24/7 Trauma and Biohazard Cleanup in Griffin, IN

Griffin is a tiny town in Bethel Township, Posey County, in the northwest corner of the county in far southwestern Indiana, covering only about 0.07 square miles.

Griffin was originally called Price's Station when William Price laid it out in 1881 and named it for himself; it was later renamed for Samuel Griffin, an early postmaster, and its post office has operated since 1881.

On the afternoon of March 18, 1925, the Tri-State Tornado — still rated the deadliest tornado in U.S. weather history — completely destroyed Griffin, killing dozens of residents and injuring hundreds; a state historical marker at Main and First Streets commemorates the disaster.

Flooding on the Wabash River after the tornado meant that by March 23, 1925, Griffin could only be reached by boat or railroad, yet within a year much of the town had been rebuilt, including a schoolhouse, a church, and a grain elevator.

Griffin's own high school, which closed when it merged into North Posey High School in 1959, had the mascot name Tornadoes — named for the very storm that had leveled the town — with red and white colors.

In 1972 the nearby Erie Canal Soda Pop Festival, remembered locally as the Bull Island rock fest, drew huge crowds and caused a three-day stir in the little town.

Griffin's population peaked at 386 in the 1940 census as the town recovered, but the 2020 census counted just 143 residents, and the 2010 census recorded 172 people in 69 households.

Griffin keeps Central Time, like the rest of Posey County, and is served today by the Metropolitan School District of North Posey County.