Indiana Album

Winona Lake, 1921 - Tragedy struck the Winona Assembly and Summer School on August 25, 1921 when this Curtiss airplane promoting Rainbow Records crashed east of Warsaw. It killed both passengers, including the teenaged half brother of Homer Rodeheaver, gospel music publisher, pioneer in sacred music records, and choir director for Evangelist Billy Sunday.

For the previous six weeks, Lieutenant Lynn D. Merrill had been giving rides to locals in his plane painted to promote Rodeheaver's religious records. On the 25th, his student Jack Rodeheaver was piloting when he had difficulties. Some speculated that the young student passed out due to the altitude. Merrill was seen standing up from his back seat and reaching toward Rodeheaver or the controls, but fell out and plunged to his death. The plane continued and crashed in a cornfield near Dalton Foundry and the fairgrounds. Rodeheaver's injuries were too severe and he died soon after impact. The Rodeheavers were long remembered in the area through the Rodeheaver Auditorium, renamed the Winona Heritage Room in about 2015, and the Rodeheaver family home on Rainbow Point overlooking Winona Lake. [The Indiana Album: Nedra (Wise) Wilcoxson Collection]

Learn more about the accident in this detailed article from the Warsaw Daily Times (but we warn you that it is very graphic, as was typical of the era). http://yesteryear.clunette.com/rodeh.html

See a photo of Lieutenant Merrill with Homer Rodeheaver in the comments.

Pierceton (in Kosciusko County) once had hundreds of acres of h**p growing in nearby fields. The John L. and Ida (Brower) Andreas family grew h**p (Cannabis) between 1909 and the 1920s and also manufactured and installed h**p-breaking machinery. They employed several African Americans with h**p experience in Kentucky, where h**p farming was more common. Here, h**p workers demonstrate equipment in the Pierceton Railroad Park, now Brower Park, in about 1915. The workers stayed in cabins in a catalpa grove northeast of town, but had to leave after the growing season because Pierceton was known as a sundown town that did not allow Blacks in town after dark. Learn more about Andreas, who also cut ice from his pond and sold it from an ice house on his farm. http://bit.ly/2pk0ciD.

H**p, used to make rope, twine, paper, and other products, declined in popularity in the 1920s and 1930s for many reasons, including cheaper foreign labor, the use of jute and the introduction of synthetic materials, and a heavy tax. Even though it has not been farmed locally for decades, the plant still grows wild along the roadside in Kosciusko County and is known as ditch w**d.

Indiana Album director Joan Hostetler will be presenting "Picturing Pierceton" and two scan-a-thons in Pierceton this weekend. Details here: https://www.inkfreenews.com/2024/06/17/picturing-pierceton-community-history-scan-a-thons-june-22-23/

Postcard loaned by Charles and Valda Collier. Charles's grandfather, Marion Miller, is in the back row. Others pictured are Dick and Floyd Brower and Elic (?).

Wanted: Huntington County Experts! - Thanks to the generosity of Harley Sheets, we recently scanned over 200 postcards, photos, and ephemera from Huntington County. Local residents can save us cataloging time by providing details, particularly locations of buildings. Simply view the photos on Dropbox (no account necessary) and email us a list with the details (we accept Word, Google Docs, or simply a list in an email to [email protected]). Please refer to the *last* number in the photograph catalog number in the file name, such #1 in image ia-0183-c001-0001.

Please be as specific as possible, providing addresses, intersection corners, or even coordinates (latitude and longitude). For example, "NE corner of N. Jefferson and E. Market Sts.," 407 N. Jefferson St.," or "40-88208 - 85.49492." We also welcome details such as 1. does the building still stand?, 2. who owned the business depicted?, 3. who was the architect?, 4. how else has the building been used (list of other occupants through the years)?, and 5. names of people shown.

