Photographing History

October 9th 2016 was the annual (or what some hope will become annual) reunion at Jungle Park Speedway in Parke County.  We managed to miss a great portion of it, but still got to see some pieces of history that only few will actually remember. The Speedway has changed a great deal since we were there in June.  You can actually walk the track (which we did) and drive it (which we did as well.  I have video of that). The 'jungle' of native trees and weeds has been cut down to reveal the old out buildings, and more pieces of the old track. You can now see why turn 3 & 4 were so dangerous all those years ago. Standing on the track in that small stretch between those last two corners of the track, I could picture cars speeding into turn 3, sliding into the short straightaway before turn 4, and not slowing enough to make the turn and ramping the high bank and landing on SR 41 just before the bridge that goes over Sugar Creek. Walking among the old cars was a un...

Almost 3 years ago, my boss approached me and said "hey, do you want to be on the Bicentennial Committee?" I said ok, and the commitment began. Bicentennial Committee... Indiana became a state in December 1816.  Centennial was in 1916, Clay County, along with a few others, did not participate in the state celebration.  2016.  Bicentennial.  The state decided to do a 92 counties in 37 day Torch Relay.  We needed to participate. Clay County bowed out of participating in 1916.  So the planning began. Monthly Meetings.  Paperwork from the state.  Nominations for Torch Bearers.   A celebration. Long story short. We made it.  We worked our butts off, without a lot of cooperation from some in the area.  We made it.  We had 19 out of 20 Torchbearers, we had a celebration at the Courthouse... but most of all we had an experience we'll never forget. The Torchbearers 1st Row - Hayden Slater, Jacob Baskins, Hank Slater, Hann...

I've been rather lapsed in writing here.  Work things, being sick & the holidays have taken it's tole on my computer time. That said, I have a list of blog posts that I started and never managed to finish.  I'm hoping that things calm down enough and my back & shoulder stops throbbing enough for me to be productive and finish the posts. I'm also looking for more ideas for posts & trips this summer.  If anyone knows of something that might be of interest and that I can research a bit before the trip to it, let me know.  Would prefer day trips if at all possible. Thanks.

The creek  Nestled in the hills of Southern Indiana is a 1319 acre state park.  Spring Mill State Park gives it's visitors a chance to explore caves, capture the serene beauty of the woodlands, and take a walk back in time. Or visit the Virgil I. Grissom Memorial at the entrance to the park. Wildlife and birds are abundant in the park.  It's not uncommon to see wading birds in Spring Mill Lake, or to see deer, raccoons and other animals throughout the day.  The caves are home to fish, bats and spiders. The main attraction of the park is the Pioneer Village.  It takes you back close to 200 years in history to some of the first settlers in Indiana.  Thanks to Samuel Jackson, Jr., a young Canadian soldier from the War of 1812, and his vision of building a log cabin and a grist mill in the Indiana Territory, the Pioneer Village has survived the ownership of many people until 1927.  In 1927, Richard Lieber, the father of Indiana's state park syst...

I've always had an infatuation with the Indiana Theatre.  Last night, I went 'behind the scenes' after hours on a tour.  It fascinates me even more so now. In 1920, Theodore W. Barhydt sold the Hippodrome Theatre(located at 727 Ohio Street) and founded the Indiana Theatre Corporation.   Mr. Barhydt was a prominent Terre Haute business man with ties to the Terre Haute House, Grand Opera House, Varieties Theatre, and the Hippodrome.  The Hippodrome still stands today.  It is now the home of the AASR . The Hippodrome as it stands today.  It is the oldest remaining vaudeville theater in America.  It was built at the cost of $100,000 The John Schumacher Company of Indianapolis was the builder.  Cost of Construction was $1,000,000 in 1922 dollars.  That would be roughly $13,671,965.32 today.  Construction consisted of: 1,665,000 bricks 7,250 yards of excavation 24.500 square feet of cement floor 283 tons of steel all fa...