Indiana

New Albany's historic homes boast unique histories and fascinating stories of those who inhabited them. Founded in 1813 below the falls of the Ohio River, the city was Indiana's most populous by the middle of the nineteenth century. Many leading citizens built grand mansions and family dwellings that beamed with prosperity and influence. The architectural legacy during these formative years continued into the early twentieth century and produced historic neighborhoods with a rich collection of housing styles. Join authors David C. Barksdale and Gregory A. Sekula as they delve into the history of New Albany's most cherished old homes.

The Lincoln Highway across Indiana explores Indiana's unique role in Lincoln Highway history and celebrates Indiana's place in early automotive and road-building history.

Once known as the "Main Street of America," the Lincoln Highway route was established across northern Indiana in 1913, linking larger cities--Fort Wayne, Elkhart, Goshen, South Bend, LaPorte, and Valparaiso--to smaller communities. Most Lincoln Highway towns renamed their main streets Lincolnway in recognition of the nation's first coast-to-coast auto road. When the Lincoln Highway Association shortened the route in 1926, the route linked Fort Wayne to Columbia City, Warsaw, and Plymouth, giving the state two Lincoln Highway routes. From Fort Wayne to the famous Ideal Section, between Dyer and Schererville, Indiana's Lincolnway towns remain proudly connected to Lincoln Highway history. Through vintage photographs, postcards, advertisements, and other historical records, this armchair tour of the highway visits sites favored by early tourists, documents the people and places that made the highway a vital corridor, and celebrates Hoosier Carl Fisher's leadership in the formation of the Lincoln Highway Association, as well as the people who work to preserve its legacy today.

Danceland! For hundreds of thousands of couples from all around the Calumet region of Northwest Indiana and Chicago's East Side, the name alone conjures up memories of dancing and romancing to thousands of live big bands.

Opening night in October 1929 drew over 2,000 people to the beautiful ballroom with the famous maplewood dance floor. It continued to thrive with live music four nights a week and 12 months a year throughout the Big Band Era, despite the Great Depression and World War II, and into the rock 'n roll era, until it burned to the ground on Sunday morning, July 23, 1967. Almost everyone's marriage in the region began with a dance at Madura's Danceland. In the 38 years Danceland was open, it had only two owners and managers, Michael (Mike) Madura Sr. and Michael (Mick) J. Madura Jr., father and son. It remained a family business for all those years, with three generations of the Madura family having worked there in many capacities.

The Indiana National Road Association hopes the photographs and stories within this book will give readers an appreciation for the 200-year past of the Historic National Road, often called "The Road that Built the Nation." This federally designated All-American Road retains much of the integrity from its early days as a pioneer corridor. It is important for people to learn about these stories and about those who lived and worked along the road so that they can understand more about both themselves and the importance of preserving the highway. This volume looks at the section of the road from Richmond to Indianapolis.

It was the year 1904, and the country was again ready to re-elect former "Rough Rider" Teddy Roosevelt to another four-year term in the White House.

The Panama Canal was underway and the nation was growing, opening opportunities for those who would dare to dream and turn their hard work into reality. For Thomas J. Armstrong, it was a new position as head keeper of the Michigan City Light Station. This new title offers a glimpse into Michigan City maritime history, from the storm of 1913 that left the lighthouse practically buried in ice, to the capsizing of the Eastland on its way to Michigan City, one of the worst marine disasters in the history of the Great Lakes. The light would guide mariners until its relocation to the Michigan City Lighthouse Museum in 1980, where it is on display today.Michigan City Lighthouse is a collection of over 200 vintage photographs and postcards dated from 1909 through 1920, taken by lighthouse keepers Fred Dykeman, Thomas Martin, and Thomas Armstrong.

In 1914, Carl G. Fisher knew the time was right to promote the second transcontinental auto highway. Following the success of the Lincoln Highway, the Dixie Highway pushed the development of commerce and tourism for the southern states. The Dixie Highway system grew to include routes from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and Chicago to Miami Beach. In Indiana, the Dixie Highway became parts of Indiana 933, US 31, Indiana 25, Indiana 29, US 421, Indiana 37, and US 150. The dogleg from Chicago to Indiana became part of US 136.

Beverly Shores, Indiana, is a small resort community clustered along the southernmost tip of Lake Michigan, approximately forty miles southeast of Chicago. The town is now an island of private resort homes surrounded by the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, a federal park. Beverly Shores: A Suburban Dunes Resort presents an extensive collection of architectural and environmental photographs that reflect the changes in Chicago society between the late 1920s and World War II.

With this glimpse into Beverly Shores' past, readers of all ages will delight in discovering the unique heritage of this town in northwestern Indiana. From developer Frederick Bartlett's introduction of the Mediterranean Revival style of architecture, to Robert Bartlett's most enduring publicity stunt of buying pieces of the 1933-34 Chicago World's Fair and stationing them in the town, this architectural study includes nearly 200 vintage images of the evolution of this suburban dunes resort community.

In 1908, the Aurora Business Mens Association decided to bring a celebration to its sleepy river town. Little did these men realize that the Aurora Farmers Fair would bring their community together for the next 100 years. During the 1909 fall festival, Second and Main Streets were blocked off and lined with farm exhibits and storefronts were decorated. There were over 700 entries and 12,000 people attended. Every year merchants and manufacturers parade, and contestants are selected from area schools to compete for a place in the royal court that presides over the festivities. Class reunions and family homecomings are held around the event, and schoolchildren are released early to participate in a bicycle and pet parade. In 1959, the Aurora Business Mens Association ceded management and sponsorship of the fair to the Aurora Lions Club, and in 1969, the Lions Club purchased a beautiful old building from the Aurora Casket Company to house exhibits. Sadly, in 1998, arson destroyed the fair building, and years' worth of fair history was lost. This book has been created, in part, in an effort to regain a portion of the collection that was lost.