Parke County has preserved the majority of its covered bridges, many of them dating back to the 1800s, and boasts more than any other county in the nation. Life in the early communities centered around the mills established along Sugar Creek, Big . . . — — Map (db m238843) HM
Perry County contributes to Indiana's preserved open wilderness with its approximately 60,000 acres the Hoosier National Forest. The Cannelton Locks and Dam, built between 1963 and 1974, assist barges in their navigation of the Ohio River along . . . — — Map (db m238774) HM
Thick beach grass grows atop a grooved sand dune, reminiscent of the great hills of sand bordering Lake Michigan in Porter County. The county is headquarters for the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Here, the federal government works to protect . . . — — Map (db m238921) HM
The Tippecanoe River wanders through rich farmland inviting sandhill cranes and other waterfowl to flock to Pulaski County. Acreage is reserved by the state to protect wildlife and provide beautiful areas for hiking, camping, horseback riding, and . . . — — Map (db m238931) HM
Putnam County's 15,000-acre natural area is along Big Walnut River's deep stream corridor. Great blue heron and great horned owls can be found among some of Indiana's largest trees in the Big Walnut Nature Preserve. — — Map (db m238645) HM
Rush County has some of the most productive and beautifully distinctive farmland in the nation. The Little Blue, Big Blue, and Flatrock rivers provide scenic vistas along their meandering banks surrounded by farms that at one time produced more . . . — — Map (db m238914) HM
Scott County's countryside and climate make it an ideal place for enjoying wild, open natural areas and farming crops such as tomatoes, corn, and beans. One of America's largest vegetable canneries was established here in 1899 to can locally . . . — — Map (db m238790) HM
Throughout Indiana's history, Oliver tractors, Singer sewing machines, Johnson outboard motors, Studebaker vehicles, and other items have been manufactured in the South Bend area. The St. Joseph River, once traveled by Native-Americans, French . . . — — Map (db m238758) HM
The low, swampy land along the Kankakee River was drained to contribute to Starke County's fertile soil of which 75 percent is used for farming. This tranquil land can be enjoyed by traveling scenic Lincoln Highway through the county. The peaceful . . . — — Map (db m238874) HM
Williamsport Falls drops 67 feet from an overhanging ledge into a rocky ravine. Formed by Fall Branch, a tributary of the Wabash River, the waterfall varies from a mere trickle in the summer months to a spectacular torrent during spring thaws. — — Map (db m238778) HM
White County is often referred to as the summer playground of the Midwest. Lake Shafer and Lake Freeman have historically provided resort destinations for nearby Chicago residents looking for an escape from the heat of the city. White County remains . . . — — Map (db m238753) HM
Authorized by Indiana's 1836 Internal Improvement Act, Central Canal conceived as link in transportation system connecting Wabash and Erie Canal with Ohio River. State's bankruptcy in 1839 prevented completion of Central Canal. Canal has since . . . — — Map (db m95231) HM
Panel 1
Named in honor of our Capitol City, the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis keel was laid on 31 March 1930 and launched on 7 November 1931. She was accepted by the Navy and Commissioned on 15 November 1932. She was 610 feet 4 inches . . . — — Map (db m55558) WM
For more than a century, Clear Creek and its tributaries were altered for industrial use. Today, this small stream has made a comeback.
McDoel Switchyard, 1949.
