Moral Township, Shelby County, Indiana

Township in Indiana, United States

39°38′56″N 85°53′32″W / 39.64889°N 85.89222°W / 39.64889; -85.89222CountryUnited StatesStateIndianaCountyShelbyGovernment

• TypeIndiana townshipArea

• Total36.7 sq mi (95 km²) • Land36.56 sq mi (94.7 km²) • Water0.14 sq mi (0.4 km²)Elevation

^[1]

794 ft (242 m)Population

(2020)^[2]

• Total4,617 • Density125.2/sq mi (48.3/km²)FIPS code18-50994^[3]GNIS feature ID453652

Moral Township is one of fourteen townships in Shelby County, Indiana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 4,577 and it contained 1,805 housing units.^[4]

Moral Township was organized before 1840.^[5]

Geography

According to the 2010 census, the township has a total area of 36.7 square miles (95 km²), of which 36.56 square miles (94.7 km²) (or 99.62%) is land and 0.14 square miles (0.36 km²) (or 0.38%) is water.^[4]

History

On September 9, 1969, Moral Township was the site of the deadliest air disaster in the history of Indiana. On that date, Allegheny Airlines flight 853, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 jetliner, registration N988VJ, collided in midair with a Piper PA-28 registration N7374J which was a light general aviation aircraft. After the collision, flight 853 rolled over and crashed into a soybean field near London, Indiana at over 430 mph; none of the 82 people on board survived. The pilot and sole occupant of the PA-28 were killed upon impact with the tail assembly of the DC-9. With a death toll of 83,^{[clarification needed]} this is the deadliest aviation disaster in the history of Indiana.^[6]

Unincorporated towns

Brookfield
Green Meadows
London
London Heights
Pleasant View
Sugar Creek

References

^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. October 25, 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
^ "Census Bureau profile: Moral Township, Shelby County, Indiana". United States Census Bureau. May 2023. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
^ ^a ^b "Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density: 2010 - County -- County Subdivision and Place -- 2010 Census Summary File 1". United States Census. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
^ History of Shelby County, Indiana: From the Earliest Time to the Present, with Biographical Sketches, Notes, Etc. Brant & Fuller. 1887. p. 277.
^ Maccabe, Tom (September 8, 2019). "Remembering Indiana's worst air disaster, 50-years later". WRTV. Retrieved August 27, 2021.