I was driving through rural LaGrange County when I saw a schoolhouse. As I pulled over for a closer look, I wondered if I’d have any luck researching the school and it’s history since its so far from where I usually roam. Fortunately, I have the archives of the old Topeka Journal on hand! They filled in much of the story.
Continue reading “Eden Township’s Thompson schoolhouse in LaGrange County”
It’s been a while since much demolition was visible at the doomed Muncie Mall, and I’m beginning to get antsy. I emailed its owner to ask when the process might resume and, more importantly, when my stats might start climbing again! Of course, I heard nothing but crickets. Instead of an update, I decided to look at where some of the mall’s old stores have wound up instead. As it turns out, the Muncie Mall diaspora hasn’t scattered very far. In a couple of cases, groups of two or three former tenants are right next to each other!
Continue reading “Where them stores at? These have moved on from Muncie Mall”
A schoolhouse has anchored what’s now the southwest corner of County Road 200 South and State Road 5 in rural Grant County for well over a century. As early as the 1860s, an institution serving Monroe Township’s District 7 stood there on land owned by James Hults1.
Continue reading “Monroe Township’s Center schoolhouse in Grant County”
The old LaGrange County Home sits quietly beside a subdivision that’s been folded into a golf course. The arrangement’s so neat and modern that it almost erases what came before! Fairways roll where fields once stretched, and tidy homes stand where outbuildings and farm operations supported the institution’s daily life. If I hadn’t known exactly what to look for, I would’ve driven right past without a second thought. Fortunately, I found it.
Continue reading “Indiana’s LaGrange County Home”
A Grant County News page on Facebook with 60,000 followers and a 96% recommendation rate says that the Roses discount department store at Marion’s shuttered Five Points Mall has closed for good1. If true, the news follows a lengthy temporary closure as store and mall management dealt with the aging building’s condition. Given the state of Five Points, I can’t say I’m shocked.
Continue reading “Pour one out for Marion’s Roses?”
Maybe you’ve seen it on national news from CBS1 or NBC2, but my hometown of Muncie, Indiana, is dealing with a hundred-year flood right now. The White River through town, the Mississinewa in northern Delaware County, and all their tributaries are cresting near record heights. Businesses have shut down, residents have been evacuated by boat, and with more rain on the horizon through the weekend, it’s hard to tell what might happen next.
Continue reading “Muncie’s hundred-year flood”
My brother and I were greeted by a loud hum when we rolled up to Lafayette Square Mall’s Shoppers World. Two enormous generators sat near the loading docks, while a sign inside said the restrooms were unavailable. Apparently, the last store at Indianapolis’ otherwise-empty mall was running on its own! Surrounded by about 800,000 square feet of vacant retail and fifty acres of parking, it’s crazy that the place remains open.
Continue reading “The last store at Lafayette Square”
Researching Huntington County’s old Ginger Hill schoolhouse -District 8 in Jackson Township- introduced something I’d never seen before: an 1879 plat map that shows it as “Contemplated S.H. No. 81!” Indeed, that’s the year it was built on land owned by William Brown2.
Continue reading “Jackson Township’s Ginger Hill schoolhouse in Huntington County”
I’ve been selling a ton of stuff on Facebook Marketplace (where I’m highly rated, I must add) over the past few months. One of the first things to go was a vintage General Foam Santa Choo-Choo and Tender Car from the seventies, but I got ripped off after failing to do enough research about it. I made a solemn oath that I wouldn’t get caught flat-footed if the opportunity ever appeared again! When I inherited thirteen more vintage blow molds, I came prepared.
Continue reading “Santa heads, giant pumpkins, and one weird goose”
It’s been a while since I last visited an old pioneer cemetery. Not long ago, my Mom and I found ourselves on Muncie’s southeast side. On the way home, we made a quick stop at Parker Moore Cemetery, one of only a handful of historic burial grounds in Delaware County’s Center Township. Thousands of motorists race past it every day on Memorial Drive as they head toward the Muncie Bypass, but I suspect very few ever pull over for a closer look. I’m a contrarian, so of course I had to.
Continue reading “Muncie’s hidden Parker Moore Cemetery”