Crawfordsville, city, seat (1823) of Montgomery county, west-central Indiana, U.S., on Sugar Creek, 46 miles (74 km) northwest of Indianapolis. Founded in 1823, it was named for Colonel William Crawford, an Indian fighter and popular politician who served (1815–25) in the cabinets of Presidents James Madison and James Monroe. It is a commercial centre for the surrounding agricultural area (corn [maize], hogs, dairying) and has acquired some industries, notably printing and bookbinding. Wabash College for men was founded there in 1832 by Presbyterian missionaries. Crawfordsville was the home of General Lew Wallace, author of Ben-Hur; Henry S. Lane, statesman; and Maurice Thompson, poet and novelist. Wallace’s study (1896) and Lane’s home (1836) are preserved as museums. Shades State Park is about 17 miles (27 km) southwest. Inc. town, 1834; city, 1865. Pop. (2000) 15,243; (2010) 15,915.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.

Silver Spring, unincorporated community, Montgomery county, central Maryland, U.S., a northern residential suburb of Washington, D.C. It was once the site of the estate of journalist and politician Francis Preston Blair (1791–1876), whose son, Montgomery, served as postmaster general in Abraham Lincoln’s cabinet. It derived its name from a local spring, the bottom of which sparkled with flakes of mica. Population growth occurred mainly after World War II. The headquarters of the National Association of the Deaf, the Forest Glen Annex to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the Seventh-day Adventist World Headquarters, and the National Capital Trolley Museum are located there. Silver Spring is also home to the National Labor College, a degree-granting centre for labour and union studies.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Maren Goldberg.