Zitkála-Šá, meaning Red Bird in Lakota, was a writer and Native American rights activist. Also known as Gertude Simmons Bonnin, she was born on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota to a Dakota Sioux woman, Ellen Tate Iyohiwin Simmons, and a white man, Felker Simmons, on February 22, 1876. At eight, Zitkála-Šá attended White’s Manual Labor Institute, a Quaker school in Wabash, Indiana due to missionaries visiting her home. Here she was made to use the missionary name Gertrute Simmons to distance her from her Native culture, as was common practice in Native American Boarding Schools. In future writings she condemned the routine beatings given to students and wrote about how her long hair was cut to look more appealing to her white teachers. Some children even died from neglect, abuse, and unsanitary conditions, including a close friend of Zitkála-Šá. Zitkála-Šá moved back to her family’s reservation in 1887 due to her school trauma, but would later write on how it felt she no longer fit in at home. By 1890 she returned to the school in Indiana where she had a better experience. By this point, Zitkála-Šá abandoned the use of her English name, “Gertrude,” as a way to reclaim aspects of her Indigenous identity. On the day of her graduation, she gave a commencement speech titled, “The Progress of Women,” where she advocated for women’s equality. A local newspaper, the Wabash Plain Dealer, called her speech a “masterpiece,” praising her eloquence and writing as “literary perfection”. By 19, Zitkála-Šá enrolled at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana. In March of 1896 she represented Earlham College at an oratory competition in Indianapolis, speaking on Native American equality and the pain that Native Americans faced due to colonial expansion. Zitkála-Šá became a writer after graduation, writing a collection of folklore titled, Old Indian Legends, as well as writing autobiographical stories. She was most famously a co-author of the book, Oklahoma’s Poor Rich Indians: An Orgy of Graft and Exploitation of the Five Civilized Tribes, Legalized Robbery, which discussed the injustices indigenous people faced due to the American government seizing their land. In 1916, Zitkála-Šá moved to Washington DC, becoming the secretary for the Society of the American Indian, the first Native American rights organization, serving as a liaison between the society and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In 1926 she founded the National Council of American Indians, serving as president. Her advocacy for Native Americans led to her appointment in 1928 as an advisor to the U.S. government’s Meriam Commission, which sought to improve the health and treatment of Native Americans. Zitkála-Šá remained an active voice for Native American rights until her death in 1938. Her name still echoes in the 21st century through an opera on her life titled: Mináǧi kiŋ dowáŋ: A Zitkála-Šá Opera and her image on a 2024 American Women quarter.
]]>Zion Evangelical United Church of Christ is one of the oldest churches in Indianapolis, founded by German immigrants in 1841. Unlike some immigrant groups, such as the Irish, who were predominantly Catholic, German Americans were religiously diverse. Instead of forming one unified religious body, they organized into smaller communities based on faith tradition, such as German Protestants or German Jews.
Zion Evangelical represents one of these modest but enduring Protestant congregations. The church’s first pastor, Reverend J.G. Kunz, was called in 1841 to lead a small group of German-speaking worshippers. Over the years, three different structures were built to house the growing congregation, first in 1845, then 1866, and finally in 1913. These buildings gave German immigrants a place to worship in their native language and maintain spiritual traditions in a new land. Although regular Sunday services are now conducted in English, the church still holds Easter and Christmas services in German to honor its heritage.
The current church building, dedicated on May 18, 1913, was designed by the Bohlen architectural firm. It was the oldest architectural firm in Indianapolis, founded by German immigrant Diedrich A. Bohlen. His sons Oscar and August carried on the legacy, designing Zion Evangelical in a Gothic Revival style. Note the high ceilings, square towers, three pointed-arch doorways, and the beautiful stained glass windows depicting scenes from the life of Jesus. The bells, originally purchased from Germany in 1873, were relocated into this new church, another meaningful connection to the congregation’s homeland.
Like many churches of the era, Zion Evangelical played a vital role in community service. In 1860, the congregation helped build a schoolhouse, which by 1891 served over 500 students. Between 1895 and 1899, the church held fundraising events for the Deaconess Hospital, where deaconess women provided both spiritual and physical care to the sick and needy. The church also supported the Pleasant Run Children’s Home, often inviting children to attend Christmas celebrations. Recognizing the need for elder care, Zion organized the Altenheim Community in 1909 to provide healthcare and assisted living for aging members.
Today, Zion Evangelical United Church of Christ stands not only as the oldest German congregation in Indianapolis, but also as a living testament to more than 180 years of faith, service, and cultural continuity in the city.
]]>The Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) has its roots in England as early at 1855. Two organizations, the Prayer Union and the General Female Training Institute, formed at the same time to provide a variety of services to young single women who were working outside of the home. Young women were working away from their homes because of opportunities and necessities present due to the industrial revolution and the Crimean War.
The development of the YWCA in America happened under similar circumstances. More women were entering the work force and serving in the Civil War. For the first time, young women found themselves living away from their families in the big city. The YWCA offered safe, suitable, and affordable housing combined with a variety of services. The first official YWCA formed in Boston in 1866 and spread to six major cities by 1868. The YWCA provided a good moral environment for young working women to live, gain employment skills, participate in physical exercise, get a good noon meal, fulfill their spiritual needs and have morally accepted social activity.
The YWCA made its way to Indiana in 1885 and the first ones were associated with colleges and universities. The earliest urban YWCAs were in Fort Wayne (1894), Indianapolis (1895), and Terre Haute (1902). Many started out in private buildings until the necessary funds were raised to construct a new building to meet the specific needs of the YWCA. These new buildings had small parlors for receiving guests, reception areas, meeting rooms, a library, a cafeteria, and a gymnasium in addition to sleeping rooms to accommodate large numbers of members. The YWCA in Elkhart could hold 1,104 women while the building in Indianapolis had the first indoor swimming pool in the city.
Prior to World War I, social activities and employment opportunities for women were limited. The YWCA promoted the independence of women by offering classes, social gatherings, and an acceptable place to live. It also introduced an opportunity for personal and professional growth by bringing together the young working women of a community.
As members lost their jobs with the advent of the Depression, they had to leave the YWCA. Some women would work at the facility in return for meals and lodging. In an effort to maintain occupancy, the YWCA eased its requirements and allowed women over 35 and those that were married to move in. They also started income-earning activities like making and selling candy. The YWCA would also offer to rent its meeting space to local businesses and organizations for lower rates or for free. Such actions pushed the YWCA beyond being an organization for women. It became a community center.
