Tag: 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

Exploring Indiana Series, Podcast - Indiana Places and History

Cox Hall Park and Gardens in Carmel

Coxhall Gardens is a 125 acre park that includes a children’s garden, a bike trail, music pavilion, prairie garden and many other features. The Cox Hall Gardens Centerpiece showcases twin 90-feet bell towers, a recreation lake, fountains, gazebo and tiered lawn seating. The Garden was developed by Jesse H. Cox and his wife Beulah. The garden’s dedication ceremony took place on September 9, 2006. Continue reading Cox Hall Park and Gardens in Carmel

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

Exploring Indiana Series, Podcast - Indiana Places and History

Visiting Indiana’s Public and Botanical Gardens

Indiana possesses a wealth of botanical gardens, allowing plant researchers to study the plants growing there as well as provide casual visitors a place to learn about, and enjoy, them. Readers of Indiana Botanical Gardens will discover the history of botanical gardens in addition to listings of the world’s, United States and Indiana’s botanical gardens. Continue reading Visiting Indiana’s Public and Botanical Gardens

Indiana History Time Line, Podcast - Indiana Places and History

The Central Canal Walk in Indianapolis

In the dawning years of the Nineteenth Century, the quest for fast, cheap transportation of freight over long distances seemed in reach with the construction and economic success of the Erie Canal. The Erie Canal connected New York City with the Great Lakes. It spurred New York’s growth as a major commercial center. It also provided encouragement more canal construction across the United States. Landlocked states like Indiana seized on canals as the answer to open markets in inland cities that lacked navigable rivers. The Wabash and Erie was the first of these projects tackled by Indiana. Continue reading The Central Canal Walk in 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

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

Exploring Indiana Series

Visiting Indiana’s Public and Botanical Gardens

Indiana possesses a wealth of botanical gardens, allowing plant researchers to study the plants growing there as well as provide casual visitors a place to learn about, and enjoy, them. Readers of Indiana Botanical Gardens will discover the history of botanical gardens in addition to listings of the world’s, United States and Indiana’s botanical gardens. Continue reading Visiting Indiana’s Public and Botanical Gardens

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