Jason Mueller knows that as long as his familylives in the Center Grove school district, there's no escaping growth. It's part of the deal when living in a popular area20 miles south of Indianapolis.

But earlier this year, the Walnut Grove Elementary PE teacher decided it was time to leave the "hustle and bustle" of Greenwood and relocate to the slower side of Center Grove: Bargersville.

"It's just getting super-duper crowded onthe north side," Mueller said.

Bargersville offered a place with "less traffic, less people" and the same beloved schools that draws so many to the area. Center Grove was among the 25 highest-performing school districts in the state on the 2019 ILEARN tests and has received an A accountability grade for the past two school years.

It's a slower, quieter life in the old farming town, but as Mueller knows, it is not devoid of growth. In fact, growth iseverywhere in Bargersville.

Drone footage shows Saddle Club subdivision, one of several new residential developments off County Road 144 in Bargersville.(Photo: Stephen J. Beard and Joe Tamborello/IndyStar)

What began as a small plotwith 150 residentsin 1850 has grown to over 18.5 square miles of land and more than 7,700 people. And much of that change is recent, resulting from large annexations between 2005 and 2011 when the town's area grew to nearly 15 times its size.To accommodate the growth, residential development has spiked. Just in 2019, 167 single-family building permits have been issued.

That boom will almost certainly get louder as the small town undergoes yet another transformation: the Interstate 69 extension. The interstate, which will replace Ind. 37 from Martinsville to Indianapolis, will run through the northwest corner of Bargersville. A large interchange is planned at Ind. 144, the town's east-west artery.

As town leaders and residents prepare for what's to come, there's one question at the forefront: How will this small town retain its charm during atime ofgame-changinggrowth?

"That's definitely one of the challenges that we've identified right now," Bargersville Town Manager Julie Young said. "And we're trying to find that right balance of having growth and still respecting our roots and where we've come from."

Like so many small-town Main Streets,Bargersville's is quaint and charming. There's a post office, a town hall and a police department.Grain elevators bookend the town center, and a railroadcuts through the middle of Main Street both symbols of the town's history.

Bargersville began as a small community with a general store, post office, church and school.Then in 1908, theIndianapolis Southern Railroad laid tracks running parallel with SR 135. Not long after, D.W. Rapp hopped off the train at Bargersville and decided toopen a grain elevator. The area became known as New Bargersville, and an era of growth began.

A quiet downtown Bargersville at Baldwin St. and Harriman Ave., is seen, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2019. With the expansion of I-69, the Bargersville area will be growing. A more modern Taxman Brewery is seen at right.(Photo: Kelly Wilkinson/IndyStar)

Nearly 170 years later, after annexation, population spikes and significant residential redevelopment, Rapp's grain elevator still towers over Main Street. Beyond downtown, winding country roads still lead to sprawling corn fields and tattered barns.

"One of the things that I hear frequently is that it still has a small town character," Young said."That agricultural heritage hasn't gone away."

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John Richardson, whose great-great-grandfather settled in what later became Bargersville, is proof that the town's heritage is in tact. Richardson grew up on the farm his ancestors founded, growing soybeans and corn. After a 35-year hiatus to teach English in New Albany in Southern Indiana, he moved back into the househis great grandparents built in 1880.

He was drawn back by 600 acres of family farmland and the barn that since 2005 has been home toMallow Run Winery, the only winery in Johnson County. It's become a modern staple of Bargersville, and a reminder of its roots.

"That was one of my motives in moving back," Richardson said. "To... preserve some of the rural atmosphere."

The Bargersville that people have come to love may face its biggest challenge yet. Work to convert Ind. 37, which connectsthe town to Indianapolis, into I-69 is expected to start in winter or spring 2021, according to Indiana Department of Transportation spokesperson Natalie Garrett.

Once the I-69 extension from Martinsville to Indianapolis is completed in 2024, people will be able to get to and from Bargersville more quickly, strengthening its central location between Indianapolis and Bloomington.

But it also means residents will lose access points to a major artery. Right now, drivers can access 37 from Whiteland, Banta, Travis and Stones Crossing roads, and 144. Once it's converted into I-69, the only access point will be 144, where INDOT will put an interchange. There is a planned service road to run alongside 69 from 144 to Stones Crossing roads.