Many YWCA buildings were designed by well-known local architects. Rubush and Hunter designed the Blue Triangle Residence Building in Indianapolis, E. Hill Turnock designed the YWCA in Elkhart, Thompson and Geary are created with the building in Evansville, and Kibele and Garard designed the Muncie facility. The YWCA clearly took pride in their organization and, consequently their buildings, to seek out the services of leading architects.
There are a few YWCAs in Indiana that have been recognized by the National Register including buildings in Elkhart, Muncie, Indianapolis, and Evansville. Other YWCA structures exist but only a few have been recognized for their historic value.
]]>You are standing next to the Lewis and Clark Handshake statue by sculptor Carol Grende. The sculpture and the annual Handshake Festival at Falls of the Ohio State Park celebrate the moment when Lewis and Clark began their famous expedition in the fall of 1803. William Clark spent much of his life in the Falls of the Ohio region. He first resided in Clarksville when he served as a captain of the local guard in 1790. He also spent much time near Louisville, Kentucky, on his family's farm.
According to historian Carl Kramer, author of This Place We Call Home: A History of Clark County, Indiana, by 1802, William Clark lived with his brother George Rogers Clark and served as Clarksville's town surveyor. While some historians believe that a cousin named William Clark might have accomplished some of the deeds attributed to the famous explorer, few doubt that William Clark, brother of George Rogers Clark, at some point resided in Clark County. As Clark's personal servant, York most likely lived here, too.
Born into slavery on the Clark plantation in Virginia, York had no choice in his role as a member of the expedition. While he lacked the opportunity to learn to write his story, journals of other expedition members note his value to the exploring party: hunting, nursing the sick, and making contact with Native American groups, who reportedly found York very impressive. Journal entries note York's affection for his wife in Louisville to whom he sent gifts from the trail, despite his union not being legally recognized. Despite numerous references to York's affection for his wife in Clark's journals, Clark separated the couple.
Darrell Milner's "York of the Corps of Discovery" provides further details on York’s life. Clark moved York to St. Louis while York’s wife remained in Louisville until her owner removed her to Natchez. The Clark family papers housed at the Filson Club in Louisville show William Clark refused to free York after the expedition. He even administered beatings to York in 1809 and rented York to a cruel master in Louisville. Clark reported to Washington Irving that York died a free man who wished to return to slavery in 1832. We have only Irving's account to support this story. York may have spent his entire life in bondage.
Since 2003, a statue of York, created by local sculptor Ed Hamilton, has adorned 5th and Main Street in Louisville, but on the ground where he walked in Clarksville, he has yet to be commemorated.
]]>Our final stop is at Xenia City Hall, where near the flagpole you will find a Tornado Memorial Plaque. The name Xenia is practically synonymous with the 1974 tornado. Though the Super Outbreak produced 148 tornados–30 being considered F4 or F5 intensity–the most destructive tornado of all touched down in Xenia, OH. Like many other towns affected by the Super Outbreak, Xenia was compared to a warzone. Entirely unprepared, the city had no shelters and no sirens in place in the event of a tornado. Many were not alerted at all, though Gil Whitney, a local weatherman for WHIO-TV, is credited with saving the lives of many through his urgent warnings to find cover. The city of Xenia was absolutely devastated by the tornado that struck in 1974. More than 10,000 people reported homelessness in the aftermath of the tornado, while 2,600 homes were either completely destroyed or considered unlivable. In total, 32 people lost their lives to the tornado’s destruction. Two days later, a fire in a demolished furniture store took the lives of two National Guardsmen, bringing the total death toll to 34. Perhaps more than anything, however, the very heart of Xenia was changed forever by the events of April 3, 1974. Today, Xenians take tornadoes very seriously. Unlike in other semi-rural Midwestern towns, you will not find anyone on their front porch watching the clouds as the sirens blare. The emotional impact of the tornado issued far more damage than what was physically lost. The lesson Xenia learned that fateful April day is that death–and the weather–does not discriminate. Old and young, rich and poor, white or Black–no one was truly safe. “Respect the power of the storm,” is an adage that has been drilled into the minds of survivors’ children and grandchildren in the days and years to follow.
Despite the fear that still plagues many hearts and minds in the wake of a major storm, Xenia’s physical destruction built a community bond that was unexpected and revered by all who remember. Thousands of people, though still reeling from their own losses, came together to support each other. Complete strangers joined hands in prayer, while others shared tools or their dining room tables. The city was further encouraged by the arrival of Richard Nixon on April 8, 1974. “This town will come back,” he stated. “...The more it has suffered physically the stronger its spirit has become.” His words remain true to this day.
]]>The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was created in 1935 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as part of his New Deal to spark economic growth during the Great Depression. Headed by Harry Hopkins, a dedicated social worker, the WPA built or improved more than 2,500 hospitals, 5,900 school buildings, and nearly 13,000 playgrounds. Most of the WPA’s $11 billion in funding went for short-term "make-work projects" to assist the unemployed. The program provided funds for federal theater, arts and writers projects that enriched the nation's cultural life. WPA's National Youth Administration gave financial aid to more than 2 million high school and college students and to 2.6 million young people who were not in schools. The WPA was also instrumental in major construction projects around the United States.
This wagon, first used in the late 1920s, was employed on work projects such as bridges and dams near Lake Greenwood in the area of Crane, Indiana. In 1940, the wagon was commissioned by the U. S. Navy to use at Crane Naval Weapons Support Center in Crane, Indiana, fifty miles west of Brownstown. Twenty-three feet six inches in length, eight feet four inches wide, and eleven feet four inches high, the trailer weighs approximately 10,000 pounds. Constructed on a steel chassis, the trailer boasts a barn wooden cabin, 4 wooden spoked wheels and solid rubber tires. It now sits under the lean-to at the Livery Barn.
This wagon was used as a payroll office for WPA projects. WPA workers were employed 130 hours per month. The wage scale depended on the population of the county. For Jackson County, hourly wage rates were as follows: Unskilled labor was ¢35, intermediate skilled was ¢39, and skilled labor was ¢49. This meant that a skilled laborer made not quite $16 a week.
WPA Outhouse
A sanitary toilet plant employed 15 men and was opened in Stilwell's Garage at the west end of Brownstown, IN. Finished units cost $8.05. 573 of these concrete units had been installed in the county as of 1935. The WPA outhouse that can be seen on the campus of the JCHC came from Clem Robbins’ home in Tampico, Jackson County, Indiana. The family decorated it with wallpaper, some of which is still on the walls. Some of these necessary houses are still standing in the county.
]]>Built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the tunnel provides a way for automobiles to access the infield.
