Biohazard and Pathogen Disinfection in Churubusco, IN

Churubusco began as two rival towns, Franklin and Union, founded in the 1840s on opposite sides of a railroad track; when the Postmaster General ordered them to share a single post office and rejected both names, residents picked a brand-new one.

The name honors the Battle of Churubusco, an American victory in Mexico during the Mexican-American War in 1847; the Churubusco post office has been in operation since 1848.

Churubusco is known as 'Turtle Town, U.S.A.' for Oscar, the 'Beast of 'Busco,' a giant snapping turtle said to be the size of a small car that reportedly haunted nearby Fulk Lake.

The turtle was first reported in 1898, and a nationally publicized hunt in 1948-49 - covered by LIFE magazine and led by lake owner Gale Harris - failed to catch it; even draining the lake turned up no evidence.

Turtle Days, held every summer since 1950 and featuring turtle races, is billed as the oldest continually held festival in Indiana.

Churubusco had a population of 1,870 at the 2020 census, living in 828 households.

The town sits near the headwaters of the Eel River in the extreme northeast corner of Whitley County, about 16 miles northwest of Fort Wayne.

Churubusco Elementary, Middle and High Schools together form the Smith-Green Community Schools district, named for Smith Township in Whitley County and Green Township in Noble County, and serve about 1,400 students.

The Magic Wand restaurant on South Main Street, owned and operated by the same family since 1964, is a local landmark famous for being decorated inside with hundreds of clowns.

Churubusco's climate is sharply continental, with an average July high around 84 degrees Fahrenheit, an average January low around 14 degrees, and roughly 37 inches of precipitation a year.