Griffin is a very small town with interesting surroundings located just off Interstate 64 in the northern part of Posey County.

Griffin’s biggest claim to fame is its proximity to the Griffin oil field. Roughly 25 square miles in Posey and Gibson counties; through 2003, it had produced a cumulative 84, 412, 739 barrels of oil. The oil field brought economic and social change to Griffin and surrounding area. Oilmen and their families moved in, businesses flourished, and land was leased to oil companies. Oil production continues today, and numerous wells can be seen in the surrounding countryside.

Griffin also gave its name to the Griffin Tornado, also known as the Tri-State Tornado, the largest, and deadliest, tornado in recorded history. The killer tornado traveled between 150 and 230 miles across Missouri, Illinois, and Southern Indiana, reportedly cutting a path 20 miles wide and killing over 600 people.

Griffin was also home to the Bull Island rock festival, which was something of a second Woodstock in which most of the top bands didn’t show up and the stage was looted and burned. Posters for the event can be seen at Sara’s Harmonie Way in New Harmony.

Today, Griffin is a town in transition. It has a great little diner and some beautiful country surrounding it.