]]>The State Fair Board has recently restored a number of these wooden buildings. They were all originally built with WPA funds. The WPA was one of several of FDR’s New Deal alphabet soup programs designed to help jobless workers during the Great Depression. The WPA provided funds for various public work projects around the state, and a good many here at the Fair Grounds. These barns were built to replace some of the older horse barns on the Fair grounds. Many of the buildings on the fairgrounds during the 1890s were temporary buildings, or were moved from the Camp Morton site. Using WPA funds allowed the Fair Board to make new modern barns during a time when funding was very limited. Some of the modern features of these barns are the raised clerestory level for better ventilation and light and concrete floors for better sanitation for the animals.
]]>During the nineteenth-century, residents of New Albany made strong commitments to religious education. Two women’s seminaries, DePauw College for Young Ladies and Anderson Female Seminary, illustrate the importance that citizens ascribed to the religious and moral instruction of young women.
In 1848, Indiana Methodists established Indiana Asbury Female College. The school opened in February 1852 with nine faculty and 117 students. According to one historian, the institution prepared daughters of well-to-do residents for future roles as wives and mothers. After tuition and charitable contributions failed to meet operating expenses, a group of businessmen led by Washington C. DePauw, one of Indiana’s wealthiest men, stepped in and paid off the college’s debts. DePaw subsequently provided additional funds to secure the future of the institution and financed construction of a handsome new building. To honor its leading benefactor, the school changed its name to the DePauw College for Young Ladies. During the same era, DePauw also endowed the institution that bears his namesake, DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. DePauw College for Young Ladies operated into the early twentieth century, when the growing influence of secular education led the trustees to shut its doors. In 1908 the New Albany Business College moved into the building.
Anderson Female Seminary opened in 1841. Founded by John Byers Anderson, it operated in tandem with the Collegiate Institute for Boys, a small preparatory school. Both institutions occupied buildings located at the northeast corner of Scribner Park. Anderson Female Seminar offered courses in subjects such as English, Latin, and mathematics. Tuition cost $31.25 annually. Anderson closed the school in 1858 to pursue business ventures. He remained involved in children’s education by opening a small library for working children. The former seminary building became a tenement house and fell into disrepair. It was demolished by 1895.
]]>The Beyer brothers purchased a large parcel of land in 1886 on the shores of then Eagle Lake (later renamed Winona Lake) and opened Spring Fountain Park, a summer resort and amusement park. By 1895, the Winona Assembly and Summer School Association had purchased the property from the Beyers and started running a summer resort community based upon the chautauqua that had been established in New York State.
The grounds of Winona Lake still convey the atmosphere of a summer resort. There is a ridge to the north of the lake where many of the two-story, wood frame residences were constructed. The houses are placed close together and many have two story porches overlooking the park and lake beyond. The cottages originally had names, some of which continue today. These houses were originally built for as summer residences but over the years have been converted into year round houses. Two that really stand out are the Beyer house and the Billy Sunday House. Two of the Beyer brothers constructed this symmetrical Queen Anne house in 1907. A variety of concrete blocks was used to build the house complete with turrets and wrap around porches. The three story interior was divided into identical halves—one for each brother. The Billy Sunday House, also known as Mount Hood, was built by the noted evangelist and his wife in 1911. This Arts and Crafts bungalow has a remarkably intact interior with decoratively painted canvas wall coverings and wainscoting. It is currently serves as a house museum. Below the ring of residential properties is a 200-acre park that includes an amphitheater, formal gardens, paths, retaining walls, fountains, benches, and sculpture.
There are a series of non-residential buildings that dot the landscape as well. These include hotels, guest hotels, religious buildings, gathering spaces, and retail space, a more recent addition. The Winona Hotel, the oldest building in the area, dates from 1887 and predates “Winona Lake”. Built in the Second Empire style, this 3 ½ story building dominates the northeast side of the area. It is currently being converted into apartments/condominiums.
Winona Lake reached its peak in the 1910s-1920s, due in part to Billy Sunday’s gift of preaching. Attendance in this small town, two miles east of downtown Warsaw, climbed to 10,000. However, it was not to last. Sunday died in 1935 and, by 1943, Winona Lake had seen the final summer assembly and the demise of programs. During the 1940s-1960s, the facilities were used for other religious-based functions but the area continued to decline. The area was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. The Winona Restoration Company was formed in 1994 and helped revitalized Winona Lake. Since then public and private buildings have been restored, a retail area has been created, and visitors are returning to Winona Lake.
]]>Wilson Branches Out to South Bend
The Wilson Brothers menswear business was founded in Cincinnati, Ohio by the four Wilson brothers, John, E. Crane, Hugh, and Milton, in 1864. They moved their headquarters to Chicago four years later, where they continued to make their signature white dress shirts at factories in Chicago, Cincinnati, and St. Louis. It was not until 1883 that the company began manufacturing out of the second floor of the post office building on South Michigan Street in South Bend.
Surrounded by growing industries, Wilson purchased land from J. D. Oliver (of Oliver Chilled Plows) in 1887 and built a factory that slowly grew to 12.5 acres of floor space. Continuing to open factories in other cities allowed Wilson to expand their product line. Menswear had been transitioning from custom-made to ready-to-wear clothing for several decades and Wilson Brothers was one of many companies taking advantage of the new market for mass-produced items. The company made a variety of shirts along with underwear, pajamas, and neckties.
Women Workers
By 1916, South Bend housed two of the company’s five manufacturing departments which were reported to be among the cleanest and best managed. The factory hired women employees because sewing was traditionally viewed as women’s work and women could be paid lower wages than men. Ninety-two percent of their employees were women who sought to contribute to their households while their husbands worked at Studebaker.
Since employees were paid by piece, the company implemented a tagging system that traced the product back to an individual. Wilson had access to the best machinery for increased employee productivity, including Singer sewing machines. With these resources 72,000 shirts were produced in the span of an 8.5 hour work day. They continued to increase their workforce and by 1929 they employed 2,200 people.
Enro Takes Over for South Bend
Uncertainty for the South Bend plant began in 1949 when Wilson purchased the Enro Shirt Company. Enro’s Kentucky facility would proceed to manufacture shirts, now under the Wilson name. They took up the bulk of production from South Bend, which only continued to make pajamas and bathrobes until 1975 when the location was no longer needed.
Today’s remaining Wilson buildings have different owners but are facing similar fates. One building is being deconstructed to be sold as reclaimed building materials. Another succumbed to a fire in August 2019 while in use as a retail warehouse. Although Wilson did not start in South Bend, and it is slowly disappearing from the local landscape, it has earned its place in South Bend’s industrial history as a major employer of women during the city’s industrial prime.
