Famous Visitors to Historic Wayne County Indiana

Theodore Roosevelt

A future President of the United States appeared in Richmond on Oct. 11, 1900 before a crowd of 15,000 and spoke at the bottom of a hill that now bears his name.

Vice-President Theodore Roosevelt crisscrossed the country for President William McKinley to counter the ascendancy of a Democrat opponent.

When he appeared in Richmond a contingent of ‘Rough Riders’ escorted him to the speaker’s stand at the bottom of a rise of a hill in Glen Miller Park. Thousands of people from east central Indiana and west central Ohio came to hear him and thereafter, with no thought or consensus, the hill has been called Roosevelt Hill.

Teddy visited at least six times.

As ex-president he came through on October 13, 1910.

A banner newspaper ad read that he would speak at the Richmond Coliseum. About ten thousand people waited long hours to hear him, but he was a no-show. Trapped at the train station because of unavoidable delays and the arrival of a train wrongly announced, Roosevelt was told he did not have time to speak and could not waste a minute if he wanted to make connections at Columbus, Ohio that would allow him to reach New York for his campaign opening.

The rankled ex-Commander in Chief spoke briefly from his railway car to a small crowd and was off.

The “colorful expletives” he used could not be printed.




			Theodore Roosevelt A future President of the United States appeared in Richmond on Oct. 11, 1900 before a crowd of 15,000 and spoke at the bottom of a hill that now bears his name. Vice-President Theodore Roosevelt crisscrossed the country for President William McKinley to counter the ascendancy of a Democrat opponent. When he appeared in Richmond a contingent of ‘Rough Riders’ escorted him to the speaker’s stand at the bottom of a rise of a hill in Glen Miller Park. Thousands of people from east central Indiana and west central Ohio came to hear him and thereafter, with no thought or consensus, the hill has been called Roosevelt Hill. Teddy visited at least six times. As ex-president he came through on October 13, 1910. A banner newspaper ad read that he would speak at the Richmond Coliseum. About ten thousand people waited long hours to hear him, but he was a no-show. Trapped at the train station because of unavoidable delays and the arrival of a train wrongly announced, Roosevelt was told he did not have time to speak and could not waste a minute if he wanted to make connections at Columbus, Ohio that would allow him to reach New York for his campaign opening. The rankled ex-Commander in Chief spoke briefly from his railway car to a small crowd and was off. The “colorful expletives” he used could not be printed.

Morrisson-Reeves Library • 80 North 6th Street, Richmond, IN • 47374-3079 • U.S.A. Phone (765) 966-8291 • Fax (765) 962-1318 • Email refdept@mrlinfo.org 2012© - all rights reserved • Updated June 19, 2012