Paula Dunn

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…

We’ve got some new exhibits at the From Time To Thyme Virtual Museum! (Remember — this is a “virtual museum” because it’s unclear if any of the objects in it still exist, or if they do still exist, where they might be today.) Our first “relic” (that’s what they were commonly called back in the…

Michael Kobrowski, the Westfield Washington Historical Society’s archivist and collection manager, recently mentioned to me that September is International Underground Railroad Month. This is something relatively new. Maryland was the first state to officially proclaim the observance in 2019, but other states and Canada soon followed, including Indiana in 2021. September was chosen for the…

Driving through Boxley today you’d never know it was once THE town in Adams Township. The railroad changed all that. Just as Shielville began to disappear after tracks were laid to neighboring Buena Vista (Atlanta,) Boxley — or Boxleytown, as it was known in its early days —  started to decline after the railroad bypassed…

I believe we’re due for a reader column! After the columns on UFO sightings in Hamilton County ran, both Pam Ferber and my Anonymous Friend brought up the sonic booms that used to be heard in Noblesville during the 1960s when jets from Grissom Air Force base flew over the city. Believe it or not,…

Here’s a pop quiz for you — which Hamilton County town had three founders, but not all at the same time? If your answer was Atlanta, congratulations! You know your Hamilton County history! Atlanta is actually a combination of three towns: Spargerville (which sometimes appears as Spargersville,) Shielville (or Shielsville) and Buena Vista. All three…