]]>Many of the men who served on Indiana’s early state legislature built or purchased homes in the state capitol of Corydon. One of these men was soon-to-be governor William Hendricks. Hendricks purchased this home from Davis Floyd, a treasurer and auditor in the territorial government, and later, a state legislator. Floyd built the brick home in 1817 but was soon forced to sell the home to Hendricks during the Panic of 1819. At the time, Hendricks was a popular political figure and was serving in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1822, Hendricks was elected as the third Governor of Indiana. During Hendricks’ tenure as governor, he used this house as his home and purportedly his office from 1822-1824, right by the Corydon State Capitol Building, earning the Hendricks House the alternative name of the Governor’s Headquarters. This single story building also contained the offices of the auditor and treasurer of Indiana as well as the State’s money in the cellar in strong boxes. It was in this home that Hendricks approved the removal of the capitol to Indianapolis in 1825. In 1841, the home was sold to William Porter who served on the State Legislature. The building is in the Corydon Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
]]>White colonizers traveled to what would become Wayne County, Indiana after being enticed by the US government with promises of land to settle and abundant natural resources. They encountered fertile farmland, easily available building material - both wood and stone – and sovereign Miami and Shawnee Indian communities.
The many springs and rivers provided fresh water, attracted wildlife, and enabled settlers to move easily throughout the county along a north-south route. Those rivers would power grain mills that settlers would build and provide power for mills. Unfortunately, though, the swiftly flowing Whitewater River cut a deep gorge into the porous limestone (similar to the process that created the Grand Canyon). This gorge proved to be a significant barrier to east-west travel.
In 1806, President Thomas Jefferson signed legislation to create the young nation’s first interstate highway, called the National Road. Construction began in 1811 at Cumberland, Maryland (in some stretches it’s still called the Cumberland Road). The surveying team didn’t reach the Indiana state line until 1827. Soon thereafter, work crews constructed the road through Richmond, but this only accentuated the problem of the gorge. As traffic increased toward the American West, it became difficult to haul large wagons down into the gorge, downstream to a stable spot to ford the river, then back up the western face to continue the journey westward.
In 1834, the first bridge across the Whitewater River opened just down the hill from Richmond, near the spot of Jeremiah Cox’s tub mill. Even though wagons still had to descend to the bridge, it was a much easier crossing than it had been before. The bridge itself was a marvel of its day, a covered bridge wide enough for two lanes of wagon traffic and two pedestrian walkways on the outer edges. It remained in service until 1895.
]]>Early History: 1820’s-1860’s
In 1820, Indiana pioneer John McCormick and his brother James McCormick constructed a cabin along the White River in Delaware Native American territory. The White River’s west fork spans the entire width of the state, from Winchester on the eastern border, down to Mt. Carmel in the southwestern edge. The eastern fork originates in Columbus and meets the west fork in Petersburg. City commissioners believed this waterway could be navigable, which reassured city planners on their choice of the new state capital’s location, leaving Corydon for Indianapolis. The internal improvements legislation of 1836, a large-scale transportation systems creation plan, failed due to the lack of surveying, the Panic of 1837, political corruption, and the state’s approaching bankruptcy. As Indianapolis grew, it was clear that a passable waterway for boats was not feasible. Another function of the river was its role as the location of Greenlawn Cemetery, or City Cemetery, along the southwest side where the river meets the Mile Square. Used from 1821 until 1864, the cemetery overlooked the river where the Diamond Chain Company is today.
Pollution: 1900’s-1970’s
Soon after, the river became a dumping ground for industrial waste of factories and warehouses along the river, particularly from canneries, oil refineries, and meatpacking plants. Even Central State Hospital’s autopsy table drained right into the river. Massive floods plagued the river as early as 1909, causing traffic delays and flooded basements. The State Board of Health threatened a lawsuit against the city in 1912 if local officials failed to prevent the river from becoming a menace to health and property values. Floods could bring sewage into contact with the public as well as leach toxins into the river. By 1915, pollution concerns moved to the State House—Representative William C. Deck introduced a bill that demanded all cities and towns using the river for sewage disposal must install a sewage treatment center. An outdated drain off system caused the river to overflow with sewage whenever moderate rainfall occurred, a problem still persisting with the river today. In 1968, sewage plants along the river were able to remove 90% of the pollutants; however, the pollution-load steadily increased as residents along the river’s communities multiplied. Outbreaks of histoplasmosis have transpired in the river since 1978, causing flu-like symptoms for many. Studies within a few years determined that water runoff included toxins like chromium, copper, lead, mercury, zinc, PCBs and DDT downstream from 30th Street.
Clean-Up: 1980’s-2000’s
In 1983, the city finished the construction of an advanced wastewater treatment system by upgrading the secondary treatment plants. Studies following 1983 showed significant improvements in the quality of treated effluent and of the river downstream from the treatment plants. With the creation of White River State Park, the waterway saw an intense image cleanup as well. The state’s environmental study recommended species redevelopment habitats, dog and horse trails, canoe access, and a nature center, to name a few. Today, more than a million Hoosiers live within a fifteen-minute drive of its banks.
]]>The Cattle Barn was designed to harmonize with the Swine Barn, also by the same architects. The corner towers idea was common on other open air pavilions of the time period, and, in fact, is an architectural feature that was used on many earlier (now demolished) State Fairgrounds buildings. Look for the corner tower feature on other historic fairgrounds buildings. Do they look like houses of the era? In fact, they are! Many places inside the fairgrounds buildings have seasonal living quarters so that the buildings and animals can have on-site supervision at all hours during the Fair. When inside these and other 1920s buildings at the fairgrounds, look up at the ceiling. Builders were able to make large clear spans by using the same technology used in making metal bridges of the time. The elaborate diagonal trusses made out of steel are durable and remarkable for their engineering.
]]>The current West Baden Springs Hotel was constructed from 1901-1902, but the site was used for hotels prior to this incarnation. The earliest hotel in West Baden Springs was constructed on this site in 1845. With the arrival of the Louisville, New Albany and Chicago line, a new hotel, the Mile Lick Hotel, was constructed in 1855 and renamed the West Baden Springs Hotel at a later date. Unfortunately for its owner, Lee Sinclair, a banker from Salem, Indiana, it burned in 1901. Sinclair decided to rebuild and hired architect Harrison Albright of Charlestown, West Virginia to design the hotel and engineer Oliver J. Westcott to plan the dome. Construction lasted from 1901 to 1902 on the six-story brick and concrete hotel. The 708-room hotel had a 16-sided exterior as well as a glass and steel dome covering a 195-foot open atrium. The rooms were arranged around the outer edge of the atrium and form two concentric circles separated by an open hallway. Rooms overlooked either the atrium or the picturesque landscape. The free-standing dome was considered an engineering tour de force and visitors came to experience the architecture, partake of the restorative mineral waters on the grounds, and to take advantage of the variety of amenities that were offered at the West Baden Springs Hotel. These included a music room, theater, and stock exchange within the hotel. On the ground, there were spring houses, an opera house, bowling alleys and billiard tables, a natatorium, a small Catholic cathedral, a golf course, a stable, bridle paths and nature walks, formal gardens, and a two-story covered structure that housed a horse track and full-sized baseball field on the main level and a bicycle track on the upper level.
