Trimble Sign Company

As I was reading An American Hometown, I stumbled across something very interesting. I was surprised to learn that Trimble Sign Company was in business in 1927. The passage in the book talks about Jimmie Trimble and his magic hands, and ends by saying the shop is still in business. However, I already knew this because one of my sorority sisters is the daughter of the Trimble Sign Company's owner! We purchase a lot of our sorority banners and signs from the local shop.

Bayh College of Education

As we all know, Indiana State University has a new College of Education. The old College of Education used to be were the current College of Business is. However, those buildings were meant to be dormatories, not classrooms.

All last year, construction was done to the old State High on 7th street. State High used to be a school for students to practice teaching, but it soon turned into a high school. After that, the building was used as a preschool/daycare. Since the building has been renovated, it has become the new College of Education and it is beautiful and up to date.

It is named after the Bayh family, who have been attached to Terre Haute since the 1920s. Today, Evan Bayh came to ISU for the dedication of the new college. However, there was little publicity. I think something this important should be advertized a lot, but it was not. If we want people like Evan Bayh to be involved with our school, then we have to show them that we want them to be involved. This would include advertising their visits and showing up to their events.

Jason Aldean

Over the weekend, Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean came to Terre Haute to complete their Wide Open tour. The concert was held at the Hulman Center. In the past, artists like Gretchen Wilson and Rascal Flatts have performed at the Hulman Center. However, it has been several years since we have had a major artist come to Terre Haute. The Jason Aldean concert sold out the Hulman Center. It was the first time the areana has been sold out for several years. Maybe this event will attrack more artists to come to Terre Haute. If that happens, then the town will draw more people to Terre Haute and more money.

Terre Haute Meat Packing Plant

Terre Haute used to be the home of the meat packing plant called Home Packing Co. However, in 1963 a tragic accident occurred at the plant. The building faced the Wabash River. During the early morning hours in January 1963, the building suddenly exploded. It is estimated that 16 people died and 55 others were injured. Rescue workers had to wear masks to avoid getting being exposed to ammonia and methane. The ammonia was released from broken refrigerator lines and the methane was released from ruptured sewer lines. Among those who died was Donald Scott. He was a salesman and the brother of the president of the company. He was found sitting in his chair, buried in bricks. The first floor fell into the basement freezer. Witnesses said bricks flew everywhere and it felt like an earthquake.

Vigo County Jail

Not too long ago, the current Vigo County Jail was built next to the Court House. However, the old jail still exists. While it is no longer in use, the building still stands. As you cross the bridge from West Terre Haute into Terre Haute, you notice an old building. That is the jail. Up close, the building is beautiful and unique. Unfortunately, it stands useless. I think someone should make the old building a museum, or restaurant like Moggers and Stables.

Federal Court House

In November, the old Federal Court House was closed down, and a new one opened up at 921 Ohio Street. The old building is beautiful inside and out. Too bad it's no longer used for its original purpose. The building was bought by ISU and they plan to turn the building into the new college of business. During the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt helped establish the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Part of the WPA was the Federal Art Project (FAP). The goal of this program was to employ artists. The FAP created over 5,000 jobs and 225,000 works of art. The old Federal Court House has some of the art that was created during the FAP in its courtrooms. Supposedly, ISU has great plans for the old building, but I think it should have stay the court house. The new building is much smaller, less prestigious, and does not have the grand presence of the old building.

Moggers

Moggers Brewery is located at 9th and Poplar Streets. The building was built in 1837. Matthias Mogger was the founder of the brewery, and he was from Germany and one of the first entrepreneurs for brewing beer. Mogger's Brewery was housed in the Bleemel Building from 1848-1868. In 1893, Mogger's Brewery was the seventh largest brewery in the country! However, in 1958, the brewery closed, but re-opened in 2000 and became the second oldest active brewery in the nation. It was also the first brewery in the country to use black models. Mogger's makes its own brand of beer called Champagne Velvet. Moggers is now a restaurant and bar. The building is decorated with antique brewing equipment.