Dropbox Link to the Harley Sheets / Huntington County Collection: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/wn93awpdw0ufor45wxtzz/AJO15c1iBdDEszQbUhtLtGs?rlkey=irj75zi71lioqgdo16pjkhsoe&st=4bzxfiul&dl=0

Happy Flag Day! Today is the anniversary of the Continental Congress's adoption of the design of the American flag on June 14, 1777. Recorded in the minutes is "Resolved, that the Flag of the thirteen United States shall be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the Union be thirteen stars, white on a blue field, representing a new constellation."

The 13 stripes have remained fairly constant (with the exception of 15 stripes for a few years), but stars are added to the flag on the Fourth of July following a new state's admission. To date, there have been 27 official versions of the flag, and the arrangement and number of stars seen in this chart helps us date photos. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_flags_of_the_United_States

Here is a sampling of U.S. flags from our community digital archive.

Indianapolis, circa 1925 - Does anyone recognize a grandfather or great-grandfather among this group of eight Black men posed in front of the Indianapolis City Hall on Alabama Street? We recognize the distinctive doors and estimate the date as circa 1925 based on their clothing, but there is no identification on the back. Did they work there? Were they part of an organization that met there? We welcome suggestions. (See a close-up of faces in the comments.)

(The Indiana Album: Joan Hostetler Collection)

Angola - Children ride in a rowboat on one of the 100+ lakes in Steuben County. A typed caption on the back reads "Fox Lake .. Angola, Indiana Summer, 1948 / Jane Roscoe [later Thomas] -- Claudine Malone - Donald (Duck) Anderson."

Fox Lake was developed as a Black lake resort in the late 1920s at a time when African Americans were excluded from most lake communities. It is still a thriving summer destination with many cottages occupied by second- or third-generation families. Please share your memories or stories about Fox Lake.

The Indiana Album: Fox Lake Resort, Angola / Dixon Family Collection

Our picnic photo from a Wabash County collection was featured today by PastPerfect Software, our cataloging software developer. We love using this product and are always happy to assist Indiana archives and museums with the program and metadata questions.

We asked each of our staff to choose a favorite item from one of the many online collections. This artifact was selected from the online collection of the Indiana Album: Wabash County Real Photo Postcard Album Collection by Jessica.

She writes, "Welcome, Summer! This photograph from the Indiana Album’s Wabash County Real Photo Postcard Album Collection reminds me of many things I enjoy about summer: outside activities, spending time with family, and enjoying the fruits of summer. This picnic scene eating watermelon is a one many folks can relate to even though the photo is from circa 1910. It’s nice to remember some simple pastimes haven’t changed that much (although we usually cut our watermelon before the picnic)."

You can learn more about this image and others from the Indiana Album Collection by visiting https://indianaalbum.pastperfectonline.com/photo/57AE521E-955C-4B7C-8BEE-398225757137.

Woodruff Place, Indianapolis, circa 1875 - Thousands of shoppers will explore the grounds of the beautiful Woodruff Place Historic Neighborhood this weekend for the Woodruff Place Flea Market (Sun. hours are 10-5, see details in the comments). Saturday's rain hurt sales, so there are still plenty of bargains today!

This rare stereoview looks north toward 10th St. (then Clifford Ave.) at an urn and gazebo in the esplanade of West Drive. The undated image has the words “Woodruff Place, Indianapolis” written on the back label for landscape photographer C. S. Judd. It is one of the earliest known views of Woodruff Place, taken shortly after development. Details include the narrow paved streets (later widened for cars), street lamps, the stone fence along 10th Street in the distance, young trees in the esplanade, an ornate gazebo, and flowers planted in a metal urn on a pedestal.

Woodruff Place was planned as an exclusive residential suburb on about 80 acres located directly east of the U. S. Arsenal between Tenth (then Clifford Avenue) and Michigan Sts. James Orton Woodruff (1840-1879), a New York native who settled in Indianapolis in 1870 as superintendent of the Indianapolis Water Works, bought the land in 1872. John H. B. Nowland, author of Sketches of Prominent Citizens of 1876, described Woodruff as “rather below the medium size, light hair and complexion, courteous and affable in manner; his whole contour at once stamps him as a gentleman of culture and education, and such as would command respect from all with whom he is associated.”

