Last year, I wrote about my five-year stint as the owner of a pair of pizza robots– the kinds that danced and sang back in the seventies, eighties, and nineties while you played arcade games or waited for your pizza to arrive. Last October, I provided a quick update. Today, I finally have another.
Continue reading “Another robo update”
Last month, my stepdad came down from the attic with a dusty box of postcards his mom had collected over the years and asked if I wanted to take a look. I did! Most of them were what you’d expect -scenic views, roadside attractions, and a random one from North Webster, Indiana- but tucked between the usual suspects were vibrant little advertisements for motels that once dotted the American highway. I picked out ten of my favorites to share.
Continue reading “Ten old motels, pictured in postcards”
My stepdad was up in the attic the other day when he unearthed an enormous box of postcards his mom had collected. When I came by for a visit, he asked if I wanted to dig into them. I flipped through scenes from all over the place, including a couple of Indianapolis landmarks like the statehouse and the Indiana War Memorial. Then another Indiana card caught my eye: a snapshot of the old North Webster Motel! I’d been through the Kosciusko County community countless times, but couldn’t remember ever seeing a motel. I had to know if it was still there.
Continue reading “Captured in print: the North Webster Motel”
A couple of years back, I was scrolling through old plat maps of land near my neighborhood when I stumbled on a landowner with one of the funniest names I’d ever seen: Squire Fimple. I did a little digging into who he was, then tucked the name away in the back of my mind until this past weekend. I was poking around Collins Cemetery in suburban Muncie when a tall pink granite stone caught my eye. To my surprise, I was standing at the grave of none other than Squire Fimple himself!
Continue reading “Squire Fimple is my homeboy”
The rail yard looked like a bust this month from the door to my office. All I spied were blank cars hardly worth a second glance! I had a hunch that the view might be better out in the field, though, so I wandered out among the tracks early one chilly morning. Sure enough, my trip paid off. Welcome to the August 2025 edition of railcar spotting.
Continue reading “Railcar spotting: August, 2025”
An imposing cluster of old buildings along US-27 between Richmond and Liberty was a riddle to me as a kid. My family passed them on the way to camping trips, and their red brick and silent windows hinted at a story I didn’t know. I saw them again on a courthouse trip fifteen years later, but it wasn’t until much more recently that I learned their secret: the landmarks we’d passed were once the Smith-Esteb Memorial Hospital, a tuberculosis sanitarium that served Wayne County.
Continue reading “Richmond’s Smith-Esteb Memorial Hospital”
A few years back, the old high school gymnasium in tiny Wilkinson, Indiana, made national headlines when its 11,000-square-foot shell hit the market as a jaw-dropping half-gym, half-home hybrid. The story bounced around everywhere, from USA Today1 and The New York Times2 to The New York Post3 and Sports Illustrated4! For all the viral buzz, though, one thing was missing: the backstory. What was this place before it became real estate clickbait? What about the old school it once served? I had to dig a little deeper to find out.
Continue reading “The surprising gym-turned-home in Wilkinson”
I work at a factory that makes plastic pellets. They eventually get melted and molded into nearly everything you could imagine. Before that happens, though, the pellets get pumped into a series of towering silos outside. One of those 100-foot giants needed an inspection the other day, which meant that someone had to scale it. I was lucky enough to get a look at the view from the top. The photos were totally worth the vertigo!
Continue reading “A view from the top”
Back in March, I shared a post about the historic hotels of Camp Chesterfield. Then in April, I wrote about the powerful winds that ripped through the grounds, destroying the vintage neon sign on the camp’s Western Hotel. In the wake of the storm, Camp Chesterfield reached out to its community and asked for help to recover and rebuild. Just a few days ago, they announced some wonderful news: the iconic sign has been fully restored and is glowing once again.
Continue reading “Restored: the historic neon sign of the Western Hotel”
Most people don’t think twice about tornado sirens unless it’s noon on a Friday or if a supercell’s headed their way. For better or worse, I’m not one of those people: I obsess about overlooked infrastructure! I just can’t help noticing it, and sirens are some of my favorites. One of them in Hancock County is hard to miss- it’s loud, sure, but it’s also painted bright green!
Continue reading “The green siren of Green Township”