Boston Connection

Terre Haute used to have a hotel named the Boston Connection. Of course, the theme was all about Larry Bird. The hotel had one of the best restaurants in town during its prime. Inside, there was a room to shoot baskets, and Larry Bird paraphernalia all over the walls. There was a penny machine that flattened pennies and put Celtics designs on them. My family and I used to go to the Boston Connection at least every week, sometimes more than once. On Sundays, they had an amazing breakfast buffet, and there other food was great as well. Several years ago, the Boston Connection was closed down and became a Days Inn. It slowly turned into a dump. It later became an Economy Inn, and because less than a dump. Now, the hotel is under construction. Like everything else, the Boston Connection was a highlight of Terre Haute that was destroyed. Even though the building is under construction now, it will never come close to competing with the Boston Connection.

Terre Haute's Underground Railroad

As I was reading An American Hometown, I stumbled across Reverend Orval W. Baylor. Mr. Baylor was an assistant pastor at the First United Brethren Church. If a person solely looked at this characteristic of Orval Baylor, one would probably consider him a good, moral person. However, quite the opposite was true. Orval was the manager of the Klan Home located in Klan Park at 1501 North 13th Street. In 1927, Terre Haute had two Klan chapters, with a combined membership of 8,240.

I found it ironic that Terre Haute had so many members of the Ku Klux Klan, when it used to be part of the Underground Railroad. One of the stops was Allen Chapel African Methodist Episcopal. Escaping slaves stopped at Allen Chapel on their way to Canada on lumbar boats. There was a tunnel under the old church building which led to the Wabash River.

Along with being a part of the Underground Railroad, Allen Chapel is the oldest serving African American church in western Indiana. The church as served as a speaking forum for people like Frederick Douglas, Eugene V. Debs, and Jackie Robinson. The building housed Terre Haute's first courthouse bell. And the church is recognized by National Register for Historic Places as an important piece of our nation's history.

The church is still open to the public today, but it only has twenty to forty members. However, the building has been deteriorating. In 1997, Joy Sacopulos (also mentioned in a previous blog) realized the bad condition of the church and began steps to renovate the building. She organized a volunteer group, and asked Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana for advice. In return, they gave her a seven step process to fix Allen Chapel. Money for the renovation was donated from local businesses. Today, the building still stands with all its historic memories at the corner of 3rd and Crawford streets.

Crossroads of America

From the beginning of the twentieth century until Interstate 70 was opened, Terre Haute had two main highways, U.S. Highway 40 and U.S. Highway 41. U.S. Highway 40 was built in 1834. In its beginning years, the highway stretched from Atlantic City to San Francisco. U.S. Highway 41, formally called Paul Dresser Memorial Highway, runs from Copper Harbor, Wisconsin to Miami, Florida. Prior to the instillation of Interstate 70, these two highways were the most traveled route, and the intersection is right here in Terre Haute. However, after Interstate 70 was build, U.S. Highways 40 and 41 became less traveled. Mistakenly, Indianapolis is sometimes revered to as the Crossroads of America. Joy Sacopulos, a live long Terre Haute resident, fought to prove the true home of the Crossroads of America. Thanks to this hometown hero, in 1988, a marker was placed at 7th and Wabash streets to formally mark the Crossroads of America.

Terre Haute Trust Building

Last week, I drove around town and took pictures of old buildings and interesting artifacts. When I got out of the car to take a picture to post on a previous blog, I spotted an interesting building, the Terre Haute Trust Building. Over the weekend, as I was doing my reading, I came across the Acme Explosives Company. I was intrigued because this was the same building I took a picture of last week. Acme Company appeared in the cartoon Roadrunner. Terre Haute was the home of Acme Explosives company and shipped "volatile products" in crates to Wile E. Coyote. Today the building is Old National Bank.

Terminal Arcade

In the early 1900s, the building above, known as the Terminal Arcade, was built out of terra cotta, brick, limestone, and granite. It is a beautiful building decorated with sculptures of lions, garland, and fruits. It is now a National Register of Historic Places. The building was used as an interurban station for Eastern Traction Company, connecting Terre Haute and Indianapolis until 1940. It was closed due to the invention and popular use of automobiles. However, in 1949, the building was reopened and used as Terre Haute's bus station. Unfortunately, the building was closed again in 1972. As with a lot of historic buildings in Terre Haute, there was a lot of discussion about demolishing the building and replacing it with a "modern" building. Remarkably, the building has managed to stand the test of time. In 1995, the Terminal Arcade was turned into a bar. Granted, this may not be the best use for the building, it still remains a part of our history.