Sinclair died in 1916 and his daughter and son-in-law took over. They undertook a renovation campaign and added a large veranda to the exterior and a series of decorative additions on the interior including covering and painting the brick columns in the atrium, facing the lower walls with marble and the installation of the mosaic floor and the ceramic fireplace. From 1918-1919, the hotel served as an Army hospital, but in 1922, Edward Ballard purchased the complex. He was in the gambling and circus business and, under his ownership, the West Baden Springs Hotel flourished. The proximity to gambling in the area drew a variety of famous people, including hotel regular, Al Capone. Ballard maintained ownership through 1932 when the hotel closed after suffering dramatically with the onset of the Great Depression. In 1934, Ballard donated the complex to a Jesuit seminary, but they found the building offensive. They toned down the decorative embellishments of the exuberant hotel. The seminary maintained the building until 1964 and sold it to Northwood Institute, a private collegiate school of business management. By 1983, the hotel was sold to Eugene MacDonald and he intended to return the building to its original hotel use. Unfortunately, by the early 1990s, the hotel was in receivership. Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana was able to purchase the building with the aid of an anonymous donor in the 1990s, and the Cook Group Foundation was able to stabilize and partially restore the National Historic Landmark. The public portions of the hotel were restored including the entire exterior and the atrium. At this time, the West Baden Springs Hotel has been restored and is functioning as a casino.
]]>Originally known as Anderson Street, this neighborhood and its historic homes were built on the coattails of the Anderson gas boom and the prosperity it brought. The neighborhood includes Elmo A. Funk Park, named after the founder of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company in Anderson and a former West 8th Street resident, as well as a churches and commercial and public buildings of Queen Anne, Neo-Classical, Free Classic, and Italianate styles that were in vogue among the affluent.
West 8th Street houses attest to the economic prosperity that the Industrial Revolution brought to Anderson through the gas boom, manufacturing industries, and other businesses. Industrialists as well as other businessmen hoped to cash-in on the ensuing economic growth. Anderson’s most prominent citizens formed a board of trade to promote the city of Anderson to prospective entrepreneurs as a place to business. They also advertised the West 8th street neighborhood as a place to live for the latter entrepreneurs who would dominate the upper class of Anderson, Indiana.
Neil C. McCullough (1820-1888) had been an Anderson Banker for 32 years when natural gas was discovered in Anderson in 1887. He operated the city’s sole artificial gas plant as well as the Citizen’s Banking Company, the first bank in Anderson. His house at 226 West 8th Street is of the Neo-Classical style with its unmistakable portico with fluted columns buttressing a broad cornice and tri-glyphical frieze. The house was built in 1879 and is currently occupied by a dentist’s office.
Thomas W. Wright (1849-1937) was born in England before immigrating to the United States in his twenties. He settled in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, where he became superintendent of a shovel factory. He relocated to Anderson in 1891 where he opened the Wright Shovel Company. He expanded his business to found the Wright-Rich Cut Glass Company, which manufactured glassware with a Pennsylvanian style of grinding designs by mass production. In 1903, his house at 403 West 8th Street of the Free Classic style was completed. It has a porch with signature columns and light entablature, but perhaps its preeminent feature is its round tower with its conical roof of slate tiles and ending with a finial. In the 1920s, it was home to Charles E. Wilson (1890-1961), then president and general manager of the Delco-Remy Corporation and future president of General Motors and secretary of defense in the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Today, it houses the law firm of Howard, DeLey & Garrett.
The J.W. Sefton Manufacturing Company was a pioneer in the production of corrugated paperboard. Brooks Sefton, of the company as well as the family, resided at 322 West 8th Street in a house that was built in 1896. This house is a hybrid of the Free Classic and Queen Anne styles. Its columned porch and- first-and-foremost-its two-story turret with conical roof are consistent with the Free Classic style. However, its steep roof, asymmetrical façade, decorative shingles, and round turret tower are Queen Anne style. It was insulated with the corrugated paperboard produced by the Sefton factory. Reputedly, 322 West 8th Street is one of the first fully insulated houses in the United States. At present, it is a private home.
John H. Terhune (1847-1909) was president of the Anderson Foundry and Machine Works and Mayor of Anderson from 1891 to 1894. With the discovery of gas, the Foundry and Machine Works expanded dramatically to meet the demand for machine parts. His house at 212 West 8th Street is of the Italianate style marked by a symmetrical appearance, wide bracketed eaves, colonnaded porch, and a wrought iron widow’s walk. Mr. Terhune built his home in 1886. His family resided there until 1913, when the property was to the Toner family, who owned the former Anderson Herald. Currently 212 West 8th Street is a private home.
The legendary “Hoosier Poet” James Whitcomb Riley (1849-1916) resided at 501 W 8th Street in Anderson. He was employed as a reporter by the Anderson Democrat from 1874 to 1878, before moving on to greater fame with his poems written in the Hoosier dialect, such as “Little Orphant Annie” and “The Raggedy Man.” Although the house he lived in is no longer standing, a storefront named Riley Place occupies its address.
Elmo Funk Memorial Park is located on West 8th Street between Chase and Lincoln Streets. It is named after Elmo Ambrose Funk (1889-1968), who served as Anderson’s city engineer. Funk founded the Coca-Cola Bottling Company in Anderson. Mr. Funk, who resided at 920 W. 8th Street (now a private home), was a prominent civic leader in the community of Anderson. In 1973, his son Thomas Clement Funk (1916-1997) donated the land on which the park was built. It features a brick path, a water fountain, a gazebo, and an array of trees and flowers.
People such as the aforementioned homeowners were among the biggest employers in the city of Anderson. Their businesses employed thousands of Anderson residents through the years. In addition, there were people residing in Anderson who found work in these very homes as domestics. Elmo Funk Memorial Park is place for everyone to enjoy on West 8th Street, whereas in yesteryear this neighborhood was where the privileged class and not the plebeian masses could afford to live.