Image courtesy of the Monon Railroad . . . — — Map (db m245077) HM
Chief Peter Cornstalk's village of Snakefish (Eel River) tribe of Miami Indians was located three miles from here along Cornstalk Creek. Wigwams and Indian burial ground were near the little Harshbarger family cemetery. The Indians lived at peace . . . — — Map (db m3884) HM
Created 1837-1838 as reservoir for proposed canal link between Fort Wayne and Lake Michigan. Part of 1836 internal improvements program. Popular resort area; site of Chautauqua, 1878-1906. Provided hydraulic power. Earthen dam on Elkhart River . . . — — Map (db m44954) HM
Like so many of the early American settlers, John and Jane Fulton, along with their family, traveled the Ohio River via a flatboat in search of a better life. One night in 1798, they pulled on shore to spend the night and upon waking they saw the . . . — — Map (db m201076) HM
The Hoosier Boy hydroplane was built by J.W. Whitlock. In 1924, Whitlock raced the watercraft roundtrip from Cincinnati to Louisville. The 267-minute, 49-second record for the 267-mile course still stands. The boat and many Whitlock inventions are . . . — — Map (db m222584) HM
The worst flood in Rising Sun's history peaked on Jan. 26, 1937. Official river readings upstream in Cincinnati gauged the crest at 80.0 feet. Downstream at Markland, the recorded high-water mark was 76.1 feet. Damage was extensive along the entire . . . — — Map (db m222602) HM
A shipbuilder from New Bedford, MA, arrived in Rising Sun in 1815. He was one of the master builders for the USS Constitution and built steamship hulls in Rising Sun for Pinkney James. — — Map (db m222394) HM
What was it like to live and work in a small Ohio River town in the 1800s? A walk through the Ohio County Historical Society Museum gives a view of everyday life in a 19th century Ohio River town. Residents were employed in many enterprises, . . . — — Map (db m222314) HM
The earliest ferry between Rising Sun and Rabbit Hash, KY was a hand operated flatboat in the late 1830s. At 50-feet long by 10-feet wide, it was dubbed a "superior ferry flat." Kentucky require the boat be kept on its side of the river. The ferry . . . — — Map (db m222406) HM
A horse ferry began operation between Rising Sun and Rabbit Hash, KY around 1850. A second ferry followed at the lane by Dam 38. A team of horses on a treadmill propelled the ferries. Blind horses were preferred because they had no fear and were . . . — — Map (db m222436) HM
J.W. Whitlock was one of Rising Sun's prominent citizens in
the late 1800s until his death in 1935. A man of many talents,
J.W. had his own band, “Row's Band.” He manufactured his
patented Automatic Harps (one can be seen at the . . . — — Map (db m222702) HM
In 1918, a steam powered crane used to unload coal from barges near Arnold's Creek was destroyed by ice. A new coal yard complex at the end of Main Street soon followed. The crane, cable system, tracks, dump cars and pit serviced barge traffic and . . . — — Map (db m222546) HM
The Ohio River – freeway of the past! Just as we
depend on roads to carry our goods, the river
connected people and their goods before railroads
and highways. River towns dotted the Ohio, thriving
on the exchange of goods and services enabled by . . . — — Map (db m222325) HM
The first Rising Sun Regatta was held on July 4, 1925. A huge crowd of about 20,000 people lined the bank. On race day, the road from Aurora to Rising Sun was closed for improvement. Most fans from Cincinnati came down on the Kentucky side then . . . — — Map (db m222601) HM
The mill that became known as Talbott's Mill was completed in
1827 with Moses Turner as the proprietor. The steam-powered
mill used several methods of supplying the boilers with water
over the years. One such method was a large waterwheel . . . — — Map (db m222384) HM
Throughout most of the 1800s until the 1930s the wharfboat
played a significant role in the life of Rising Sun, The wharfboat
served as a floating warehouse on the river. The railroad never
came to Rising Sun, although during the 1870s and . . . — — Map (db m222358) HM
Before refrigeration, the Peden springhouse kept food cool using old-fashioned ingenuity and the local geology.
The Peden family raised
livestock, chickens, had a
vegetable garden and farmed
hundreds of acres. Keeping milk,
butter, . . . — — Map (db m161469) HM
Burr Arch construction by Wm. Hendricks. 102' in length, crosses Sugar Mill Creek and was named for a mill that formerly stood nearby. — — Map (db m159708) HM
The Wabash & Erie was the longest canal built in North America, running from Toledo to Evansville. Montezuma was the main port of Parke County. This portion was abandoned about 1865. — — Map (db m3679) HM
The first business in Parke County was a grist mill built near here by Chauncey Rose and associates in 1819.
This was the first flatboat landing in the county; territorial court was held here and this was a stop for stagecoaches. — — Map (db m164853) HM
The Indiana Cotton Mill is remarkable in many ways. Its presence in the town might be compared to a medieval Gothic cathedral towering over a European village. It was built between 1849-1851 under the direction of Charles T. James with land donated . . . — — Map (db m171728) HM
Lafayette and his party spent the night in this community after the steamer Mechanic sank in the Ohio River May 9, 1825. Pioneers came from miles around to visit him at this spring before he departed the following day on a passing steamer. From this . . . — — Map (db m243579) HM
On May 9, 1825, General Lafayette survived sinking of steamboat "Mechanic" nearby & continued to Louisville aboard passing steamboat "Paragon" — — Map (db m243576) HM
The central part of southern Indiana has an abundance of rocks. Throughout the nineteenth century and continuing to the present, the extractive industry has benefited from easy access to Ohio River transport. For decades, Perry County tapped the . . . — — Map (db m171729) HM
brother of Robert Fulton, inventor of the steamboat, is buried in Troy Cemetery near this spot. He was fatally injured while felling trees to build the family home on the site called Fulton Hill. The Fulton family owned extensive acreage in Perry . . . — — Map (db m47349) HM
The approximately 460 mile canal from Toledo, Ohio, to Evansville, Indiana, was the longest canal built in the United States. Here a section constructed above the natural land surface to prevent flooding and erosion, remains intact. — — Map (db m47811) HM
Site of depot for canal which passed through town at foot of Main Street. Operations through Petersburg ceased 1860. Constructed 1832-1853, canal was nation's longest, connecting Lake Erie at Toledo with Ohio River at Evansville, through Fort Wayne, . . . — — Map (db m23215) HM
In the early 1900s steel plants were developed on southern Lake Michigan to improve access to growing Midwest markets. After purchasing 3,300 acres in Porter County, Bethlehem Steel built and began its Burns Harbor operations in 1964. The plant's . . . — — Map (db m202720) HM
This propeller from the J.D. Marshall is a reminder of the
dangerous power of Lake Michigan storms. On June 11,
1911, the J.D. Marshall sank 300 yards offshore from the
Beach Pavilion.