Larry Bird

The other day in class, we were discussing ways to enhance Indiana State's publicity and increase our fundraising. We discussed inviting Larry Bird to campus and promoting his legacy. The idea behind this was creating a strong relationship with Larry Bird so he would help the university with its financial situation. So, I started thinking of ways to "Larry Birdize" Indiana State and the community in general.

During Larry Bird's college years, he lived in a house across the street from where my grandmother lives now. I thought it would be a good idea to make it a tourist attraction. On Saturday, I went to Larry Bird's old college house, but what I found was nothing. That's right. His college house, were he lived when he was a superstar at ISU, was torn down. Above is a picture of where Larry Bird's home used to be.

Wiley High School

In 1967 , my mom graduated from Wiley High School. Do you recognize this building? Have you ever seen it around town? The answer is no you have not. A few years after my mom graduated, her high school was torn down and replaced with the Vigo County Public Library. When I was little, my mom told me stories about going to school and walking to McDonalds across the street for lunch. She also used to walk to O'Days restaurant for lunch. From the way Mom described it, O'Days would remind me of the restaurant in the movie Greece. It had booths, juke boxes, and milkshakes. The Goody Shop was another restaurant she went to during lunch, which is now the Ohio Building. This place was more like a cafeteria. It would remind me of MCL. The Waffle House was also in downtown Terre Haute. This was a nice place for students to go during lunch because they could get a big lunch for only a $1 or $2. Now, none of that exists. While the Vigo County Public Library is very nice, it is disappointing to see all of my mom's memories from high school be only that, a memory. The only remains from Wiley High School is the top of the school's building which is located in front of the library.

"Horsing Around" in Terre Haute

A couple of years ago, the Swope Art Museum in Terre Haute created a fundraiser that captured the attention of the entire community. Portions of the fundraiser still exist today. Throughout town, there are several unique fiber glass colts. For $2000, businesses and organizations within the community could sponsor a colt. For $3000, businesses could buy the colt. Each colt around town was painted by a local artist. The colts created a lot of attention with children and adults. Today, the colts still occupy businesses around town.

College life in Terre Haute

Indiana State University (ISU) accounts for a large portion of Terre Haute's population and employment, not to mention its initial purpose, that of educating students. Many people, along with students, criticize ISU. Some say Indiana State is a bad school, and others say ISU stands for "I screwed up." Recently, Indiana State's enrollment has been dropping which has led to less government funding for the university. I think ISU's enrollment is falling because of the university's bad reputation. If students, faculty/staff, and the community change the way they talk and think, ISU's reputation might increase. This situation would cause more students to attend the university, resulting in more government funding. Indiana State University is not a bad school. It is actually quit the opposite. In order to fix the enrollment problem, we must fix the public relations problem first.

Getting Started

During our first day of class, we discussed some of Terre Haute's interesting facts. I am from Terre Haute, and I have lived here my entire life. Therefore, I already knew most of the information. Terre Haute has had its rise and demise. It used to be a city of scandal and invention. Currently, Terre Haute has a law that prohibits a certain amount of women from living together. This law was initiated from a time when Terre Haute had many brothels. There were several on first and second streets, close to Indiana State University's Campus.

Terre Haute is also the home of the Coca-cola bottle and Clabber Girl Baking company. Clabber Girl now has a deli and a museum, it is interesting and the food is good.

As we discussed in class, many historic buildings have been torn down in the area. An example of this is the Terre Haute House. This was a huge, and very beautiful hotel. However, a few years ago it was torn town and replaced with the Hilton Hotel. There was also an orphan home on 25th and Wabash streets. Now, Starbucks takes its place.

Terre Haute seems to have several "owners" as well. For example, the Hulmans. They have a lot of money and property in Terre Haute.