Paula Dunn

This is an anniversary for me. Believe it or not, as of this week I’ve been writing this column for 15 years. Fifteen years!  Even as I type those words, the reality of it is having trouble sinking in. I wasn’t sure I’d last six months, let alone 15 years. As I mentioned in one…

From Time to Thyme By Paula Dunn Now that Labor Day is behind us, I feel more comfortable writing about schools. (I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the idea of kids’ summer vacations ending in July!) A couple of interesting letters about early schools appeared in the Noblesville Daily Ledger in 1916. The…

After the quiz on Hamilton County waterways ran, Larry Cloud raised the subject of Carmel’s Flowing Well. That reminded me that, although I’ve written about the numerous mineral springs that once existed in this county, I’ve never devoted a column to the famous Carmel landmark. The Flowing Well is a little different from the county’s…

It’s been quite a while since the From Time to Thyme Virtual Museum has had any new exhibits. However, as luck would have it, I’ve run across some new artifacts to put on display . . .  so to speak.  (As you may recall, this is a “virtual” museum because all the objects in it…

Recently, my cousin, the Dancing Librarian, and I were discussing how different summer was when we were growing up in the 1960s. Unlike today’s kids, we had three whole months of freedom from school to do whatever we wanted. We could get a summer job, work on 4-H projects, hang out at the pool all…

Okay, I’ll admit it. I was stuck for a topic for this week’s column. Then, while I was brushing my teeth one morning, it hit me (not literally, thank goodness) — water! To be specific, the watercourses in Hamilton County. Have you ever paid any attention to all the creeks, streams, brooks, branches, etc. that…

You may have noticed that golf is kind of popular around here. Non-golfer that I am, even I can tell that. Just count how many golf courses there are in this county. Golf and Hamilton County go way back. Talk of building a golf course here began as early as 1916. The  Aug. 7, 1916…

Ever heard that saying about things — both good and bad — coming in threes? That was certainly true for the Hamilton County Bank of Cicero at one time. It was robbed three years in a row! (1959, 1960 and 1961.) I looked through the old newspapers to see if the bank had ever been…

It’s time for some reader feedback! Ruth Williams wrote that the column on the 1881 heat wave reminded her how stores used to post signs in their windows with messages like “It’s COOL inside” in order to entice summer shoppers to patronize the business.  That made me curious to find out when air conditioning first…

When I was a kid, I always felt there was something a little magical about summer nights. I was fascinated by all those stars glittering overhead. I used to spend whole evenings gazing up at the sky, trying to trace as many constellations as I could. Back then, I could see the Milky Way from…