]]>Wesley Chapel United Methodist Church traces its roots to the first Methodist congregation founded in New Albany. In October 1816, several settlers began meeting for prayers in a cake shop owned by Harriet Reynolds on the east side of Pearl Street. Reynolds, a devout woman recently arrived from New Jersey, sold “ginger cake and spruce beer” from a room in the front of the building and lived in the rear. The group gathered each Wednesday evening to pray, sing hymns, and celebrate their faith. Obadiah Childs soon organized a Methodist class that attracted additional members. Upon learning of these developments, circuit-riding preacher John Shrader traveled to New Albany to minister to the group. On June 20, 1817, Shrader held a service for twenty-four believers in the dining room of Hannah Ruff’s tavern. The group immediately decided to organize a Methodist society and build a church.
The following day, society members began construction of a simple building began at a site on Lafayette Street. On November 25, 1817, the congregation met in the structure for the first time. Shrader preached the sermon. Members unanimously agreed to name the church Wesley Chapel in honor of John Wesley, the co-founder of the Methodist faith. In 1827, the congregation moved to a new building at the corner of West First and Market streets. Since riverboat men frequented church at its new location, Wesley Chapel became known as the “old ship.” The first meeting of the Indiana Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church took place at the church in 1832. Members built the New Albany Methodist Seminary on an adjoining lot in 1835. It operated until 1843, when debt led to its closing.
As Methodism grew rapidly during the 1830s and 1840s, Wesley Chapel spawned two new churches. Following a revival in 1838 and 1839, a group of members established Centenary Methodist, which became an independent congregation in 1841. In 1850, more than 200 members left Wesley Chapel to found Robert’s Chapel, now Main Street United Methodist Church.
In 1854 Wesley Chapel erected a new building at 202 West Market Street. It served the congregation for more than a century. Wesley Chapel became embroiled in the debate over slavery a short while later. In 1856, the church appointed B. F. Crary as its minister. Subborn, uncompromising, and outspoken, Crary held strong abolitionist views. He published scathing letters attacking the Democratic Party for its position on slavery. Since the shipbuilding industry produced the bulk of New Albany’s wealth and demand for new ships came from the slaveholding south, Crary’s ideas proved unpopular, which to his departure from Wesley Chapel in 1857.
Wesley Chapel met at 202 West Market Street for the last time on June 7, 1964. The congregation then relocated to a building at 2212 State Street. In 2013, the congregation moved to a new building off U.S. Highway 150 in Floyds Knobs. The church maintains two campuses, with a second location on Grant Line Road.
]]>When you arrive in Kokomo, you’re greeted by the friendly, familiar face of Clifford the Big Red Dog on a sign on U.S. 931 right next to the Welcome to Kokomo sign. It’s one of many ways Kokomo has honored one of its favorite sons, Norman Bridwell.
Bridwell was born in Kokomo, Indiana, the son of Vern and Leona Bridwell. As a child he regularly visited the now-demolished Carnegie Library, which sat where the current Kokomo-Howard County Public Library now is. The current library built in 1966 and renovated in 2009. The celebratted its renovation by hosting a photo exhibit about Bridwell’s youth. It included a photo of him as a boy with what he called “my favorite dog,” Fritz. Bridwell said he always dreamed that Fritz was a giant dog, big enough to ride like a pony. That would inspire Clifford, who would be bigger than a house.
Bridwell's dream of being an artist and author began with his first published work, a map of Kokomo, which he drew for the Kokomo High School Sargasso yearbook in 1945. After high school, he attended the John Herron School of Art in Indianapolis. Bridwell then moved to New York City, where he attended the Cooper Union Art School before becoming a commercial artist.
Needing to supplement his income after the birth of his daughter, Emily, he sought work as an illustrator. So in 1962, he put together a portfolio of colorful drawings and made the rounds of children’s book publishers. He was rejected by several publishers. An editor at Harper & Row went so far as to tell him that his art was just not good enough. She advised him to write a story to go along with one of his pictures: a sketch of a baby girl and a horse-sized bloodhound. “’There might be a story in this,’” Bridwell remembered her saying.
Today, 129 million copies of more than 150 Clifford the Big Red Dog titles are in print and his stories have been translated into 13 languages. “Sometimes you’ll do something that you really like and no one else does. You’ll feel terrible, but you’ve just got to press on and keep trying. If you like doing it and keep working at it, then someday you will succeed,” Bridwell said.
]]>Bands
You are standing in front of the City-County Building at 200 E. Washington Street. On June 25, 2014, it was witness to a historic moment in Indiana history. After news broke that a federal court judge ruled Indiana’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, LGBT+ couples - some with their children in tow - flocked to this office. This was an important victory for same-sex couples fighting for recognition and the same rights as heterosexual couples in the state. A line stretched out the door, comprised of couples waiting to be legally wed after being denied the right. By the time the office closed at 11pm, the county clerk’s office had processed 250 marriage licenses and performed 186 ceremonies. The next day looked quite the same, with an additional 174 licenses processed. But on June 27, the state’s request for a stay was granted, halting these marriages during the case’s appeal. While it was an upsetting delay for marriage equality, based on the contentious history of same-sex marriage in Indiana, it was hardly surprising.
Bans
In 1986, Indiana passed a law banning same-sex marriage. In 1997, the state followed up with another law prohibiting recognition of same-sex marriages from other states. Nationally, the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act prevented federal recognition of any same-sex marriages, even from states where it was legal. As if all this wasn’t enough to obstruct gay couples from marrying, in the past decade there were several attempts by state legislators to amend Indiana’s constitution to ban same-sex marriage. These efforts started in 2005, and resumed in 2011 when Republicans regained control of the legislature. Debates about the amendment continued into 2014, but the proposal never made it onto the ballot.
Today
On October 6, 2014, a historic court decision made a significant step forwards in same-sex marriage in the state. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear five cases related to same-sex marriage, including Baskin v. Bogan from Indiana. Their refusal meant that the June decision of the federal court held, and that same-sex marriage was again legal in Indiana. In June 2015, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution guarantees the right to same-sex marriage.
]]>Washington Park started in 1891 as a greenspace along Lake Michigan. The Park was a recreation destination and popular place for company picnics out of Chicago. In 1913 the South Shore Amusement Company operated a dance floor, skating rink, bath house, boat rentals, concessions, and thrill rides at the Park.
In the early 1900s, the fire department became an early animal shelter. People would come to visit the animals behind the fire station. In 1928 the animals were moved into cages in Washington Park and a zoo board was appointed. The Park and Zoo continued through the Depression.
