Indiana’s Second State Fair In 1936, Tippecanoe County physician and historian, William M. Reser, wrote about the second state fair held in Indiana for the Indiana Magazine of History. Why would he research this topic? This 2nd state fair was held in Tippecanoe County! Held in October, 1853, the 2nd Indiana State Fair was held […]
Heinz Company 1891-1901 & 1914-1916 By William J. Dichtl Originally published in TCHA’s membership newsletter, Weatenotes, Vol. 25, No. 4, April 1992. The Heinz Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the early 1890’s became interested in establishing a plant in Indiana. On February 14, 1891, a committee chaired by Jonathan H. Heinz was appointed to locate […]
Musings from the museum: Sixty years later By Henry C. Pollock Editors Note: This article is reprinted from an original article written in the 1980s by the son of TCHA’s first curator, Bird Pollock. Moving Day used to be the first of May every year. Leases were made to start and end on this day. […]
Helen Gougar From the Women’s Suffrage exhibit presented by TCHA in 2020 and 2021. Text prepared by Hannah Craddock Mossman. Helen Jackson Gougar (1843-1907) worked tirelessly for women’s rights. After graduating from Hillsdale College, Gougar moved to Lafayette in 1860 to take a job as an assistant teacher. She eventually became the principal of Jenks […]
Second Baptist Church A Cultural Contribution from Southern Freedmen By guest blogger, Mary Anthrop “I didn’t even catch cold….” John Fields describing his baptism in the old canal at the foot of Salem Street in the 1870s Lafayette Journal and Courier, March 27, 1941 When recently emancipated enslaved people after the Civil War […]
The Birth, Life and Death of the American Porch By guest blogger, Quentin Robinson There is a lot to see and admire when walking or driving through historic neighborhoods. One of the architectural elements that might attract your attention are the porches on some of the older homes. The original idea of a porch can […]