]

West Grove was an unincorporated rural community in Center Township, Wayne County, in the U.S. state of Indiana.[1][2]

## Geography

[edit]

West Grove lies three miles northwest of Centerville, near the intersection of West Grove Road and Kempton Road.[3]

## History

[edit]

A Quaker meeting was organized in the area around 1815, and a log meeting house was built at the site. A frame meeting house replaced the log cabin in 1820. It was named "West Grove" by Robert Commons, one of the founding members of the meeting, for West Grove, Pennsylvania, where he had previously lived.[4][5][6][7]

A school house was also located in the community,[8][9][6] first erected in 1815 or 1816.[10]

An 1869 newspaper article of a trip through the community reported that "on every side we had evidences of the prosperity of the community around West Grove; but we suggest that they plant a few trees around the school house ..."[11]

1914 local newspaper articles describe services being resumed at the church after having "stood idle for some time," and ceremonies being held "observing the hundredth year since the founding of the church."[12][13][14]

In 1952, after many years of not being used, the church was sold to Calvary Baptist Church in Richmond, and the building was torn down and its materials used to build Sunday school rooms for the purchaser.[15][16] The West Grove Cemetery, which was affiliated with the meeting house, is still extant.[17]

Today, the area of West Grove lies in the zip code for Centerville, though it is not within the city limits.

## See also

[edit]

* Indiana portal

* Pennville, Indiana

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: West Grove, Indiana
2. ^ (16 September 1914). Farewell Social for Miss Burleson, Richmond Palladum (refers to "West Grove neighborhood")
3. ^ Google Maps (Map). Retrieved June 12, 2025.
4. ^ Young, Andrew W. (1872). History of Wayne County. R. Clarke and Company. p. 170.
5. ^ "Friends' Church Opened Yesterday". Richmond Palladium. Richmond, IN. August 6, 1906.
6. ^ a b Fox, Henry Clay, ed. (1912). Memoirs of Wayne County and the City of Richmond, Indiana, Vol I. Milwaukee, WI: Western Historical Association. pp. 83, 303. "references West Grove School"
7. ^ "Land for Sale". Western Emporium. Richmond, IN. May 22, 1824. p. 3. Retrieved June 12, 2025. "advertisement for sale of 160 acres of land notes it is "situated two miles and a half North of Centreville (the seat of Justice of Wayne county,) and within half a mile of West Grove Meeting-house, in the heart of a rich and healthy settlement.")"
8. ^ "Guests at Centerville". Richmond Palladium. Richmond, IN. November 12, 1912.
9. ^ Directory and Soldiers' Register of Wayne County, Indiana. 1865. p. 238\. "listing Center Township school No. 7 located at West Grove"
10. ^ History of Wayne County, Indiana. Chicago, IL: Inter-State Pub. Co. 1884. p. 502.
11. ^ "Centreville". Richmond Independent Telegram. Richmond, IN. August 7, 1869. Retrieved June 12, 2025.
12. ^ "Church at West Grove to Reopen". Richmond Palladium. Richmond, IN. June 15, 1914. Retrieved June 12, 2025.
13. ^ "Historic Friends Church To Hold Its One Hundredth Anniversary". Richmond Palladium. Richmond, IN. June 10, 1914. Retrieved June 12, 2025.
14. ^ Dean, Arnold L. (1992). Cemetery Directory of Wayne County Indiana (PDF). p. pdf 49. "states that cemetery was originally associated with the church but is now a community cemetery"
15. ^ "Old Friends Church To Be Razed and Used By Baptists for Expansion Here". Palladium-Item. Richmond, IN. July 21, 1952. Retrieved June 12, 2025.
16. ^ "Mementos Still Will Remain of Old Quaker Church Now Being Torn Down". Palladium-Item. Richmond, IN. August 3, 1952. Archived from the original on June 12, 2025. Retrieved June 12, 2025.
17. ^ "Lawanna Mae Williams (obituary)". Palladium-Item. Richmond, IN. December 14, 2023. Retrieved June 12, 2025.

* v
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Municipalities and communities of Wayne County, Indiana, United States

County seat: Richmond

City|

* Richmond

Map of Indiana highlighting Wayne County

Towns|

* Boston
* Cambridge City
* Centerville
* Dublin
* East Germantown
* Economy
* Fountain City
* Greens Fork
* Hagerstown
* Milton
* Mount Auburn
* Spring Grove
* Whitewater

Townships|

* Abington
* Boston
* Center
* Clay
* Dalton
* Franklin
* Green
* Harrison
* Jackson
* Jefferson
* New Garden
* Perry
* Washington
* Wayne
* Webster

CDPs|

* Abington
* Webster
* Williamsburg

Other
communities|

* Bethel
* Chester
* Dalton
* Franklin
* Greenwood
* Jacksonburg
* Middleboro
* Pennville
* Pinhook
* Wayne
* West Grove

* Indiana portal
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