As a board member of the Delaware County Historical Society, one of my main responsibilities is editing our newsletter, the Society Quarterly. When I stopped by our resource center to work on the next edition, I found myself lingering outside in the quiet company of old stone.
Most people who pass by the resource center on East Washington Street are probably familiar with the massive cornerstone of the 1887 Delaware County Courthouse. Others have seen our statue of Charles Willard and wondered who he was. I have too, but this time, I noticed the other cornerstones and date blocks gathered nearby. Each one has its own story to tell.
The first I spied belonged to Christ Temple Church, originally built in 1922 at the corner of East Lowell and North Blaine in Muncie. The church eventually moved to Third and Vine, where services were held until 1936. That year, the congregation moved to 903 South Pershing Street1. More than half a century later, it relocated a final time to 654 North Jefferson2. The church remains there today.
Another block came from the long-lost Haymond Block, built in 1904 at 614 South Walnut Street. A handsome three-story building in the Richardson Romanesque style, it stood abandoned for years before being razed in 2007 to make way for the Walnut Street roundabout downtown3.
DCHS also features a stone from Smithfield Methodist Episcopal Church, built in 1905 in Liberty Township4. It replaced an earlier frame building lost to fire, but even the replacement didn’t last forever. Unfortunately, the brick church was torn down in 19705.
These remnants and more rest at the entrance to the Delaware County Historical Society. In some ways, they’re silent sentinels of the county’s changing landscape, and I’m glad I thought to inspect them. Next time you visit, take a moment to look down before heading in! You might just find a piece of history looking back.
Sources Cited
1 Colored Notes (1931, May 29). The Muncie Evening Press. p. 12.
2 Christ Temple Apolostolic Church members to walk to new site (1987, July 4). The Muncie Evening Press. p. 5.
3 Slabaugh, S. (2007, January 10). Roundabout bids to be opened. The Muncie Star Press. p. 3.
4 Spath, C. (2006, June 3). Smithfield once commercial center. The Muncie Star Press. p. 19.
5 Greene, D. (1971, May 14). Seen and Heard in Our Neighborhood. The Muncie Star. p. 4.
