Yesterday’s annual birthday history trip featured an ambitious itinerary: six county homes scattered across southern Indiana. I expected a long day of backroads, old buildings, and other roadside distractions, but what I didn’t anticipate was spending the first two hours of it in an emergency room, briefly wondering if I’d live to see the rest of my thirty-sixth year.
Regular readers know I’ve been selling a lot of stuff on Facebook. One of the latest things to go was a mammoth old Hi-Fi I unearthed from the shed, probably from the early sixties and built like a piece of fine furniture. Someone finally bought the beast on Friday, and I did most of the heavy lifting to get it into her truck. Afterwards, I went upstairs, worked on the blog, and fell asleep. Nothing was out of the ordinary.
That changed around three in the morning, when Zulu the cat climbed on top of me and startled me awake. I got out of bed and immediately felt an alarming tightness and pressure in my chest. I also felt weird- maybe groggy, maybe lightheaded, and possibly experiencing some growing pain in my right arm. Like any millennial confronting a potential medical emergency, I reached for my phone to go a-Googling.
A heart attack at thirty-six may sound far-fetched, but I had reason to take my symptoms seriously. My dad suffered a stroke at the same age, and I share several of his risk factors. I think I manage mine better, but they’re still there. I hoped I’d simply strained a muscle wrestling that big, bulky bastard into the truck, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something serious was wrong.
My brother drove me to Community Hospital in Anderson. Within minutes, an EKG, bloodwork, and a chest X-ray revealed nothing life-threatening; just some pulled muscles. I was discharged in less than two hours, very grateful that a scary morning hadn’t turned into something worse. Mom was understandably shaken, but I reassured her that I’d been tested and cleared to leave. With that peace of mind, we pointed the car towards Columbus and got on with our adventure.
The mid-century modern Bartholomew County Home was completed in 19591. The building features a folded plate roof and replaced an older structure that stood just north of the Bartholomew County Fairgrounds2. Today, the modern infirmary is home to the Salvation Army Columbus Corps.
Mom and I made a pit stop before we left Columbus and stopped at this gas station, which offered “tenderloin, fish, chicken, hamburger.” I was starving after my early trip to the emergency room, and could have done with one! Unfortunately, the lone tenderloin was long sold out, and someone just ahead of me bought the hamburger. There’s always next time, I guess.
The Scott County Infirmary was next. The landmark was built around 1890 and closed in 1973. Some county officials moved there once the government grew larger than Scottsburg’s tiny courthouse could handle, but today the building is home to the Scott County Heritage Center and Museum3.
Our next stop on my list was the old Floyd County Home in New Albany. As we zoomed towards it, Mom pointed out the Long Line tower I snapped a photo of last time we were down there! Built around 19164, the infirmary has long since closed. Today, it’s part of Floyd County’s solid waste department campus. Yesterday was trash drop-off day, and business was booming by the time we arrived.
Crawford County’s old infirmary was next. What appears to be a farmhouse and some outbuildings are all that remain just northeast of Switzer’s Crossroads. The home itself sits about two hundred feet back from East Curby Road. I know very little about this place aside from that it seems to have closed in 19465, but I’m excited to take a deep dive.
The penultimate county home of the day stood northeast of Paoli, where we paused to stretch our legs on the gorgeous courthouse grounds. Soon, a motorcade celebrating the Pride of Paoli marching band’s fifteenth ISSMA Class D championship earlier that day rounded the Lancaster square.
The Orange County Infirmary opened in 1913 and operated until 19676. I understood the building to be in ramshackle condition from my last look on Google Street View, but an extensive renovation was underway! Just across the street sits a small potter’s field cemetery.
What’s left of the Brown County Poor Farm was the last infirmary of the day. Standing at the southeast edge of Nashville, the proud old building closed in 1963 and now serves as administrative offices for theBrown County School Corporation. With that, my tenth annual birthday history trip drew to a close, and Mom and I headed back home. I was beat and fell asleep almost immediately, but I can’t wait to start researching the intriguing places we stopped.
Along with the six I visited yesterday, I’ve been to seven more county homes I haven’t written about yet: Benton, Carroll, Fountain, Kosciusko, Marion (at Julietta, seen above), Tippecanoe, and Whitley. I have six more left to visit west of Indianapolis, in Clay, Hendricks, Owen (there are two there), Parke, and Sullivan Counties. I should be able to wrap those up in a single day and I’m excited to see them in person.
All things considered, yesterday was a pretty memorable birthday! I hadn’t planned on starting it with an emergency, but the scare ended with six more county homes crossed off my list, four hundred miles of Indiana interstates and backroads, and another great day spent with my mom. I’m grateful for all of it, even the drama at three in the morning. I’ve spent a lot of the past year being reminded how quickly life can change, and yesterday was another nudge not to take good health, good company, and the opportunity for another adventure for granted.
Sources Cited1 Huffman, S. (1959, March 13). More Folks Want In County Home. The Columbus Herald. p. 1.
2 County Home, Planning Body To Be Studied (1956, June 1). The Columbus Evening Republican. p. 1.
3 National Register of Historic Places. Scott County Home, Scottsburg, Scott County, Indiana. National Register #00000536.
4 Floyd County Infirmary (2025, January 15). Asylum Projects. Web. Retrieved November 7, 2026.
5 Crawford County Poor Farm (2026, March 5). Asylum Projects. Web. Retrieved November 7, 2026.
6 Orange County Infirmary (2026, March 14). Asylum Projects. Web. Retrieved November 7, 2026.
Sorry to hear you had such a scare, I hope you’re minding your health and watching your diet .
You are surrounded by so much history, it’s amazing .
-Nate