Category: Road Trip Indiana Series

Podcast - Indiana Places and History, Road Trip Indiana Series

Bridgeton, Indiana

Bridgeton is on Bridgeton Road about nine miles south of its intersection with High Street in Rockville, Indiana.
Joseph Lockwood and Isaac J. Sillman built a sawmill just south of the 10:00 Line in 1823 on Raccoon Creek. They would later add a burrstone to grind grain. Daniel Kalley and a James Searing purchased the mill in 1837 and added a distillery. The mill and distillery burned down in 1845.By 1868 another mill, the current one, was built. Continue reading Bridgeton, Indiana

Podcast - Indiana Places and History, Road Trip Indiana Series

Nine Penny Branch Nature Preserve

At 121 acres, Nine Penny Branch Nature Preserve offers a delightful trail along cascading Nine Penny Branch to a charming waterfall at trail’s end. The Preserve’s large parking lot accomodates buses and cars.
Local lore suggests two sources for the name, Nine Penny Branch that traverses the preserve. One suggests that it used to cost travelers with wagons nine pennies to cross this route. Another suggests a worker once lost his day’s wages, nine cents, in the creek. Whichever is the source, the preserve is a pleasant spot to hike and bask in the lovely woods, stream and waterfall. The land which forms the preserve was once part of Clark’s Grant, which was eventually handed down to Faris’ great great grandfather, John Work. The historical marker for John Work is on Tunnel Mill Road about a mile east of the Preserve’s entrance. Continue reading Nine Penny Branch Nature Preserve

Podcast - Indiana Places and History, Road Trip Indiana Series

New Podcast/Video – James R. “Jimmy” Hoffa

James R. “Jimmy” Hoffa (February 14, 1913 – disappeared July 30, 1975)
The son of John and Viola Riddle Hoffa, James was native to Brazil, Indiana. His father, a coal miner, died of lung disease when Jimmy was seven years old. His early education was sporadic, due the the necessity of his having to work to help support the family. His mother went to work upon the death of her husband and eventually moved the family to Detroit. Continue reading New Podcast/Video – James R. “Jimmy” Hoffa

Podcast - Indiana Places and History, Road Trip Indiana Series

The Barkshire Family

The Barkshire family was a family of former slaves that lived in Rising Sun, Indiana in Ohio County along the Ohio River. The members of this family were quite active in the Underground Railroad movement. Their former owner, Nancy Hawkins, though not a member of their family, was responsible for manumitting them as well as being closely associated with them after they moved across the river from Kentucky to Indiana. Continue reading The Barkshire Family

Podcast - Indiana Places and History, Road Trip Indiana Series

Memorial to the Sinking of the USS Indianapolis

The USS Indianapolis belonged to a class of United States Warships called the Portland Class.

Portland Class ships were heavy cruisers that featured heavier armor than previous ships of similar class. The ships were 610 feet long and had a beam of 66 feet. The ships had 9 8″ guns and 8 5″ guns.
She also sported 5-inch/25-caliber anti-aircraft guns and 2 QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns. There were 4 airplanes and 2 catapults to launch them. Typically, the planes were fighter aircraft that were launched from the catapults for aerial reconnaissance. At the end of the mission the pilot had to either find a land-based air strip to land or ditch the plane in the water close to the ship and wait for rescue. The ships had a crew complement of 807 sailors. There were 2 ships in this class, the USS Portland and the USS Indianapolis. Continue reading Memorial to the Sinking of the USS Indianapolis

Podcast - Indiana Places and History, Road Trip Indiana Series

Congressional Medal of Honor Memorial

Landscape architects Ann Reed and Eric Fulford received the commission to design the Memorial. Workers began preparing the site in November 1998 with actual construction beginning in January 1999. The memorial consists of two overlapping circular arcs. Access to the memorial is by concrete ramps and stairs. It is about 800 feet long and 48 feet wide. The dedication took place on Memorial Day, May 28, 1999. The Memorial honors the nations Medal of Honor’s recipients. Continue reading Congressional Medal of Honor Memorial