During the 1930s and 1940s the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and their companion programs were active in Washington Park. The WPA helped construct several buildings and landscape features of the Park including: the monkey island, brick shelters houses, the former Park Administration Building, a rock garden with waterwheel and connecting pools, tennis courts, picnic shelter, observation tower, and a massive landscape and tree planting campaign. WPA work in the Park started in 1935 and lasted, almost continuously until 1940. This activity resulted in the most complete and representative WPA-designed park in the state of Indiana.
]]>In the early years of Indianapolis, the corner of Washington and Capitol Streets was one of the busiest and most important spots in the city. It was just a short walk from the first statehouse, and it became a key place for both government and business. From the 1820s to the 1880s, Washington Street became the main road running east to west. It was filled with shops, hotels, printing presses, and meeting places that helped shape what the capital city would become. Washington Street was where public life happened. Government workers, shop owners, and regular people passed through this area every day. Stores selling goods, groceries, and medicine sat on the corners. Newspapers printed nearby shaped what people thought and talked about, before TV or the internet existed. This area was also known for its political energy. Crowds gathered here to listen to speeches or find out the latest news from the statehouse, just a block away.
By the mid-1800s, hotels like the Palmer House and the Bates House brought in famous guests and powerful local leaders. These hotels were not just places to stay—they were places where political deals were made, and where people built behind-the-scenes connections. The statehouse being nearby helped attract law offices, banks, and other businesses, turning the area into an early downtown for both city life and state government. Washington and Capitol Streets became a place where people’s everyday needs came together with the power of the state. Standing at this corner today makes us think about how a city’s buildings and streets can show what it cares about. In the 1800s, this spot showed the mix of government work, business, and social life. It was where state rules and daily life came together—where Indiana’s hopes for the future met the people living their lives in the present. Even though many of the old buildings are gone, the habits and energy that started here helped shape what Indianapolis would become for many years.
]]>Traveling circuses flourished in the years between the Civil War and the Great Depression. Few people may realize that Peru, Indiana, served as the winter headquarters from 1892-1938 for what would become the second largest circus in the country. Peru native Benjamin Wallace returned from the Civil War and operated a successful livery stable. As his business grew, he also began attending auctions to purchase portions of defunct circuses. In the spring of 1884 he took “Wallace and Company’s Great World Menagerie, Grand International Mardi Gras, Holiday Highway Hidalgo, and Alliance of Novelties” on the road. They traveled by train and toured the Midwest. He returned the profits back into the circus and lengthened the tours and enlarged the shows. In 1885 the circus required nine railroad cars but it grew to fifteen cars the following year. By 1893, the Wallace circus needed 30 cars to transport the performers, animals, trainers, costumes, and equipment from site to site.
During the winter months, Wallace needed someplace to house the performers and animals while they trained for the next circus season. He chose a farmstead southeast of Peru. There was an existing house on the property but Wallace added a wagon shop; a wood elephant, hippo, and cat barn; a concrete tiger, lion and bear barn, and an office building. Wallace Row, housing for the workers, was located on the road leading from the winter quarters to town.
In 1907, Wallace purchased the Wild Animal Show of Carl Hagenbeck and changed the name to the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus. At that time his only competition was Ringling Brothers-Barnum and Bailey. By 1913, Wallace had had enough of the travel associated with circus life and he sold the circus to the American Circus Corporation. He kept the winter quarters and rented it to a variety of circuses until 1921 when he sold that property to the American Circus Corporation. Ringling Brothers purchased the winter quarters in 1929 and barely managed to survive the Depression. However the glory days of the winter quarters were over. In 1938, Ringling Brothers moved the circus to a warmer climate and never came back but they didn’t sell the property until 1941. At that time, all of the circus-related items were sold or destroyed and there was a great wagon burning. Since 1944, the former winter quarters have served as part of a traditional Indiana farm.
This National Historic Landmark is now the site of the International Circus Hall of Fame.
]]>At 503 miles long, the Wabash River originates in Ohio and flows westward through Indiana. It travels south along the Illinois border, eventually meeting the Ohio River. The river’s natural flow made it the easiest way to travel for early settlers.
When early French explorers embarked upon the Wabash Valley in the 17th Century, they named the prominent river “Ouabache,” easily pronounced “Wa-bash." It comes from the Miami-Illinois name for the river, waapaahšiiki, meaning “water over white stones.” At that time parts of a limestone riverbed could be seen through the pristine water.
When the peaceful waters of the Wabash River suddenly rise, they pose a tremendous danger. In March of 1913 the Spring weather was unpredictable. Violent storms and more than typical rainfall led to elevated river levels. On the evening of Easter Sunday, a deadly tornado churned through Terre Haute neighborhoods and countryside. It left a path of destruction all the way to Greencastle.
Following the tornado, heavy rains continued and river waters rose even higher. Banks were flooding quickly and on March 25th a levee broke causing disastrous flooding throughout the Wabash Valley. Many residents of West Terre Haute and Terre Haute evacuated their homes. The entire settlement of Taylorville was under water within days. Many homes and lives were destroyed in what was known as the greatest disaster to strike the Midwest.
Long before the first settlers moved to the Indiana Territory, the Wabash River supplied an abundant life source for many living things. Healthy soil and clean water made it possible for a multitude of species to live in this area. At one time, large numbers of Black Bears, Wolves, and Mountain Lions roamed these banks.
As more surrounding land was developed, natural habitats were cut back and water quality became polluted by domestic and industrial runoff. Because of overhunting and loss of habitat, over time many of the local animals became extinct. By the 1940’s over-fishing and environmental destruction by industrial pollution reduced the number of species of fish to 97. Thanks to conservation efforts to protect the river, the Wabash is now home to 150 native species of fish and more than 120 endangered species of plants and animals. Bald eagles, catfish, beaver, and paddlefish are just a few examples of wildlife that have returned.
]]>The Wabash Railroad Depot in New Haven, Indiana was built in 1890 and served a locally significant role in the history of transportation. It is a prime example of a small town, wood framed, Stick style depot. It’s also the only small town combination depot left in Allen County.
The depot was an important factor in the development of New Haven. The railroad replaced the canal upon which the town got its commercial start, but had seen a decrease in prosperity since the beginning of the Civil War. Now, the railroad connected New Haven with points throughout the United States. The construction of the depot and the entry of the railroad into the town marked a new beginning. Instead of dying with the canal, New Haven would thrive with the railroad. It provided a method of sending agricultural produce and manufacturer’s goods to market until the depot eventually closed in 1964. It was listed on the National Register in 2003.
]]>You are now looking at what remains of a once grand structure that was one of the main hubs of activity in the city. In the early 1850s, with the persistence of people like Abner T. Ellis, the railroads arrived in Vincennes to the absolute delight of the citizens here.