The J.D. Marshall was a steamship, designed to haul . . . — — Map (db m161459) HM
Over 11 square miles of marshes, savannas, oak forests, and other landscapes drain into Lake Michigan
at this point.
You are standing in the Dunes Creek watershed which drains into Lake Michigan and
encompasses all of the Indiana Dunes . . . — — Map (db m161460) HM
J.D. Marshall Propeller
This propeller is from the steam barge J.D. Marshall. It weights over 4,000 pounds! It was made in 1891 and has 4 blades. Modern boats use a 3-blade propeller for improved efficiency with decrease of horsepower. . . . — — Map (db m6425) HM
River commerce was central to the livelihood of nineteenth century towns along the Ohio. This is still true in the twenty-first century. The Port of Indiana Mount Vernon is the eighth largest inland port in the country based on trip to-miles. It . . . — — Map (db m48218) HM
Randolph County was organized in 1818 two years after Indiana became a state. The county was named for Peyton Randolph, the 1st President of the Continental Congress. It stretched north
to the Michigan line and included all present counties in . . . — — Map (db m222250) HM
Indianapolis and Louisville Traction Company organized to build track between Seymour and Sellersburg as part of the interurban line which extended from Indianapolis to Louisville; track completed in 1907. First railway in the country to operate . . . — — Map (db m99655) HM
A general store was a necessary part of a young community, allowing the farmer's raw materials to be exchanged for finished products.
[Captions:]
Gentry and Lincoln
Gentry hired Abraham Lincoln to clerk at this store. . . . — — Map (db m177234) HM
Just take a look at the view across the Ohio River from this spot – it's grand. And that's just what residents thought in 1851, when the town was platted and recorded as "Grandview". The name and the view have been notable ever since.
In the . . . — — Map (db m207147) HM
Sandy Creek Landing
This creek area, known as Sandy Creek Landing in the late 1700s and early 1800s, was mostly used by the early settlers of Spencer County. Points East and West were located directly across the river from Blackford Creek. The . . . — — Map (db m207150) HM
The settlers collected the sassafras roots, boiled them to make "spring tonic" or teas and brown dyes for coloring fabric. The wood was ideal for building boats. Settlers also used the aromatic qualities of the leaves, bark, and roots to add an . . . — — Map (db m179301) HM
Lincoln (1809-1865) lived northwest of here 1816-1830. Worked circa 1825 as hired hand for James Taylor. William Herndon, a Lincoln biographer, wrote that Lincoln told him it "was the roughest work a young man could be made to do." He butchered, did . . . — — Map (db m47544) HM
These markers were funded with a grant from Federal Highway Administration through the National Scenic Byways Program.
The Hoosier National Forest - Then and Now
This area has been inhabited continuously by humans for 12,000 years. . . . — — Map (db m178232) HM
First Dam Across The St. Joseph River
The original dam, providing power for which Mishawaka was noted, was completed in 1837. It was 577 feet long, 24 feet thick and cost $38,000.00.