The property had originally been purchased in 1821 by Rev. Rezin Hammond at a land sale in Brookville. Nowland wrote: “I recollect well when Mr. Hammond was traveling through the country making selections to purchase. This land [known as Hammond’s Woods or the Dark Woods] had remained without any improvements whatever until purchased by Mr. Woodruff; he paid the heirs of Mr. Hammond two hundred and forty thousand dollars, and since has expended two hundred and fifty thousand in improving and ornamenting the grounds.” Woodruff’s grand house designed by William Le Barron Jenney was the first to be constructed in 1872. Unfortunately, the financial Panic of 1873 forced Woodruff to sell his unfinished development and he returned to New York where his early death at age 39 came as he prepared to launch his next big project: the Woodruff Scientific Expedition Around the World, an early University at Sea concept. Residents incorporated Woodruff Place as a separate town in 1876 and a group of investors carried out Woodruff’s plans, but few homes were built until the 1890s due to the depression.

See more views in the comments -- and please let us know if you have any stereoviews from Judd's Woodruff Place series that we can copy. Contact us at [email protected].

Probably near Huntington, circa 1895 - Oil erupts from a wooden derrick at a well assumed to be near Huntington County since the photographer was Amos Bowers of Huntington. The lender's relative William Spencer Mason (1874-1952) worked as a brakeman at an unknown Huntington oil field. Can anyone confirm the location of this oil well? Do you have photos documenting Indiana's gas boom that we may copy?

Indiana's gas boom occurred from the early 1880s until the early 20th century, after discovery of the Trenton Gas Field, a natural gas belt in northeastern Indiana and Ohio. The field also contained an estimated one billion barrels of oil. Unfortunately, developers and town leaders did not understand the science and dismissed experts claims that the wells would run dry. Users wasted an estimated 90% of the natural gas, often burning flambeaus atop the wells. Without the gas pressure to remove the oil, production almost came to a standstill by the early 1900s. Some estimate that over 900 million barrels of oil remain, but today's artificial lift technology to remove the oil is not a cost effective method of extraction.

Source - The Indiana Album: Bonnie Andrews Family Collection

Indianapolis - The Westside Outing and Social Club looks like a place that would have good stories! The Zunk family operated the club and restaurant that served the Haughville neighborhood from the 1930s through about 1990. It was frequented by card players, local Democrats, police, and even visted by actor Paul Newman. Please share your memories of this westside club.

As of 2024, the building houses Divine Blessings Childcare Ministry.

Read more at Historic Indianapolis: http://historicindianapolis.com/indianapolis-then-and-now-westside-outing-and-social-club-710-n-warman-avenue/ (The Indiana Album: Joan Hostetler Collection)

Wabash - Scrap dealers like the Simon Cook Company were the original recyclers, reclaiming and selling salvaged metal, rags, hides, fur, paper, and other surplus resources. Historically, over 80% of U.S. scrapyards were owned by Jewish families.

Simon A. Cook (1854-1935), a Jewish native of Russia seen to the left in this circa 1910s postcard, was in the junk business in Wabash as early as 1880 and built his limestone warehouse near the SE corner of W. Water and S. Main Sts. in 1890. We suspect that this view looks north from about 55 W. Water St., but would appreciate a confirmation.

The Cooks sold the company in the 1920s and A. Sposeep & Sons operated the business until it closed in 2018. The historic Cook/Sposeep Building at 55 W. Water Street still stands and the community is currently seeking a developer and new use for the structure.

(The Indiana Album: Cook Family Collection. Our thanks to Sally Cook for sharing her family photos!)

