Paula Dunn

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…

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…

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…

Peanuts And Lost Noblesville Landmarks By: Paula Dunn More reader feedback! The reference to peanut socials in the column about strange fads caught the eye of my Texas cousin, Kermit Ross. Kermit noted that years ago our relative, Byron “Doc” Ross, used to celebrate the Christmas season by setting out a bushel basket of unshelled…

By Paula Dunn Fall Creek Township is the Bicentennial celebration’s featured township for September. That means it’s time for the Fall Creek Township Quiz! 1. What year was Fall Creek Township first settled and who was the first settler? 2. Who is the “Geist” in Geist Reservoir? 3. What old Fall Creek Township community now…

From Time to Thyme By Paula Dunn If you’ve lived in this area as long as I have, I don’t have to tell you today’s Noblesville is nothing like the city I knew growing up here in the 1960s and ‘70s. I used to be comforted by the thought that at least I was surrounded…

From Time to Thyme By Paula Dunn Another month, another township in the Bicentennial spotlight! Wayne Township is being featured in August. That means it’s time for the Wayne Township quiz. 1. Who were Wayne Township’s first white settlers? 2. Is the township’s largest creek “Stoney Creek” or “Stony Creek?” 3. What was Clarksville’s original…

By Paula Dunn While I was trying to decide on a topic for this week, I ran across an item in the July 21, 1904 issue of The Times that made me chuckle and I just couldn’t let it pass. The “Curbstone Ranger,” a columnist for The Times, observed that Will H. Craig, the editor…

By Paula Dunn After being so slow getting the last reader column together, I’m now in the unusual position of needing to do one sooner than I expected. The last two columns (the Noblesville Township quiz and the Hamilton Heights Huskies history) prompted readers to send in some good information. Jim Macy wrote that back…

By Paula Dunn Hamilton Heights Huskies’ Family Tree My cousin, Kermit Ross, recently showed me a program book from the 2015 Hamilton Heights Alumni Association reunion that contains an impressive history of the Jackson Township and White River Township schools. (Both Jackson and White River Townships are covered because the two school systems have been…