[citation needed]) In 1818, the area's native tribes ceded their lands to the federal government under the terms of the Treaty of St. Mary's and agreed to move farther west by 1821.

New settlers began to arrive in what became Delaware County, Indiana, c. 1820, shortly before the area's public lands were formally opened for purchase.

The small trading village of Munsee Town, renamed Muncietown, was selected as the Delaware County seat and platted in 1827.

[20] After the American Civil War, two factors helped Muncie attract new commercial and industrial development: the arrival of additional railroads from the late 1890s to the early 1900s and the discovery of abundant supplies of natural gas in the area.

Several subsequent efforts to establish a private college in Muncie during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries also failed, but one proved to be very successful.

[36] By the early twentieth century several railroads served Muncie, which helped to establish the city as a transportation hub.

[38] In the 1920s Muncie continued its rise as an automobile-manufacturing center, primarily due to its heavy industry and skilled labor force.

Increasing hostility toward the Klan's political activities, beliefs, and values also divided the Muncie community, before its popularity and membership significantly declined by the end of the decade.

[41]) The Works Progress Administration (WPA) also provided jobs such as road grading, city sewer improvements, and bridge construction.

The Lynds chose Muncie as the locale for their field research, although they never specifically identified it as "Middletown" the fictional name of the town in their study.

The Lynds returned to Muncie to re-observe the community during the Depression, which resulted in a sequel, Middletown in Transition: A Study in Cultural Conflicts (1937).

The National Science Foundation funded a third major study that resulted in two books by Theodore Caplow, Middletown Families (1982) and All Faithful People (1983).

Caplow returned to Muncie in 1998 to begin another study, Middletown IV, which became part of a Public Broadcasting Service documentary titled "The First Measured Century", released in December 2000.

The Ball State Center for Middletown Studies continues to survey and analyze social change in Muncie.

[40] The postwar era was another period of expansion for Muncie, with continued growth and development of industries, construction of new homes, schools, and businesses.

Beginning in the 1970s several manufacturing plants closed or moved elsewhere, while others adapted to industrial changes and remained in Muncie.

[48][49] Muncie was also home to other manufacturing operations, including Warner Gear (a division of BorgWarner), Delco Remy, General Motors, Ontario Corporation, A. E. Boyce Company, and Westinghouse Electric, among others.

[50] In 2017, the Muncie Community Schools system was declared a "distressed political subdivision", and put in direct control of the state government.

[51] In 2021, following the Fall of Kabul and the U.S. withdrawal from the War in Afghanistan, several Afghan refugees arrived in Camp Atterbury, near Edinburgh, Indiana.

However, the presence of 130 Afghan refugees in Muncie in late 2022 compelled continued work in medical advocacy, employment, legal aid, and financial and reading education.

Muncie's Riverside and Normal City neighborhoods had imposed sundown town rules by 1904, meaning "that unknown negroes who are found on the streets after nightfall are liable to be severely dealt with.

[57] According to Hurley Goodall, the first serious black political candidate in Muncie was Wayne Brooks, who ran for the Republican nomination for mayor in 1934.

From 2001 to 2011, Muncie lost thousands of jobs[70] as the city continued transitioning from a blue-collar workforce to a white-collar service economy primarily based on health care, education, and retail.

Despite Ball State's presence, only 32.2 percent of Delaware County's working-age adults (ages 25–64) hold a two-year or four-year college degree, which is below the national average.

The Horizon Convention Center, located downtown, offers 47,000 square feet (4,400 m2) of exhibition space and houses the Muncie Children's Museum.

[87][88] Downtown performing arts spaces include the Muncie Civic Theatre and Canan Commons, an outdoor amphitheater and greenspace that opened in 2011.

The 40-acre (16-hectare) campus includes historic homes that were once owned by the Ball family, themed gardens, outdoor sculptures, and a portion of the White River Greenway.

The Ball State campus is home to Christy Woods, an 18-acre (7.3-hectare) arboretum, three greenhouses, and the Wheeler Orchid Collection and Species Bank.

[89] Passing of the Buffalo and Appeal to the Great Spirit are public sculptures in Muncie by Cyrus Edwin Dallin.

[73] Muncie Indiana Transit System (MITS) provides 14 fixed bus routes daily, except Sundays.