Indianapolis, circa 1908 - These two wonderful photos of the steamboat "Helen Gould" came to us at our last scan-a-thon. Captain Orla Edgington plied his pleasure excursion boat on the White River from 1899 until about 1909. Shown here are students and alumni of Lain's Business College in about 1907 or 1908, posing near the dock just north of the 30th Street Bridge across from Riverside Amusement Park and the Indianapolis Canoe Club. Click on the photos for more details.

Our thanks to Timothy Peterson for sharing copies of these rare views.

Mystery Solved! We assumed that the location of this cabin, documented by amateur photographer Walter Long in about 1912-1915, would never be identified, but we think we've figured it out. We know that Long visited Kuhn and Barbee and other nearby lakes and suspected that it was taken in northeastern Indiana because of the many Ft. Wayne Fair posters. But we got lucky when researching the Barbee Hotel and stumbled upon newspaper clippings about Ft. Wayne veterinarian Dr. William F. Myers, who tragically died from a gunshot wound while hunting on Thanksgiving in 1915.

His obituary states: “He had an old fashioned cottage, The Old Kentucky Home, on the very brink of Lake Barbee, whose walls, floor and ceiling were covered with relics and skins, and it was his great delight to entertain visitors, giving the history of each article, and if none existed, he would manufacture one, that would make the hearers gasp for breath.” It also explains that "he was prominent for years in the Fort Wayne fair." Based on other portraits in newspapers, Dr. Myers is the man on the left. He was the great uncle of actress Carole Lombard (his sister Mary Myers Peters was Lombard's grandmother).

If anyone has information about his Old Kentucky Home (see an exterior view in the comments), please let us know.

(Negative by Walter Long from the Indiana Album: Jack Phillips Collection)

Reminder! We hope you'll join us tomorrow for
"Historic Photographs from Indiana's Attic:
The Indiana Album's Greatest Hits"
Free Presentation: Sunday, May 19, 2024, 2:00-3:00 pm
Scan-a-Thon: Sunday, May 19, 2024, 1:00-4:00 pm

Joan Hostetler, one of the Indiana Album’s founders, will showcase some amazing then-and-now images, review sources for dating and identifying photos, and zoom-in on details that help interpret social history. The program will especially focus on Indianapolis architectural history.

Bring along your interesting Indiana photos for us to copy. Throughout the afternoon (1:00-4:00), volunteers will be available to scan your images. (We are also available to meet any time at your home or a local library, so feel free to schedule an appointment via [email protected] or 317-771-4129.)

For over 12 years, The Indiana Album, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting the state’s visual history, has copied, cataloged, and shared significant, interesting, and mystery photos of Indiana found in attics and albums throughout Indiana. View some of the 25,000+ photos and documents shared so far by over 540 lenders in Indiana's community digital archive: https://indianaalbum.pastperfectonline.com/RandomImages

Presented by the Irvington Historical Society at the Bona Thompson Memorial Center, 5350 University Avenue, Indianapolis IN. This presentation is part of the Irvington Historical Society’s exhibit, "The Big Picture," supported by Indiana Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Check out the Irvington Historical Society’s webpage for current exhibits: https://www.irvingtonhistory.org/visit/exhibits/

We passed a milestone this weekend! Thanks to 540 generous lenders across the state and beyond, we have now cataloged over 25,000 items for Indiana's community digital archive. The snapshot that pushed us past 25k depicts Sparky and Cleo Milzarek, who posed by their Ford pickup in front of Mercer's Garage in Wellsboro / Union Mills (LaPorte County) in 1948. See the comments for a view of the photo and a link to the other 57 photos of Mercer's Garage gas station customers.

"Historic Photographs from Indiana's Attic:
The Indiana Album's Greatest Hits"
Free Presentation: Sunday, May 19, 2024, 2:00-3:00 pm
Scan-a-Thon: Sunday, May 19, 2024, 1:00-4:00 pm

Joan Hostetler, one of the Indiana Album’s founders, will showcase some amazing then-and-now views, review sources for dating and identifying photos, and zoom-in on details that help interpret social history. The program will especially focus on Indianapolis architectural history.

