Paula Dunn
Dillinger Hysteria Hits Westfield
From Time to Thyme By: Paula Dunn Last week I wrote about my efforts to learn if John Dillinger’s body had really made a stop outside the Westfield Cafeteria on its way to Indianapolis for burial, as Helen (Carey) McColgin had said. That’s not the only time she believed Dillinger visited the Westfield Cafeteria, though.…
Read MoreThe Carnival of Vice
From Time to Thyme By Paula Dunn This week we’re journeying back 122 years to Noblesville’s 1902 street fair. According to an 1898 Louisville Courier Journal article, street fairs — fairs held on streets in the heart of a city — were THE thing in the Midwest at that time, taking the place of “the…
Read MoreSchool Nicknames, Kindergarten Memories and a History Mystery
From Time to Thyme By Paula Dunn Time for another reader column! Several weeks ago when I asked for information on the origins of Hamilton County’s various high school nicknames, Jeanne Flanders wanted me to include the county schools that are no longer around — Walnut Grove, Jackson Central, Cicero, Arcadia, Atlanta, Adams Township/Boxley and…
Read MoreClay Township Quiz
By Paula Dunn Well, we’ve come to the last township to be highlighted during the Bicentennial celebration. It’s time to test your knowledge of Clay Township history! 1. Who was Clay Township’s first settler? 2. Carmel/Clay Township is known for its roundabouts. When was the first roundabout built? 3. When Home Place was laid out…
Read MoreWooly Worms, Allisonville Road And The Forest Park Cabin
By Paula Dunn It’s another reader feedback week! On the wooly worm watch . . . My cousin, Nancy Lacy, said her great-granddaughter spotted three black and orange/red wooly worms while on a school outing in a woodsy area of Tipton County. Ed Snyder sent a photo of a wooly worm with that same color…
Read MoreHalloween In The 1960s
By Paula Dunn I may be old, but I’m glad I was born when I was. Growing up in the 1960s meant I was a kid when Halloween was still primarily geared toward kids. Back then, the holiday was mostly about going trick-or-treating — accent on the “treat.” Oh, there were a few tricks, but…
Read MoreThe Wooly Worm/Persimmon Seed Forecast, 2023-2024
By Paula Dunn Here it is — this year’s winter weather forecast column! Before I get started, though, I want to issue the usual disclaimer: I don’t really forecast the winter weather. I just provide data from the folk signs that Sheridan’s weather expert, Clara Hoover, used to create HER forecasts. I’ll leave it to…
Read MoreThe Delaware Township Quiz
By: Paula Dunn Hamilton County’s Bicentennial celebration moves to Delaware Township in October. Are you ready to test your knowledge of Delaware Township history? 1. True or False — Delaware Township has always covered the same geographic area. 2. One of Hamilton County’s covered bridges used to be located in Delaware Township. What was its…
Read MoreA Little Allisonville Road History
By Paula Dunn I always thought the migration of wealthy movers and shakers from Indianapolis to Hamilton County was a phenomenon that began during my lifetime, so I was surprised to run across a story in the January 28, 1912, Indianapolis Sunday Star Magazine that proves it actually started long before that. The article’s headline…
Read MoreThe Indiana “Water Boy”
By: Paula Dunn I have to confess, I knew very little about Clarence Geist, the man for whom Geist Reservoir was named, until I started working on that Fall Creek Township quiz. The more I dug into his life, however, the more I felt he was worth a column of his own. Although he was…
Read More