Drone footage shows the future I-69 interchange ay State Road 37 and County Road 144 in Bargersville.(Photo: Stephen J. Beard and Joe Tamborello/IndyStar)

"So simply how they get to work will change," Young said. "And so with those changing traffic patterns that will have an impact on which areas are ripe for development, whether that be commercial or residential."

The interchange is expected to bring commercial development like restaurants and, Richardson with Mallow Run Winery hopes, hotels. The closest hotels are 20 to 25 minutes away in Greenwood or Franklin.

"Im assuming that there will be one or two hotels built at the 144 interchange, and that will be a great benefit for us," Richardson said.

Reduced travel time and more development will bring in more visitors and residents, which means local roads will have to carry more traffic. State Road 135 between 144 and Whiteland Road, for example, is expected to see almost triple the traffic, according to the Johnson County I-69 Corridor plan adopted by Bargersville.

The town is in the process of securing funding for a traffic corridor study to prioritize local road work in anticipation of I-69.

Young said keeping the town's character will hinge on how and where development rolls out. The town's 2040 comprehensive planis meant to set priorities and guide leaders. A draft of the plan is expected to be ready by January.

"Many people see that (I-69) as it's a once-in-lifetime opportunity for the community," Young said. "But it'svery important to get it right because it will have an impact and it's up to us to plan appropriately so it will be positive."

The signs of change in Bargersville are just as eye-catching as the idyllic farms. Along 144, hundreds of new homes rise as more dirt is turned over for the next development.Since 2015, the town has issued 592 single-family building permits. That's more than twice as many issued in the five years prior.

Mike Duke is another Bargersville son who was raised onthe land. Like so many others, he wants Bargersville to keep its small-town feel, but he also has a stake in its growth.

As the owner of Duke Homes, a custom-home developer, Duke plays a part in the town's future. The way he sees it, he'd rather it be a local developing the land than an outsider. Would an outsider think to develop a subdivision built around agriculture? Maybe not, but Duke did.

Property with an old barn is seen for sale by Duke Homes Realty in Bargersville on 144, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2019. The Bargersville water tower is seen in the background. With the expansion of I-69, the Bargersville area will be growing.(Photo: Kelly Wilkinson/IndyStar)

Aberdeen is an upscale, gated subdivision under development off of Morgantown Road. Inspired by his childhood in Bargersville, Duke designed Aberdeen to include agricultural elements, like a community garden and neighborhood farm animals.

"We love the area," he said. "And we just want tomake itsomething where... our future generations will love to be here aswell."

Back on Main Street, which grew sleepy after neighboring Greenwood opened a shopping center in the 1960s, there are signs of change, too. Perhaps the most telling is Taxman Brewing Co. on Harriman Avenue, just around the corner from town hall.

Before owners Leah and NathanHuelsebusch opened the brewery and restaurant in fall 2014, even some on their own teamhad doubts about the locale.

"We heard 'why Bargersville?' so many times," LeahHuelsebusch said.

Leah and her husband saw the potential. With a median household income of over $80,000, there ismoney to be spent in Bargersville. The problem isthat there aren't many places in town to spend it, pushingresidents to places like Greenwood or Indianapolis.

"Taxman Brewing, when they moved in, really put the town on the map," Young, the town manager, said. "(I've) heard from a lot of folks from the north sidethat knew Bargersville because of Taxman."

Since opening Taxman, the Huelsebuschs have had to expand the kitchen to meet the demand.

"We are very busy in our Bargersville location," Huelsebusch said.

They now have two more locations one in downtown Indianapolis and one in Fortville. Huelsebuschsaid the Bargersville brewery has something special. It's where people go to sit with their neighbors and meet new ones.

"They come into Taxman, they sit in the bar or sit at the table and it's so common that I see them chatting with the table next to them," she said. "They don't know each other, but all of the sudden, they do."

As the town grows,Huelsebusch said it's the people that will keepBargersville, Bargersville.

Contact IndyStar reporter Elizabeth DePompei at 317-444-6196oredepompei@indystar.com. Follow her on Twitter: @edepompei.

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How Bargersville hopes to keep its charm amid record growth and I-69 extension - IndyStar