Service Area · Greentown, Indiana
Excavation & Demolition in Greentown, Indiana
Greentown sits on US 35 in Howard County, covered from the Arcadia shop on the same runs as our Kokomo work. The town was laid out in 1848 on the site of a former Native American village, boomed when natural gas arrived in 1877, and gave its name to the Greentown glass made here until the factory burned in 1903. Today about 2,400 people live here, and for a town its size it handles a surprising amount of its own permitting, which we appreciate, because clear local rules make for clean jobs.
Regular service territory from the Arcadia shop, on the same runs as our Kokomo work. US 35 and SR 22 serve the town.
What we do in Greentown
The services this town actually calls for, and the local reason why.
Know your town
The history under Greentown and why it matters when we dig.
Glass made the name famous
Natural gas arrived in 1877, and D.C. Jenkins's glass factory grew into the Indiana Tumbler and Goblet works under the National Glass Company before fire took it in 1903. Collectors still chase Greentown glass today. For excavation purposes the glass era means something plainer: parcels near the old industrial ground can hold buried foundations and old fill that do not show from the surface. On older ground we investigate first and quote second.
Nobody settled the name
Nobody has settled where the name Greentown came from. The recorded versions credit the green grass of the prairie, the former Green Township, or a Native American leader known as Green, and the town has lived comfortably with all three for over 170 years. What is documented: the town was laid out in 1848 on a former village site and grew as a trading post for the farms around it, and those farms are still the town's edges today.
The earthquake was real, the water is realer
On December 30, 2010, Greentown was the town nearest the epicenter of a magnitude 3.8 Indiana earthquake, a genuine local story and a genuinely rare event. Day to day, what moves ground here is water. Wildcat Creek shapes the local drainage, the 2020 census counted 1,108 housing units with about one in ten vacant, and the practical work is keeping established properties dry and their systems current.
Greentown Permits
Who issues what inside Greentown limits, and when the county takes over.
For a town its size, Greentown runs a real permit shop. The town issues its own building permits, the published list includes driveways and demolition, and most work inside town limits starts at the town building office rather than the county. Work in town right-of-way needs the separate Encroachment Permit under Ordinance 2022-8, so a project that touches the street files two permits, and we file both. Septic permits go through the Howard County Health Department. US 35 and SR 22 are state routes, so approaches onto them go through INDOT, and county roads at the town edge belong to the Howard County Highway Department. No town stormwater program is published, so larger ground disturbance follows the state rules that start at an acre of disturbance.
Town issues its own building permits (incl. driveways and demolition) and encroachment permits.
Septic permits: Howard CountyHoward County Health Dept ↗Drainage & regulated drains: Howard CountySurveyor's Office ↗Pond permitting: Howard CountySurveyor: regulated-drain connection requests via Schneider GIS portal ↗Stormwater & erosion control: Howard CountyStormwater District ↗Stormwater & erosion control: statewide (IDEM)IDEM Construction Stormwater General Permit (CSGP): 1+ acre disturbance, or less within a larger common plan of development ↗Pond permitting: statewide (IDNR)IDNR Division of Water: floodway construction, lake & dam permits ↗Howard County websiteCounty-level permits & resources ↗Not sure which office has your parcel? The free address checker reports the exact permitting jurisdiction for any Central Indiana address.
Greentown FAQs
Does Greentown really permit its own driveways?+
It does. Driveways appear on the town's own building-permit list, which is unusual for a town of 2,400 and genuinely convenient. If the work extends into town right-of-way, Ordinance 2022-8 adds a separate Encroachment Permit, so a street-touching driveway files two town permits. We prepare both. Approaches onto US 35 or SR 22 are INDOT's jurisdiction instead, and county roads at the edge of town go through the county Highway Department.
What is the story with the old glass factory ground?+
The Indiana Tumbler and Goblet works burned in 1903, and ground with that kind of industrial past can hold buried foundations and old fill that do not show from the surface. None of that stops a project, but it changes the price of pretending. We probe legacy ground before quoting, so the estimate reflects what is actually down there.
Who handles septic permits around Greentown?+
The Howard County Health Department. Greentown's own permit office covers building, driveway, and demolition work, but septic stays with the county everywhere, in town and out. The county reviews the soil, the site, and the system design before installation. We run that application, do the install, and coordinate the inspections, which is the same routine we follow across every county we work in.
Was there actually an earthquake in Greentown?+
There was. On December 30, 2010, a magnitude 3.8 earthquake hit Indiana with Greentown the nearest town to the epicenter. It is a good story and a rare event. What decides whether your property stays dry is yard grading and ditch capacity on the way to Wildcat Creek, and those are problems with known fixes we build every month.
Nearby towns we serve
Ready to break ground in Greentown?
Our shop is minutes away in Arcadia. Straight answers, real equipment, done right.