Muncie is home to three old Thunderbolt tornado sirens. One of them, at Southview Elementary, still works as intended! Another at the old Riley Elementary has a broken chopper and sort of just languidly wheezes there. I thought the last one, at what was once Morrison-Mock Elementary School, was still in sterling standing! Unfortunately, it no longer rotates.
Continue reading “My trip back to Muncie’s Gresham Thunderbolt”
Quiet countryside corners are full of history if you know where to look. Just north of Jones Cemetery in rural Delaware County, the sorry remains of the old Pleasant Run Church sit amidst the weeds and bramble. They beg for a second glance.
Continue reading “Little remains of the Pleasant Run Church”
In 1966, Marsh Supermarkets caused a stir across the Midwest when it jumped into the rapidly growing convenience-store business. Over the next four decades, the company built its Village Pantry brand into a regional powerhouse by opening 154 locations across Indiana and Ohio! Today, some have taken on new lives under different names. Whenever I stumble across one, I can’t resist snapping a photo.
Continue reading “Spotted in the wild: an old Village Pantry in Kokomo”
Five years ago, I launched a mission to track down every old schoolhouse in Madison County, Indiana. By the time I finished, I’d located forty-five of them. Some were standing, some were hanging on, and others were crumbling into ruins. Unfortunately, my total of forty-five has dropped by one: I recently discovered that the house I believed was Fall Creek Township’s old Spring Valley School wasn’t the school at all. It was close, though! Let me explain:
Continue reading “When a schoolhouse isn’t a schoolhouse”
I was cruising through the retail apocalypse that is East Washington Street in Indianapolis not long ago when a massive, empty building near the bypass caught my eye. It looked like it had a story to tell, but I didn’t know what it was. I took photos anyway! I later found out that the shell once housed a store you’ve probably forgotten, followed by one you definitely haven’t.
Continue reading “East Washington Plaza in Indianapolis”
Most of us have probably heard of the Masons, the Moose, the Elks, and the Eagles- fraternal organizations mostly named after animals whose lodges dot our local landscape. Some may have even heard of more obscure groups like the Odd Fellows or the Knights of Pythias! I’d only ever known Modern Woodmen of America through the distinctive grave markers left by some of its members, and it wasn’t until I stumbled across an old lodge hall in Eaton that the organization suddenly took on more of a physical presence.
Continue reading “A Modern Woodsmen hall in Eaton”
I lived with my dad in Elkhart during my sophomore year of high school and spent chunks of several summers there. Somewhere along the way, we discovered that we had a serious weakness for Mexican food. First, it was El Toro- a true hole-in-the-wall with tacos de lengua marked by an upside-down Toro lawnmower sign. Next was La Esperanza: it was the best food I’d ever eaten, and I finally made it back two decades later.
Continue reading “You CAN go back home again, at least to Elkhart’s La Esperanza”
Yesterday, Jim Grey compared finding work to riding a roller coaster: all you can do is hang on and trust that it will eventually end. Jim’s post hit pretty close to home for two reasons: on one hand, I’m deep into a frustrating and fruitless job search. On the other, I just unearthed a treasure trove of photos I took of the roller coasters at Indiana Beach. Somehow, it all felt fitting.
Continue reading “A hundred years of Indiana Beach”
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from tracking down Indiana’s old county homes, it’s that may of their stories barely sit still long enough to be told cleanly. Dates shift, origins blur, and every source seems to tell a slightly different version of how things began. The Montgomery County Home near Crawfordsville is exemplary.
Continue reading “Indiana’s Montgomery County Home”
Some buildings blend quietly into their surroundings. Others insist on being remembered. Sparta Christian Church does both! It’s thanks to the structure’s monumental architecture and bizarre neon sign.
Continue reading “The incongruous neon of Sparta Christian Church”