Edward Watson and Isaac Mass were two intelligent and determined individuals who were the masterminds of what would become the Union Depot and Hotel. In 1870, construction began on the structure. The building was thoughtfully situated adjacent to where the two rail lines crossed in Vincennes. The depot became an increasingly important structure over time. It transported people, goods, mail, and information to and from the city and throughout the US.
Countless famous people including many presidents passed through the depot and our city. You might be able to imagine how entertaining it would have been to sit in the lobby and simply watch the people come and go. People from virtually every walk of life would have been seen there. It is believed that when he was a young man, comedian Red Skelton used to frequent the place to scrape up some change. There was a fiddler known as “Blind John Moore” who performed for passengers there for many years. Carrie Nation, the “saloon smasher,” and Frank James, the notorious brother of outlaw Jesse James, both made a visit there.
As modes of transportation evolved, it was determined by railroad officials that the structure was no longer needed. The last occupants to stay in the hotel prior to its demolition were refugees displaced by the flood in Evansville, Indiana in 1937. Most of the operations were moved elsewhere and what you see today is all that remains of a once very impressive structure. What is left of the structure is still used regularly for many things such as: a change station, meeting place, and a roadmaster’s office.
]]>The Fortnightly Club in Vincennes is an educational, social, and humanitarian club for women. Before women were allowed to vote (1917 in Indiana, 1920 nationally), clubs and organizations were the only accepted way for women to take an active role in social reform. Such groups hoped to influence social reform in housing, education, and healthcare. Indiana was home to some of the earliest women’s clubs, notably the Minerva Club in New Harmony that was established in 1859. The peak years for club membership nationally were 1915-1925.
Fortnightly clubs were started all over the country but there was no link on the state or national level. The name referred to the fact that meetings were held twice a month (“fortnightly”). Indianapolis founded a Fortnightly Club in 1889 while the early Indianapolis suburb Irvington created one in 1897. The Vincennes Fortnightly Club was founded in 1890 and they met at the public library, city hall, and the YMCA. The focus of the Vincennes club was on the arts of living including literature, art, music, and the home. The Vincennes Fortnightly Club joined the Indiana State Federation of Women’s Clubs in hopes of uniting women’s clubs in the hope of social betterment for all.
In 1915, the Club purchased a private residence as its clubhouse. When the Club began to outgrow the space they started a fundraising campaign. By 1928, the Fortnightly Club was able to gather the necessary fund and hired Sutton and Routt to construct a new clubhouse. Inside were a reception room, meeting room, restrooms, 420-seat auditorium, and kitchen to serve 150. Originally there was a small apartment for the caretaker, but this space is now used for storage and extra kitchen facilities. The Vincennes Fortnightly Club continues to meet twice per month.
]]>The Vincennes City Cemetery is made up of three sections of land named “Greenlawn,” “Fairview,” and “Memorial Park.” Greenlawn, dating all the way back to 1788, is recognized as being the oldest public cemetery in the state of Indiana. It was once known as the “Public Burying Ground” (to distinguish it from the existing Catholic Cemetery) and is pretty much a “who’s who” of Indiana’s colorful history. In 1898 the city expanded the cemetery by adding the new “Fairview” section. In 1938, with the help of Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor, it was expanded again with the “Memorial Park'' addition. The WPA was a part of the “New Deal” and was a federal project established to create jobs and to help stimulate the economy during the Great Depression.
Located in Greenlawn, the oldest legible stone in the cemetery dates to 1815 and belongs to Dolly Blackman. Unfortunately, after an exhaustive search, not much more is known about her. There is a stone in the rear of Greenlawn Cemetery that is badly discolored. It is believed that its discoloration was caused by a lightning strike. Israel Brown was a man who liberated himself from slavery in Georgia and came to live in Vincennes during the Civil War. He was active in the community and became an elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church here. In 1902, he said that markings appeared on the walls of his house, the religious Brown saw divine images in them. The events were reported in newspapers around the country, even in Georgia. Brown’s long-lost wife, whom he had not seen since before he left Georgia, and whom he had believed was dead, contacted him after seeing the newspaper coverage. The two were reunited after more than 43 years apart. Israel Brown is buried in Fairview section J1, in lot #151. In 1940, “Babyland” was added for infants. It is speculated that this section may have been added to create a less-expensive burial option for people with little financial resources or possibly a way to save space within the cemetery. During the dedication ceremony for Babyland, airplanes flew high above in formation and dropped flowers to the ground below as a gesture of respect. In 2017, the first interment was made in a section of the cemetery that had recently been designated as a veteran’s section. The cemetery now includes land for future growth that is currently being utilized as a youth soccer field.
]]>With its stately limestone and use of both Ionic and Corinthian columns, the County Courthouse is a superb example of neo-Baroque architecture. The Courthouse was designed by Samuel Hannaford, who was born in England in the spring of 1835, but arrived in Cincinnati with his family at the age of nine. It was there he studied architecture at Farmer’s College and started an apprenticeship with fellow architect John R. Hamilton. After three years he ventured to begin his own architectural business. Most of Hannaford’s major works are situated in the Cincinnati area, but he designed family homes, churches, and government buildings throughout the Midwest and New England.
At the time Hannaford’s vision for Terre Haute was coming into view, the Vigo County Courthouse was housed in a brick building at 3rd and Ohio. It was supposed to be a temporary location after moving from the 1818 original Courthouse. However, more than 20 years passed before the first cornerstone was placed for the new building. Hannaford’s design was dedicated on June 7, 1888. It was the first of four Courthouses designed by Samuel Hannaford before he retired from his firm in 1904.
]]>In 1796, a Swiss man named Jean James Dufour immigrated to the United States with a plan to start a commercially successful winery and solve the problems plaguing American vineyards and wineries. Dufour’s first attempt at a vineyard in Kentucky ultimately failed, likely due to disease affecting the grape vines. In 1802, Dufour moved to a tract of land in the southeastern corner of the Indiana territory, with hopes of forming a more successful vineyard. This second vineyard proved to be more fruitful, and other immigrants from Switzerland soon immigrated into the area. One of these newcomers, Louis Oboussier, immigrated to what became New Switzerland and started a vineyard that worked in partnership with Dufour’s vineyards. In 1805, Oboussier built a one and a half story cottage in the French Lower Mississippi style of post-on-sill construction. The half story contained a sleeping room and a storage area while the primary living space occupied the main floor. Obussier’s most famous customer was Henry Clay, who often came by to talk politics and purchase wine. In 2010, the farmstead was restored to its 1811 appearance and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
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