Podcast - Indiana Places and History, Road Trip Indiana Series

Fort Harrison State Park

Training, Induction and Release Facility
During the First and Second World Wars, many young Indiana men were inducted and released from Fort Harrison. The fort served as a training facility for officers. During World War II, the Fort also served as a detention center for many Italian and German Prisoners of War. The Army established a Military Police training center in the Fort in 1942. At war’s end, the Army declared the Fort as surplus property. The Army did not abandon the Fort, using it as a National Guard training facility. The Benjamin Harrison Air Force Base operated there from 1948 until 1950 until the equipment and personnel were moved to Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Michigan. Until 1990, the fort served as a training facility for various Army activities and in 1965, the Defense Information School moved there. Continue reading Fort Harrison State Park

Podcast - Indiana Places and History, Road Trip Indiana Series

American Legion’s National Headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana

World War I had ended with the signing of the Armistice on November 11, 1918. The end of the war did not mean that the doughboys stationed in Europe would get to come home. Rumors circulated that the delay in bringing them home revolved around the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, Finland, Germany, and Hungary. However, it may not have been possible for the troops to all return due to logistics. Continue reading American Legion’s National Headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana

Podcast - Indiana Places and History, Road Trip Indiana Series

Visiting Hayes Arboretum

The Nature Center, located in a former dairy barn, offers plenty to do for an afternoon’s relaxation. A bird viewing room is equipped with comfortable chairs and a large window overlooking a bird feeding station. Birds of all kinds and squirrels can be seen actively feeding at the various types of bird feeders. The Nature Center is located in an old renovated dairy barn that was originally constructed in 1833. Continue reading Visiting Hayes Arboretum

Podcast - Indiana Places and History, Road Trip Indiana Series

Madonna of the Trail Monument

Forming a Committee
The DAR National organization appointed a committee to come up with an idea to honor the hardy pioneer mothers that journeyed west with their families to settle the west. The committee first proposed to have painted wooden markers along the route of the National Road Trail honoring the women. This idea was superseded by the concept of placing 12 statues in various states along the route. The DAR commissioned August Leimbach to sculpt the statues. Composed of Missouri granite, the statues are identical and are 10 feet high and weigh 5 tons. There is one statue in each of state, each of which is along the National Old Trails Road. Continue reading Madonna of the Trail Monument

Podcast - Indiana Places and History, Road Trip Indiana Series

Visiting the Joseph Moore Museum at Richmond Indiana

Joseph Moore (February 29, 1832 – July 09, 1905)
The son of John Parker and Martha Cadwalader Moore, Joseph was native to Washington County, Indiana. After completing his elementary school education he attended the Friends Boarding School in Richmond, Indiana 1853. He would serve as an assistant teacher while attending the school. After graduating he worked as a teacher in various schools until 1859, when he enrolled at Harvard. He graduated from Harvard with a Bachelor of Science degree. Continue reading Visiting the Joseph Moore Museum at Richmond Indiana

Podcast - United States History Timeline, Road Trip Indiana Series

Pivotal Event in American History – Thomas Paine Publishes Common Sense

January 10, 1776 “Common Sense” By Thomas Paine Published
Few men were as influential to the cause of American independence as Thomas Paine. His forty-seven page pamphlet “Common Sense,” published in 1776, became the most read pamphlet in the colonies. Many historians feel that most of the 2.5 million Americans either read it, or had it read to them. Many estimate that printers published over 400,000 copies. Many newspapers at the time printed the entire text of the document. Continue reading Pivotal Event in American History – Thomas Paine Publishes Common Sense

Podcast Indiana’s Timeless Tales Book 1, Road Trip Indiana Series

Whitewater Valley Railroad

Constructed as part of the Indiana Mammoth Internal Improvement Act of 1836 signed by Governor Noah Noble on January 27, 1836, the Whitewater Canal was to form an integral part of southeastern and eastern Indiana’s transportation system. The ambitious act, in concert with the Panic of 1837, bankrupted the state and brought a major political party to its knees. Continue reading Whitewater Valley Railroad

Podcast - Indiana Places and History, Road Trip Indiana Series

Birthplace of Wilbur Wright and Museum

The third of seven children born to Milton Wright and Susan Catherine Koerner Wright, Wilbur was born near Millville, Indiana. The family would remain in Indiana until 1869, when Milton Wright, a Bishop in the United Brethren Church, moved to Dayton, Ohio. The Wrights would return to Indiana in 1881, where Wilbur and his younger brother Orville took up kite flying. Continue reading Birthplace of Wilbur Wright and Museum