Muncie is a city in Delaware County in east central Indiana, best known as the home of Ball State University and the birthplace of the Ball Corporation. It is the principal city of the Muncie, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area. The area was first settled in the 1770s by the Delaware Indians,who had been transported from their tribal lands near the east coast to Ohio and eastern Indiana. They founded several towns along the White River including Muncietown, near the site of present-day Muncie. The tribes were forced to cede their land to the federal government and move further west in 1818, and in 1820 the area was opened to white settlers. The city of Muncie was incorporated in 1865.