Jackson County History Center
The Jackson County History Center (JCHC) is located in Brownstown, Indiana, the county seat. Located across the street from the county courthouse, the expansive JCHC campus includes three museums, a genealogy library, Pioneer Village, Circus Wagon, WPA Wagon, and a historic outhouse! Annually in April and May, the JCHC hosts every fourth grade student in Jackson County to learn about Jackson County and Indiana history. With around 800 students, teachers, and parents on campus for the event, the program lasts for 6 days with 30 volunteers each day from the JCHC to present the program. In May each year, 120 eighth grade students and teachers visit for one day for a Civil War program.
This tour will introduce you to the buildings and resources of the JCHC and provide information for the students who visit each year. During this tour you will get to know the original livery barn and learn why this is located across from the Court House; the Ball Museum, which was once a blacksmith shop; the Heller Museum, which houses guns, arrowheads and a phone booth; the Pioneer Village, which has four log buildings; the Stardust Drive-In Theater Ticket Booth from Seymour; and the old city cemetery.
Moving historic buildings to a single location like the JCHC is a common practice around the United States because it allows for buildings that might otherwise be destroyed or neglected to be preserved and enjoyed by future generations. Taking buildings out of their original historic location removes part of the story of the buildings but allows them to be preserved. Are there relocated buildings in your community that tell the history of the community? What stories are told by these buildings? Are any important stories left out?
The JCHC was formed in 2010 through the merger of the Jackson County Historical Society (formed in 1916) and the Jackson County Genealogical Society (formed in 1982). The JCHC is staffed entirely by volunteers and is open year-round on Monday, Tuesday and Friday from 9am-4pm and Thursday from 9am-8pm.
Livery Barn
Initially built as a horse stable, the Livery Barn at the Jackson County History Center, has been used for a variety of purposes for more than a hundred years. In this stop, you'll learn a bit about the uses of the Barn throughout its history.
The Original Livery Barn By the 1860s, visitors…
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The Pioneer Village and John Ketcham
The Pioneer Village that comprises the nucleus of the History Center Campus is named for Colonel John Ketcham (1782-1865). John Ketcham was born in Maryland in 1782. His family moved to northern Kentucky when he was a small child.
Although Ketcham only spent about seven years in the Jackson…
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Nentrup Trading Post
A log structure once located south of Vallonia, IN
The Nentrup trading post served as an economic center for Jackson County in the early 19th century. It has been tentatively dated to around 1827 and was in use until 1857.
Its owner, who we believe was either named Joseph Henry or Joseph Herman Nentrup, was reported to have fled Hanover, Germany…
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Jackson County String Fort Replica
Conflict between white settlers and Shawnee, Delaware, Kickapoo, and Miami Indians was a common occurrence in what is now Jackson County, Indiana in the 19th century. Natives in the area saw settlers who cleared lands, built forts, and tried to enforce rules as encroaching on their families and…
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Circus Wagon
The Clark and Walters circus wagon was built during the 1930s. It was owned by the Timberlake family, who had performed in circuses for three generations. During the winter months the family lived in Jackson County, and the rest of the year they traveled with the circus in this wagon. Myrna…
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WPA Wagon
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…
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Robertson Genealogy Center
The Robertson Genealogy Library is an important space at the Jackson County History Center. It has collections of books and pamphlets, maps and pictures, journals and genealogical records, and relics which illustrate the social, religious, political, educational and industrial history of Jackson…
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Brownstown City Cemetery
Adjacent to the Jackson County History Center campus is the Old Brownstown City Cemetery. According to the 1991 History of Jackson County Indiana, John Milroy established the Brownstown Cemetery when he platted Brownstown on April 8, 1816. In 1836 the cemetery was surveyed again which revealed…
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Other Points of Interest at Jackson County History Center
In addition to these locations, the Jackson County History Center has many other things to see.
There are two museums on the campus. The Ball Museum is housed in a building that was once the blacksmith shop of a man named James Bland. It is now set up to show scenes of home and community life…
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This tour was created in partnership with the Jackson County History Center and made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.