Power Race
Along this race, providing water power, . . . — — Map (db m54742) HM
St. Joseph River Trout and Salmon Project
The Mishawaka Fish ladder is an integral part of the St. Joseph River Trout and Salmon Project. This Project was conceived in the 1970's by the Indiana and Michigan Departments of Natural . . . — — Map (db m76352) HM
The Potawatomi Nation
The Potawatomi are a tribe of Native Americans with historical settlements that extended through the Great Lakes in the present states of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin. The Potawatomi are a proud and . . . — — Map (db m213359) HM
South Bend’s Oldest Park
Howard is South Bend’s first and oldest park. The ground was named in honor of Judge Timothy Howard (1837-1916), who had a long and varied career in state and local politics. He served as a city council . . . — — Map (db m77470) HM
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La salle, born Rouen, France 1643; died 1687. Emigrated 1666 to New France (near present Montreal, Quebec, Canada). Led explorations 1679-1682 in search of trade, expanded empire for France, and mouth of Mississippi . . . — — Map (db m4806) HM
The 18 pounder long gun was an intermediate caliber artillery piece found on warships in the day of sail. They were used as the main armament on the typical Royal Navy frigate of the Revolutionary period. These smooth-bore guns were 9 feet long and . . . — — Map (db m240895) HM
As the result of a 1992 diesel fuel
spill, a restoration plan is being
implemented to improve and protect
Fish Creek's water quality, habitat,
and wildlife diversity. With 30 mussel
species (including three Federal and
five Indiana . . . — — Map (db m196568) HM
Through the utilization of Fish Creek settlement
money, natural resource trustees were able to
carry out multiple habitat improvement projects,
including: purchasing conservation easements on
private lands, purchasing private lands to be . . . — — Map (db m196569) HM
"We paddled up towards the Dells Neck. Tradition had it that some kind of an antediluvian monster once in that locality would get after the
Indians and break up their canoes."
A Hamiltonian Reunion, W.W. Gambia
Fish Creek provides habitat for many kinds of animals. One animal of special significance is the White Cat's Paw mussel. This clam is; Federally Endangered.
In 1993 a nearby pipeline ruptured, discharging diesel fuel into Fish Creek, Several . . . — — Map (db m196559) HM
Patriot, Ind., native; supervised Hoover Dam construction in Colorado R.; Lake Mead named for him; appointed Director, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, President Coolidge; served under Presidents Hoover and Roosevelt, top authority on irrigation, . . . — — Map (db m66902) HM
Switzerland County established itself early as an agricultural and trade center for the area served by the Ohio River. While some produced the products, others set about finding ways to deliver those products to the customers. One such entrepreneur . . . — — Map (db m223176) HM
The first white man known to have resided in the
Tippecanoe Township was a Frenchman named
William Burnett who establish a trading post between
the mouth of Burnett's creek and the Tippecanoe River.
Burnett's daughter married John Davis who . . . — — Map (db m36235) HM
Named July 12, 1997
to honor John T. Myers
U.S. Representative, 7th District, IN
1966-1996.
For dedicated service to the Greater Lafayette community. Friend, advocate, champion of constituents. With special thanks for advancing . . . — — Map (db m34869) HM
Between Toledo, Ohio, and Evansville, Indiana.
And which, through Lafayette
paralleled the Wabash River,
crossing Main Street at
the East end of the bridge. — — Map (db m34215) HM
First Bridge at this site a three span wooden toll bridge erected in 1865. Purchased by Tippecanoe County in 1871.
Second Bridge, a steel three span bridge erected in 1889. Rendered useless by the flood of March 18, 1913. Low water elevation . . . — — Map (db m35224) HM
(Side One)
was called "Wah-bah-shik-ki" by the Miami. The French called it the "Oua-ba-che." It was the principal route connecting Quebec and New Orleans. The Miami, Potawatomi, Mascouten, Wea, Kickapoo, and Piankashaw Indians lived in . . . — — Map (db m217625) HM
Founded in 1834 by Thomas W. Treckett and Thomas Concannon, with later additions in 1836. Granville boasted 153 lots and a public square. In 1850 its name was changed to Weaton, after the Wea Indian town which once stood to the east. Later the name . . . — — Map (db m34827) HM
Surveyors’ maps of 1824 and 1846 of Tipton County marked the Indian Portage Trails through Tipton, the junction between the Indiana water ways.
