Memorializing Sidney Speed
Stop by the library’s second floor to learn about Civil War veteran, Crawfordsville mayor, and renowned stoneworker, Sidney Allen Speed. He designed and built many iconic monuments in Montgomery County and beyond, including General Lew Wallace’s thirty-foot-tall gravesite memorial at Oak Hill Cemetery. Sidney Speed was one of three Speeds to work in the monument […]
A Look at Our Past: The Lincoln School
The Lincoln School for Colored Children operated in Crawfordsville from its inception in 1881 to 1947. The first location opened in September of 1882, at the corner of Spring and North Walnut, with 42 students. The land and buildings of the school provided a safe space for the black community to socialize and learn. In […]
Digital Genealogy Resources
In our June article, we covered the resources available on the Crawfordsville District Public Library website. In this follow-up, we will explore other digital resources available that are fun ways to explore genealogy and the history of our county and state. Providing a broad range of services and digital ephemera is the Indiana State Library […]
Preserving Local Memories
The Crawfordsville District Public Library is home to the Marian Morrison Local History Collection, featuring materials on Crawfordsville, Montgomery County, Indiana and surrounding areas. Located on the second floor of the library, our Local History and genealogy section is a part of the Reference Department and features a robust online database in addition to the […]
Montgomery County Veterans Stories and Records
Once called Decoration Day, from placing flowers and wreaths upon the graves of fallen soldiers, Memorial Day has become a day of remembrance of those who have served our country. The exact origins of the day are unknown, but it does date back to the 1860s. Some have claimed the 1863 dedication of the Gettysburg, […]
Early Lodges of Montgomery County
In celebration of the bicentennial of Montgomery County, December 1822-December 2022, the local history area in the library showcased four historical displays throughout the year. The current and last display is called Early Lodges of Montgomery County. Enlarged copies of postcards featuring the historic lodge buildings in Crawfordsville, Waynetown, Darlington, and New Market are displayed […]
The Trail He Left Behind
Time marches along steadily whether we like it or not. In my case, before I knew it, ten years slipped by…ten long years in which I doggedly researched and wrote a biography about William Bratton, our local hero who was a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. When I began the process, I discovered […]
Remember Me When…
Almost all of us have them…a small collection of yearbooks from our school years that sparks nostalgia in our hearts every time we browse through them. For some Montgomery County students in the 1880s, they did not receive yearbooks but might have received an autograph book for their birthday or a holiday if they were […]
The Mystery of the Missing Grocer
True crime stories, both fictional and nonfictional, are popular at the Crawfordsville District Public Library, but my interest was snagged by a real “whodunit” I came across in a Crawfordsville letter. During the third week of March in 1857, a young man named William N. Organ received a letter from his childhood friend, Robert Rhea […]
Crawfordsville’s Greatest Showman | Lew Graham’s Private Life (Part 2)
The “fannnnntastic and marrrrvelous” Lew Graham, Crawfordsville’s greatest showman, built an impressive resume in the circus world but his private life was a little tumultuous. In between tours, he slipped back to Crawfordsville occasionally to visit his three sisters and two brothers-in-law. In 1894, he returned to Crawfordsville for a family emergency. His brother-in-law, John […]
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