Babe's Truck Stop Muncie
Babe’s Truck Stop, and Babe herself, owner Viola “Babe” Swartz are infamous parts of Muncie’s storied history.
The truck stop and brothel was located on Ind. 28 Country Rd 200 W. Itwas raided by police at least 5 times through its existence, with the first being in 1967. Swartz herself was arrested a number times, most frequently being charged with operating a house of prostitution. Though Swartz proclaimed to have been arrested 39 times, she was known for never seeing a local courtroom.
Delaware County citizens frequently filed complaints to police about Babe’s Truck Stop and in 1971, it was padlocked, with citizens calling for the shut off of utilities. Babe’s was later reopened as “Sebab’s;” “Babe’s” in reverse.
Swartz later ran for sheriff in 1974, running on the desire for justice for the common man and to end police corruption. She was the first female candidate for sheriff, and finished fourth out of 9 candidates, with 625 votes.
The Babe’s era came to an end when Viola Swartz was, in 1975, convicted by a Federal Grand Jury for falsifying tax returns, along with her son, Jerry Bunch. Both were sentenced to one year in prison for the tax evasion charge. She remained out of the public eye for the last 20 years of her life, before passing away at 77 in late 2001. While she supposedly became a devout Christian toward the end of her life, she is frequently remembered for her troublemaking past, and is frequently cited as one of the most infamous figures of Muncie’s history.