[[ Maps on Left Side of Plaque ]]
To Wabash River Waters
Kokomo Trail - - . . . — — Map (db m37886) HM
The first Soil and Water Conservation
District in Indiana was organized
here in 1940 – the last in Tipton
County in 1974. The contribution of
these districts to the conservation
and wise use of soil and water
resources has been of great . . . — — Map (db m226493) HM
During the time of the Civil War local home guard mobilized in Sunset Park to protect the city from impending rebel raids and attacks from hostile gunboats operating on the Ohio River. — — Map (db m88982) HM
Side 1
U.S. Congress passed flood control acts 1936-1938 after disastrous floods, including one on Ohio River when water crested at 53.7 feet in Evansville January 31, 1937. This project authorized August 1937; U.S. Army Corps of . . . — — Map (db m88987) HM
On March 2, 1827, Congress provided a land grant to encourage Indiana to build the Wabash & Erie Canal. The original plan was to link the navigable water of the Maumee with the Wabash through the seven mile portage at Fort Wayne. Work began five . . . — — Map (db m48241) HM
The original survey provided that the Canal should divide at this point, one arm
continuing to Second Street (never completed), the other following Fifth Street to the small basin located where the old court house now stands. — — Map (db m176034) HM
Completed from Lake Erie to Evansville, 1853. Used till 1865. Passing from 5th St. to 1st Ave., canal widened into basin for docks covering part of this square. — — Map (db m47817) HM
Evansville proved herself as an all-American town in World War II. The labor force grew from 17,000 to 76,000 men and women who gave their best to the war effort. Evansville was the site of the Evansville Shipyard, operated by the Missouri Valley . . . — — Map (db m227001) HM
Evansville was developed on 200 acres of land purchased in 1812 from the government by Hugh McGary. Platted in 1817, it was named for General Robert M. Evans, an attorney and territorial legislator who helped incorporate the town in 1819. It was not . . . — — Map (db m227004) HM
Located on an oxbow of the Ohio River, the Riverside Historic District includes some of Evansville's most significant examples of high-style residential design from the period 1850-1920. There are over 20 different architectural styles represented . . . — — Map (db m227005) HM
In February 1942, responding to the United States' involvement in WWII, Evansville was selected as a site for an inland ship yard. Within the first four months the Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Company laid the keel on the first L.S.T. The . . . — — Map (db m226912) HM
Just down river from this bridge was the location of the Evansville Shipyard, which constructed L.S.T.s (Landing Ship Tanks) and 35 other vessels during World War II. Looking up river, you can see the L.S.T. 325, the last navigable LST in existence . . . — — Map (db m226907) HM
In the 1860's, William Momberger painted this view of Evansville and the Ohio River, from the bottom of Coal Mine Hill. The original covered bridge spanning Pigeon Creek is inclluded in the painting. Momberger documents the Civil War era by painting . . . — — Map (db m226911) HM
From the late 1800's to the 1950's, small homemade houseboats dotted Pigeon Creek. In the 1950's, a group of businessmen from the Westside Nut Club worked with the Vanderburgh County Health Department and relocated the residents from Pigeon . . . — — Map (db m226909) HM
This marker denotes the site of one of the canal’s dry dock areas as depicted on 1854 City of Terra Haute map.
Dry dock areas along the canal were used to construct and/or repair canal barges and boats.
Constructed mostly of wood . . . — — Map (db m175901) HM
Important Business Center
on the old Wabash Erie canal
this site presented to the
town of Lagro
by Charles Nottingham
to be Presented as a
Historical Monument — — Map (db m68098) HM
14,000 Gallons per Minute
pass through the Stockdale Mill Dam
The building itself is
Over 160 Years Old
The building is on the
National Register of Historic Places
The Stockdale Mill has . . . — — Map (db m163120) HM
The Problem
The Stockdale Mill has worked well for the production of flour and corn meal since construction in 1856 however;
the dam that provides waterpower to the mill turbine also hindered the ability of fish to migrate upstream. Nearly . . . — — Map (db m163122) HM
Site chosen for 1826 Treaty of the Mississinewa due to the plentiful spring that once sprang forth from adjacent hill creating this wilderness valley Paradise.
In the early 1820's, the northern half of Indiana was predominantly occupied by . . . — — Map (db m215054) HM
Paradise Spring Historical Park is rich with history. In 1826, United States representatives met on this site with the chiefs of the Miami and the Potowatami tribes. A treaty was signed allowing for white settlement of land in northern Indiana and . . . — — Map (db m76548) HM
The Wabash River begins as a small stream near Fort Recovery, Ohio and passes through 16 Indiana counties on its 500 mile journey to its confluence with the Ohio River.
The river was named Wah-Bah-Shi -Ka, meaning “water over the white . . . — — Map (db m76549) HM
You are overlooking a river that once belonged to France. While the name Ohio comes from the Iroquois word oyo, to the French it was La Belle Riviere – the Beautiful River. This plaque honors three adventurous Frenchmen. The first, . . . — — Map (db m207269) HM
The story of the Ohio River is not complete without the story of its locks and dams. Early navigation on the Ohio was restricted by water levels dictated by the seasons. In the dry season the river was so shallow in parts it could be crossed by . . . — — Map (db m207232) HM
