Why No Dillinger Museum in Mooresville? (Crown Point: 2009, homes, live)

[Southside Shrek]

I wonder why Mooresville, the hometown of John Dillinger, does not have a Dillinger Museum? Lake County has one and J.D. never lived there to my knowledge, except for his short stay in the Crown Point jail before breaking out and making a fast getaway in the Sheriff's V-8 car.

When one drives around Mooresville, there are no J.D. signs or anything to indicate that he once lived there. The old family homestead isn't even marked and one would have a tough time even finding it.

It seems strange to me that the folks of Mooresville have nothing overt to even indicate or suggest that J.D. was from there. Crown Point in Lake County makes money using J.D. as a big tourist attraction while Mooresville makes nothing.

[chalcedony]

Good question. I was just in Mooresville recently, and a character with an admittedly shady background is not something a town marketing itself as a "family-friendly" suburb would necessarily want to celebrate. As for the Dillinger house, I have no doubt that the reason it isn't marked is because descendants of the family still live there and don't want tons of gawkers. I'm sure they could sell it to make a museum or even a National Historic Landmark but it's a perfectly fine and well-maintained house; maybe they'd like to keep it to the family. And Mooresville would probably like to be known as something more than Dillinger's hometown. Face it: he was a legend, but he was no James Dean.

Just my guess.

[Southside Shrek]

It is really odd that even a distant place like Tucson, AZ has an annual Dillinger Festival. That's where J.D. was arrested back in early 1934 and brought back to Indiana where he subsequently broke out of the Crown Point jail.

John Dillinger Festival July 1 in Tucson

He was also arrested once in Mooresville after he and another guy mugged and robbed a local grocer one night. However, J.D.'s hometown, Mooresville, seemingly wants no part of him in any way, shape or form.