Stories by author "Indiana Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology": 179
Stories
Fair Midway
The Midway is located where it has always been on the west end of the fairgrounds. Imagine, as you arrived by the Monon Railroad, its lights would have greeted you as soon as you stepped off the train!
Champions Pavilion (Horse Barn)
Merrill Jones was the architect of the 1925 portion of the Horse Barn. In 1975, the building was reworked and rechristened as the East Pavilion and, eventually, the Champions Pavilion.
Home and Family Arts Building
Prizes were awarded to home handiwork since the first State Fair. The importance of the tradition led to an arts and handicraft pavilion, the forerunner of this building. The tall, classical arches of this building recall the classically styled…
4-H Dormitories & Exhibit Hall
Accompanying their animals to the fair was always a problem for young farmers-to-be. These buildings provided dorms for living on site, school rooms so that young exhibitors would not lose valuable school time, and would have exhibit space for arts…
Exposition Hall
Kopf and Deery, architects, seem to have started a long partnership with the Fair Board in 1919 with the design of this building. At the time, many fairgrounds buildings were wooden frame, or at best, brick and wood. Kopf and Deery used steel, brick…
Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Building
Designed by Burns and Burns, the DNR Buildings interior features glue-lam beams to hold up the roof, a popular technology in the post war decades because steel prices were very high.
Communications Building
The fairgrounds has several buildings in the modernistic Art Deco style. Art Deco was popular just before and just after WWII--architects were simplifying buildings by “streamlining” their details. Glass block was a new building material and…
Indiana Farmers Coliseum
Architect Merritt Harrison considered this building his finest creation. PWA (Public Works Administration) funds made it possible for the Fair Board to build this structure, which was to be a “Livestock Pavilion.” Harrison used tan brick and Indiana…
West Pavilion (Cattle Barn)
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…
Agriculture and Horticulture Building
Prizes for the best examples of farm or garden produce were a long tradition at the Indiana State Fair when the Fair Board decided to replace the old Agriculture Building with this one.
Architects Rubush and Hunter won the contract to design the…
Administration Building
The colonnade across the front of this house-like building spells out its “official administration” function. The style here is Colonial Revival, an adaptation of 17th and 18th century, eastern U.S. homes. This style was popular for residences in…
Strawtown Koteewi Park
Located just north of Indianapolis in Hamilton County, Strawtown Koteewi Park has housed several peoples. As far back as 1000 BC, the Woodland Era Native Americans lived in the area before eventually giving way to Oliver Phase Native Americans. More…
River Road Park
River Road Park has two major archaeology-related attractions. The playground set contains a unique play-place experience with archaeology as it's main inspiration. It is equipped with slides, rock climbing structures, and (most noticeably) a…
Indiana State Museum
The Indiana State Museum (ISM) and its affiliated historic sites work to preserve and protect Indiana historical and archaeological resources. The museum itself contains exhibits examining the state's prehistory, history, and culture. The ISM…
Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology
The Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology is a research center situated at Indiana University in Bloomington. The lab houses several ongoing archaeological research projects (both student and professional) as well as multiple collections. The…
Angel Mounds State Historic Site
Five to seven hundred years ago, the area we now call Angel Mounds State Historic Site was a thriving Mississippian Indian town. Built between A.D. 1100 and 1300, the town was occupied by one thousand to three thousand inhabitants until its…
New York, Chicago, & St. Louis Railroad Steam Locomotive No. 765
Built in September 1944 at the Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, OH, this coal burning steam locomotive was designated part of the S-2 class. No. 765 was delivered to the New York, Chicago, and St. Louis Railroad (popularly known as the Nickel Plate…
Nickel Plate Road Steam Locomotive No. 587
Nickel Plate Road No. 587 is perhaps the best remaining example of a United States Administration (USRA) light Mikado steam locomotive, an outstanding design developed during World War I rearmament. This versatile and universally successful…
The Reuben Wells Locomotive
The Reuben Wells is a 55-ton wood-burning steam locomotive which was designed and built in 1868 at $18,345.40 by Reuben Wells, master mechanic of the Jeffersonville, Madison, and Indianapolis Railroad. After around 30 years of service, it was…
Wabash Railroad Depot
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…
Carmel Monon Depot
The Carmel Monon Depot was built in 1883 in Carmel, Indiana and abuts the path where the Monon Railroad ran until 1974. The building served as both a passenger and freight depot until the services were discontinued in 1961 and 1974, respectively.…
Pleasant Lake Depot
Though the town of Pleasant Lake was originally platted in 1846, it did not see much growth until 1870 when the it was replatted to the west so as to be closer to the tracks for the Fort Wayne, Jackson, and Saginaw Railroad. The depot itself was…
Scottsburg Depot
The town of Scottsburg, Indiana is a railroad town that was platted out in 1870 to take advantage of the Jeffersonville branch of the Jeffersonville, Madison, and Indiana Railroad, which connected Hoosiers to the large and developing market of…
Junction Railroad Depot
The construction in 1866-67 of the Junction Railroad, which extended from Hamilton, Ohio to Indianapolis, Indiana, provided the first great impetus to Morristown, IN’s growth. The railroad later became part of the Cincinnati, Hamilton, and…
New Albany and Salem (Monon) Railroad Station
In 1851, the New Albany and Salem Railroad Station was constructed in New Albany, IN as a stop along the railroad known as the Monon Railroad. This station was the most elaborate stop on this important early Midwestern line. Other than fueling the…
Fort Knox II
The original Fort Knox was located in the center of Vincennes, but it later moved in 1803 to the outskirts of the town because residents complained about the amount of time soldiers spent in the saloons. The original spot is identified today by an…
George Rogers Clark National Historical Park
The George Rogers Clark National Historical Park is located on the assumed location of former Fort Sackville. With the end of the French and Indian War, the American theatre of the Seven Years’ War, the British controlled the region between the…
Camp Morton
At the start of the Civil War, 10,000 soldiers from Indiana volunteered to serve in the Union military. With Hoosiers needing to prepare for war, Governor Morton declared the new Indiana State Fairgrounds, located on the Old North Side of…
Cedar Hill Cemetery
Confederate soldiers who perished in the Battle of Corydon were interred at Cedar Hill Cemetery, the town’s main burial ground since Corydon’s founding in 1808. The cemetery, donated to Corydon for burials by Col. Thomas L. Posey, contains graves…
28th Regiment US Colored Troops Marker
In November 1863, the United States Department of War gave Indiana Governor Oliver P. Morton authority to raise an African-American infantry regiment to reach federal troop quotas. Reverend Willis Revels of Indianapolis’ Bethel African Methodist…