Bring along your interesting Indiana photos for us to copy. Throughout the afternoon (1:00-4:00), volunteers will be available to scan your images. Scanning reservations are requested: contact us at [email protected] if you plan to bring items. (We are also available to meet any time at your home or a local library, so feel free to schedule an appointment via our email or 317-771-4129.)

For over 12 years, The Indiana Album, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting the state’s visual history, has copied, cataloged, and shared significant, interesting, and mystery photos of Indiana found in attics and albums throughout Indiana. View some of the 25,000+ photos and documents shared so far by over 540 lenders in Indiana's community digital archive: https://indianaalbum.pastperfectonline.com/RandomImages

Presented by the IIrvington Historical Societyat the Bona Thompson Memorial Center, 5350 University Avenue, Indianapolis IN. This presentation is part of the Irvington Historical Society’s exhibit, "The Big Picture," supported by IIndiana Humanitiesand the NNational Endowment for the Humanities

Check the Irvington Historical Society’s webpage for current exhibits: https://www.irvingtonhistory.org/visit/exhibits/

People often tell us that they have discarded their faded, damaged, or unidentified family photos. Please keep them since technology such as facial recognition, image enhancement software, and scientific analysis can bring out hidden details or help us learn the sitters' identities.

This X-ray technique excites us since there is a heavily tarnished circa 1850s daguerreotype at the Indiana State Library that we would love to view. It shows the congregation of an Indianapolis church in front of the home of prominent pioneer James Blake.

Lost Faces Found: New Tech Reveals Hidden Images in Early Photographs A team of Canadian and US researchers has demonstrated incredible results when restoring old corroded daguerreotypes (very early types of photos), via a technique known as synchrotron imaging – using X-ray beams to precisely identify material compositions.

Union Mills High School Millers basketball team, 1948-1949. The only people identified so far are coach Charles P. Sanders, center, and player Dean Werner, 4th from the right.

Do you have Union Mills roots? We need your help to identify people in photos recently scanned at the Union Mills Branch of Laporte County Library. Many of the photos show Union Mills High School students and teams from the late 1940s. See the Robert Werner Family Collection here: https://tinyurl.com/uudnsaas

If you recognize anyone or can provide more details, click the "Send Us Feedback" button above the image in our catalog record. Tell us full names if known, including women's married names. If you prefer to email us at [email protected], please include the image number (e.g. ia-0538-0014).

Please share with your Union Mills friends! Thanks!

In the news - The photos you share with the Indiana Album are used for a variety of reasons. Here, WISH-TV included a portrait of Moy Kee and his wife, Chinese American restaurant owners, in a story about Asian American businesses.

Indianapolis is a historical home for Asian American and Pacific Islander businesses Indianapolis is a historical home for Asian American and Pacific Islander businesses. News 8's Cat Sandoval reports.

Barbee Lake, Kosciusko County - Nestled between Big and Little Barbee Lakes at Kuhn's Landing sits the Barbee Hotel, a historic hotel and restaurant with roots dating back to about 1897.

The first building on the site, captured in this 1911 photograph by John Inbody, bore the name Hotel Ormond. Arthur W. and Clara A. (Eley) Davison took over as proprietors in 1910, offering hotel rooms, a restaurant, and adjacent cottages. Clara continued to operate the hotel after her husband's death in 1913, marketing it to vacationers as an excellent spot for boating and fishing with home-cooked meals. Unfortunately, the Ormand burned down on the afternoon of April 17, 1921, displacing Davison as well as many guests.

