Paula Dunn

Today, Hamilton County has several small airports, both public and private, but back in 1945 there was only one and I’ll lay odds most people don’t know where it was located. Fishers? Carmel? Noblesville? Nope. It was Sheridan. In February of 1945, the United States Department of Commerce notified the Town of Sheridan that Blackhawk…

A recent discussion with a friend about cranberries got me started wondering when cranberries, turkey and all the other traditional Thanksgiving dishes began to appear on Hamilton County tables. Unfortunately, I can’t provide any exact dates because we’re missing so many issues of the county’s pre-Civil War newspapers. However, other Indiana newspapers make it clear…

It recently occurred to me that, although the life of Hamilton County pioneer William Conner is fairly well known, few people are probably familiar with his parents’ story. Their history is just as interesting and, in some ways, not that different from William Conner’s own life. Richard Conner, the father of William Conner, was born…

It’s a reader feedback week! The 2022-2023 winter forecast column prompted responses from several people. Nancy Lacy emailed that WISH-TV weatherman Randy Ollis reported seeing a dark brown wooly worm, and Lisa Hayner and Mari Briggs provided the first sightings I’ve received of striped wooly worms  — the kind that are mostly brown, with black…

Noblesville has been visited by several past, future and incumbent United States Presidents over the years, but the biggest political rally ever held here might well have been in honor of a man who lost a presidential election. James G. Blaine, a Republican from Maine, lost the 1884 presidential race to Grover Cleveland, but from…

I couldn’t let Halloween pass without an appropriately spooky column! Westfield’s Michael and Nicole Kobrowski are probably best known for their books on the paranormal and for their Historic Indiana Ghost Walks & Tours, but did you know they also conduct ghost investigations? I’m not talking about “giggle-giggle-let’s-scare-ourselves-silly” ghost hunting. These are serious inquiries into…

I can’t believe it’s time to do the winter weather forecast column again. Where did the summer go? As always, I need to point out that I’m not in the business of making predictions myself. I just gather data from the folk signs Sheridan’s weather expert, Clara Hoover, used to create her winter weather forecasts.…

When I took over Jerry Snyder’s column space in the Times 12 years ago, I made a conscious decision to emulate her conversational style and — especially — her positive outlook. Occasionally, however, something really wrong arises that affects the community as a whole and I feel obligated to speak up about it. When I…

I’d been thinking of writing a column about Noblesville’s A. H. Lacy building (the former home of Kirk’s hardware and current home of the Linden Tree) for a long time, so when the opportunity recently arose for me to be part of a small, informal tour of the building, I jumped at the chance. Led…

Are you familiar with the myth of the glowing tombstone in Noblesville’s Crownland Cemetery? I was a senior in high school when a classmate told me about it. My reaction ran along the lines of “Whuuut?” Although I’d lived here all my life, this was news to me. My friend went on to embellish his…