All Stories | Discover Indiana

Crothersville is a small town on the edge of Jackson County. Its name was originally Haysville but after being offered the opportunity to have a depot built if the town’s name was changed, it became Crothersville after the Jeffersonville Railroad…

Reno Gang Graves

The Reno Gang of Seymour, Indiana began with brothers John, Frank, William, and Simeon Reno. When Seymour founder Meedy Shields authored a legislative bill ensuring that all trains using the Ohio and Mississippi Railway should stop in Seymour for…

Blish Milling Company Grain Silos

By Kathi Linz

All that remains today of the Blish Milling Company are the towering 109-foot tall grain silos at Tipton Street and the north-south railroad tracks in Seymour, Indiana. Built in May of 1939 of steel-reinforced concrete, the silos which can hold…

Eisenhower Funeral Train

By Kathi Linz

The crowd began to gather early on April 1, 1969, waiting for a train bound west to Abilene, Kansas. It was cold and drizzly, but that didn’t prevent thousands of people from paying their final respects to World War II General and former President…

Fitch's Tolu Chewing Gum Factory

Asa M. Fitch was a multi-patented inventor. Among his inventions were a wheeled plow whose depth could be adjusted, a box, and a children’s educational card game which included various bird and animal species. In Seymour, Indiana, his major…

John Mellencamp Mural

Railroad Bill, Railroad Bill Lived way up on Railroad Hill Ride, ride, ride Well, Railroad Bill, Oh, Railroad Bill He never worked and he never will Ride, ride, ride Well, Railroad Bill, he was a mighty mean man He shot the midnight lantern out of…

Medora Train Wreck

On June 8, 1921, a train engine jumped the tracks outside Medora, Indiana. Perhaps it was the hot weather and rain that made the train engine leave the tracks. Seventeen loaded boxcars piled up, some being “reduced to kindling wood.” Three people…

Seymour Freight Depot

The Southern Indiana Railroad Freighthouse was not only a freight depot but also the site of an interesting story of one escaped enslaved man’s quest for freedom. Alexander McClure, an enslaved man from Tennessee, attempted to escape his bondage by…

The Farmer's Club

The Farmers’ Club at 105 S. Chestnut Street, dedicated in 1914 in memory of Captain Meedy Shields, was constructed as a gathering and resting place for farm families coming to town for business and supplies. Traveling was slower in the early 1900s…

Potawatomi Leader Onaxa and the Removal of Native Peoples from Elkhart County

A commemorative rock in River Preserve County Park marks the legacy of the Potawatomi leader, Onaxa. Also known as Wonyanoshonya or Five Medals, Onaxa was a leader of the Potawatomi of the St. Joseph River. He was involved in major treaty…

Twentieth-Century Sundown Towns: The Carter Road Subdivision in Elkhart County

Just south of the Goshen College campus, the Carter Road subdivision has a good view of the pond created by the Goshen Dam. It is rather unassuming but serves as a reminder of Goshen's past as a “sundown town.” During the first half and…

Goshen College and the Mennonite Community

In 1894 the first post-secondary school geared towards the Mennonite community opened when the Elkhart Institute of Science, Industry and the Arts was established. Shortly after its opening, the operation of the institute was taken over by the…

Kercher’s Orchard and the Bracero Program

Kercher’s family-run orchard began in 1922 when William Wheeler Kercher planted apple trees at his home on 7th Street. The business began on 40 acres across the street from the orchard’s current location. Today, the orchard covers over 600 acres and…

Newell Brothers General Store

South of the County Courthouse on Main Street is Goshen’s business district. This area was developed in the first decade of the 20th century as “the most modern block in Goshen.” The Jefferson block was anchored by Newell’s, originally built as a…

Goshen’s Jewish Community

The Gutierrez Mexican bakery was home to the Louis Simon Clothiers beginning more than one hundred years ago. It was a staple of Goshen’s Jewish community that established itself in the mid-1800s with a small concentration of Jewish families,…

Neptune Statue and Olympia Candy Kitchen

The Neptune statue that sits on the south east lawn on the Elkhart County Courthouse highlights the story of immigration to Goshen and the building of a successful business. Across Main Street from the statue is the Olympia Candy Kitchen. It was…

Elkhart County Home

The County Home facility was built on this site in 1886 to provide housing for those who were unable to support themselves. The Indiana Constitution mandated that counties, when able, should build a facility “to provide one or more farms to be an…

Costigan House

Much of what makes Madison a popular tourist destination is the impressive and abundant historic architecture. For this, Madison owes a significant debt of gratitude to the architect and builder, Francis Costigan. He oversaw construction of the…

St. Michael the Archangel

Madison was officially surveyed by Colonel John Paul in 1809. Surveying was intended to establish the town boundaries to mark out where white settlers could establish homes and churches. Some early settlers to Madson practiced the Catholic faith and…

The Georgetown Neighborhood: Network to Freedom

By The National Park Service & Historic Madison, Inc.

Proximity to the Ohio River gave rise to Madison's Georgetown Neighborhood, a community of free Blacks dating back to the 1820s. About 50 black families lived in the Georgetown neighborhood, located along Walnut Street north of Main Street.…

The Railroad Incline--The "Cut"

The Madison, Indianapolis & Lafayette Railroad (MI&L) was first conceived in 1836 when Indiana state legislators included it as part of the Internal Improvement Act. Indianapolis, the new state capitol, was in the early stages of becoming a…

Jeremiah Sullivan House

Could Jeremiah Sullivan ever imagine how important he and his family would become? Or that his house would jumpstart a nationally recognized preservation movement?” In 1816 twenty-three year old Jeremiah Sullivan joined a rising flood of…

A Model for "Main Street"

If a town’s Main Street is often the heart of the community, then Madison has one of the biggest hearts in the United States. Its Main Street stretches two miles and spans 90 feet. The core of Madison’s National Historic Landmark District, urban…

Shrewsbury-Windle House

The Shrewsbury-Windle House is an 1849 Greek Revival masterpiece designed by the renowned architect & master builder, Francis Costigan. Built of brick, stone and wood, it is an example of design, high quality craftsmanship, and preservation.…

Ben Schroeder Saddletree Factory Museum