Memorial Park

Memorial Park. . This site, one of the oldest and most historic in Indiana County, was initially surveyed in 1774 as part of the larger tract known as “Colforgie”. Conrad Rice, an early owner and inhabitant of the tract, deeded the park’s two acres to Indiana County in 1818. Rice was Indiana’s first blacksmith and was active in the selection of Indiana as the County seat. He and his wife, along with other notable Indiana residents, are reportedly buried at the site of the present day Memorial Park., Originally a Lutheran Church Cemetery, the park also served as a hiding place for travelers of the Underground Railroad during the Civil War. At the time the park was an overgrown cemetery which offered a suitable hiding place for slaves traveling north to freedom., The World War I doughboy statue was erected in 1923 by a group of Indiana residents headed by Alex Stewart father of actor James Stewart. The Farmers Bank donated the granite shaft and Vernon Taylor donated the life, sized doughboy statue., Memorial Park continues to serve as a permanent memorial to Indiana County veterans from the Revolutionary War to present day.