By May of 1923, Davison managed the New Barbee Hotel (2nd photo), built by Chicago resident Charles H. Lincoln. Their initial relationship is unknown, but they married in 1927 and jointly operated the new hotel (advertised as "New" until at least 1931) until they sold it in the 1940s. Advertisements touted the resort as an ideal vacation destination with a beautiful lobby and lakeside dining room. Rates were $4 per day or $25 per week, inclusive of Southern-style meals (Mrs. Lincoln traveled south to select seasonal cooks). Two cows provided fresh milk and an adjacent orchard was used as a playground.

The color photo, courtesy of Visit Kosciusko County, shows the hotel more recently. Today the restaurant features photos of well-known former guests, including Al Capone and Babyface Nelson. Staff and visitors claim that the building is haunted and that cigar smoke flows from under the door of room 301 -- Capone's favorite room. Please share any memories, stories, or photos of the hotel.

Our thanks to David Willkie and William Gulde for sharing their historic photographs.

Pierceton - Old negatives often feature sharp details, but, unfortunately, they frequently lack captions. Initially we speculated that this unidentified woman might be churning butter, making ice cream, hauling items, or pulling a home-made lawn roller. But the actual reason was more peculiar.

Fortunately we stumbled upon the identity of this mystery woman and her reason for pulling barrels. A human-interest article in a Warsaw newspaper recounted the unusual incident as a friendly wager. In July 1910, Isaac L. G. Scott of Pierceton made a bet with Barbara Baumgartner, his wife's aunt, that she couldn't roll empty sugar barrels from Pierceton to his farm home 1 1/2 miles north of town. (They lived in the house that still stands between Van Ness Rd. and US 30, now owned by Scott Farms.)

In preparation, Barbara's niece Kitty took her to town where she purchased the barrels from the McMeekin Store (now the site of The Post). Gene Underwood, foreman of the planing mill, helped her make a frame using broom-handle axles and a wire pull. A crowd greeted her at the end of her 35-minute walk, which is possibly when amateur photographer Walter "Ducky" Long made this negative. Her reward from Scott was two barrels full of potatoes and a ham. Unfortunately the article didn't explain why she was challenged with this odd bet.

For those with potential family ties, the woman in question is Barbara (Ruch) Baumgartner (1868-1944) of Elkhart, later known as Barbara Schlemmer of North Manchester. Her sister Sarah and husband William R. Schaefer lived in Pierceton and were the parents of Kitty Scott as well as several sons who operated a photo studio, motion picture theatre, and other businesses in Pierceton in the early 1900s. (Source: Warsaw Daily Union, July 21, 1910, p. 3)

[Note: the digitized negative was enhanced with MyHeritage In Color™.]

Wanted to Copy: Early cased images by Indiana photographers - Are you lucky enough to have daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, or tintypes of your Hoosier ancestors? Do you collect these images? Check the brass mat, velvet case cover, or notes to see if the photographer is credited. Fewer than 5% are maker marked, so we want to copy more examples for our archive and Directory of Historic Indiana Photographers.

This one is stamped: "Metropolitan Gallery / Indianapolis Ind." The mat style dates it to the late 1850s. The Metropolitan Gallery, located in College Hall at 43 1/2 E. Washington Street, had several owners in the late 1850s, including William H. Weeks (1855-1856), Weeks and Henry W. Mendenhall (1855), Martin L. Ohr (1857-1858), Ohr and Frank Bailey (1858), Bailey and Spurgin (1858-1859), and Weeks and Cox (1859-1862).

Most of the examples we have seen are from Indianapolis, but a few photographers in Ft. Wayne, Richmond, Peru, and other Indiana towns also marked their cased images.

ABOUT LENDING: We only make a copy --you keep your original, we credit you, plus we give you the high resolution scan. Another perk is that we provide free photo preservation or image dating advice. The person pictured does not have to be identified. Contact us as [email protected].

