Mosquitos!

Summer is the time for that dreaded biting creature known as the mosquito.  One hundred years ago the pests were thriving in central Indiana causing cities and towns to take action and attempt to control and/or destroy them.  City governments formed committees, hired professionals to study the problem and make recommendations for control and eradication, and citizens voiced their concerns in letters to the editor in the newspapers.  Control methods of the time included spraying light oil on ponds and rain barrels, using filters on water collection systems, keeping lawns and shrubbery trimmed, and making sure anything that could collect water was emptied immediately after a rain. 

In nearby Noblesville these insects were thick, prohibiting outdoor activities day and night.  It was thought that the main source of the problem was the paper mill which had large retention ponds, believed to be serving as breeding grounds for the mosquitoes.

In August 1923 Ball Brothers purchased the paper mill in Noblesville from the American Strawboard Company.  The property consisted of the plant and several retaining ponds all set on 190 acres.  At this location Ball manufactured paper for partitions and corrugated cushions for their shipping containers that were made at the Muncie plant.  Surplus paper, representing about two-thirds of the Noblesville plant production, was sold on the open market.  Ball owned the plant until 1954 when they sold it to Container Corporation of America.

In April 1927 the above-mentioned control methods were described in the Noblesville Ledger.  By June the Noblesville mayor was discouraged that efforts to that point were not going to make a difference, having already personally experienced the insects himself.  The weather had been cool and wet that spring and the vegetation had grown quite thick.  He praised the efforts that were being made to eliminate the pest but felt that nature was still going to win out that summer.

1928 saw another record wave of mosquitoes and Noblesville Councilman Azra Stern publicly expressed his opinion that the main source was the strawboard factory ponds and that he could prove it.  He thought Ball Brothers should hire someone whose only job would be to oil the ponds and keep the filter clean and oiled.  He even suggested that the plant be annexed so that the city board of health could monitor the situation.  A letter to the editor in August by C.O. Hare stated that while the ponds were a major source of the mosquitoes, continuing rainy conditions were the actual cause of the problem given that the insects were also thick in most areas beyond the ponds.

During the early 1930s these pests were still a problem and people had begun to move away from the town, businesses suffered, and outdoor activities were greatly reduced.  Residents were asked to clean up trash, especially anything that would hold water, and the city would spray various sections of town that seemed to be the most affected. 

An expert with the U.S. Public Health Service was brought to Noblesville in 1931.  He made an intensive study of the ponds at the strawboard plant and found only one active breeding location in half of the space covered by the ponds.  He thought that continued treatment would be effective in preventing further mosquito activity.  By 1934, due to work that had been done to eliminate stagnant water, the mosquitoes were not as bad as in years past.  Drainage ditches had been dug and oil sprayed on any stagnant water areas. 

There was still concern that the mosquitoes would be a nuisance so in March 1935 Mayor Brown decided to restart the citizen committees that had worked diligently in the 1920’s to diminish the problem.  He also hoped that Ball Brothers would contribute to the effort as they had in the past.

In 1937 WPA workers, under the direction of former mayor Joseph, were on the job at the strawboard plant where they applied chemicals and oil supplied by Ball Brothers to the company ponds.  In 1938, with a limited supply of oil, Mr. Joseph decided to apply it as a weed killer to large patches of vegetation which were then burned in hope of ridding areas of at least some of the mosquitoes.  The remainder of the oil would be sprayed on ponds, but he did not think there would be enough for the whole season. 

The problem in Noblesville persisted into the 1940’s and 1950’s.  The Junior Chamber of Commerce formed a Mosquito Control Cleanup Campaign that was coordinated with the Jaycees.  It was still thought that the ponds at the Ball strawboard company were the main source in the area even though larvae had been found in other ponds, drainage ditches, and weeded areas.  When Ball sold to Container Corporation of America in 1954, the city of Noblesville continued to work with the new plant owners to try to manage the mosquito population.

Despite all efforts, then and now, the mosquito population continues to thrive to this day - nearly everywhere. There is no good time for mosquitoes!