We are always interested in learning more about Indiana photographers, past to present, for our directory of photographers: https://indianaalbum.com/photographers/

We are so grateful to the Indiana Genealogical Society for awarding us a Resource Development Grant to create an online Indianapolis building permit database. We will transcribe permits from newspaper columns, 1864-1900. Unfortunately, most of the original records are missing, so our data is from contemporaneous newspaper reports (a secondary source). This underused resource, which includes applicants, building types and materials, addresses, and costs, holds significant potential for researchers.

Shown is grant chair Sue Caldwell, left, presenting the check to Indiana Album director Joan Hostetler at the IGS annual meeting and conference at the Genealogy Center on April 20. Photo by Lou Ann Terry - Clugh.

We will rely on AI and crowdsourcing to accomplish this project, so stay tuned for volunteer opportunities.

Lafayette, circa early 1920s - Over 40 Ku Klux Klan members pose at a funeral service or ceremony in Spring Vale Cemetery. Photographed by Glen W. Scobee of Rembrandt Studio.

We seek more photos and documents of the K*K in Indiana, but are frequently told that these items were thrown away to erase evidence of an ancestor's involvement. It is an uncomfortable topic, but is an important story from Indiana's past (and sadly, the present). If you have Klan items, please contact us at [email protected] to share copies and family stories.

-----------------------------------------------------------
The Indiana Album, Inc. is a non-profit organization that copies, catalogs, and shares Indiana-related documents and photographs. Search some of the nearly 25,000 items in our community-submitted digital archive at https://indianaalbum.pastperfectonline.com/. Do you have items to loan? Learn more at www.indianaalbum.com.

Happy Eclipse Day! Did you know that the last total solar eclipse in Indiana occurred on August 7, 1869?

On that day, the Daily Wabash Express of Terre Haute reported that "the city will be full of people to-day to see the eclipse." It was expected to last nearly two hours, with the time of total obscuration to start at 5:15 pm and last a little over two minutes. Like today, they were a bit worried about the weather, fearing that "a naughty cloud should interfere and spoil the whole arrangement." The gas company decided not to illuminate street lamps during the eclipse. The top of the Normal School was suggested as an excellent vantage point for watching the effects on the landscape's colors.

A column of hints advised observers to use smoked glass, ruby-colored filters, or glass coated with asphaltum varnish for safe viewing. W. H. Sage, a local confectioner, even offered stained glass pieces for this purpose. It was suggested that viewers should look for bright stars visible during the darkness and also observe unusual animal behaviors. After the eclipse, papers reported that the temperature dropped, night insects chirped, and confused cows started making their way to the barns.

Enjoy this rare spectacle, everyone! Check out the graphic in the comments for a chart of historic years of the total solar eclipse in Indiana. The next one visible in the U.S. will be on August 23, 2044. Following that, we'll have to wait until September 14, 2099 for the next opportunity to witness a total eclipse in Indiana.

This is the only photo of an eclipse in the Indiana Album archive. A lender shared this carte de visite photo taken by professional photographer Charles Eppert. It was probably taken in Terre Haute, the site of his studio, but unfortunately Eppert didn't record the details on the back. Is this a lunar or solar eclipse? Based on the format, it dates from about 1865-1878 or so.

Valparaiso, 1920s - Elizabeth Burger, (center, 1902-1996) and friends pose with a State Road 42 mile marker sign. The man next to her is possibly her fiance, Lynn Keene (1901-1938).

Research done by lender Roger Morphew indicates that the photo was taken near the intersection of East Lincolnway and South Garfield Avenue in Valparaiso. Can anyone ID the building in the background?
-----------------
*Photo Scan-a-Thon This Weekend!*
Dig out your photos and join us at the Union Mills Branch of Laporte County Library where we will be scanning photos on Sat., April 6, 9am-noon. Learn more and find registration details here: https://wimsradio.com/2024/02/21/la-porte-county-public-librarys-union-mills-branch-to-host-indiana-album-scan-a-thon-on-april-6th/

Laporte County Public Library