Category Archives: Indiana Division

The Academy Girls

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They called themselves “The Academy Girls.” This group of graduates from The Old Academy in Franklin, who at a May 26, 1905 meeting at the house of Mrs. Sarah Briggs Sloan, elected Sarah Deitch Sibert their president and Martha Coleman Johnson, nicknamed Mattie, their secretary and treasurer. Their mission was to organize reunions of classmates and friends to reminisce about their school years.

Built in the influence of Greek Revival, The Old Academy in Franklin lasted only twelve years, from 1858 to 1870, when it was sold and used as a furniture factory until it burnt down. However, the boys and girls of the Old Academy continued to gather and remember their years there. The boys organized first, but by 1905, the girls had started to their own reunions.

In our Digital Collections at the Indiana State Library, we recently added “USM U.S. Mail Composition Book no. 702,” used as a scrapbook to organize and document the history of The Academy Girls reunions from their first in 1905 up to 1914. You will see on the inside cover a newspaper article with a sketch of The Old Academy followed by general notes from their first meeting. It is here that we learn that their first reunion, “an all day affair” would be held at the Greenwood Park on June 6, 1905. Total attendance would be 36 members, a number that would rise and dwindle over the years following their first reunion.

You can read the article that appeared in an unknown newspaper about the reunion. It recounts their activities, meeting and help of the chivalrous old academy boys in the organization of this first event. The scrapbook contains letters, newspaper clippings and ephemera such as ribbons.

The Academy Girls continued to meet me many years after, at least until the late 1920s as the group began to shrink. The venues included Garfield Park and the Old Academy grounds on Monroe Street in Franklin. The Franklin Evening Star recounted the history of the Old Academy and their reunions in an article on Nov. 12, 1963.

This scrapbook is a part of a larger collection called Education for Women. This new collection has materials as early as the 1850s about the various academies and school across Indiana.

This post was written by Christopher Marshall, digital collections coordinator for the Indiana Division at the Indiana State Library.

History Escape Room Kits from the Indiana State Library!

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Attention teachers and youth librarians! There’s a new kit coming from the Indiana State Library created especially with middle and high school students in mind. History Escape Room Kits will be available for teachers and librarians to check out starting in January of 2024.

Escape rooms are a popular way to engage students in learning, problem solving and critical thinking. Students enter a room or a space and are presented with a problem or mystery. They are “locked in” until the mystery is solved. They must scour the room for clues and work together to solve a series of puzzles that involve all manner of skills: map reading, image analysis, math problems, analyzing short passages, searching through newspapers, teamwork, leadership and more. If they succeed in solving the puzzles (usually in a limited amount of time) they can solve the mystery and “escape.”

The Indiana State Library’s History Escape Room Kits are being developed for Indiana’s public libraries and schools. All programs will be steeped in history and based on primary sources available from the Indiana State Library’s collections and the collections of the Library of Congress. The programs will be housed in containers and shipped to libraries and schools using the State Library’s courier network. Possible themes for the kits include: Genealogy with the Iris Baughman Diary, Jazz on Indiana Avenue with Sanborn Maps, Presidents and Vice Presidents of Indiana (including Benjamin Harrison), the Flu Pandemic of 1918 with WWI letters, Famous Political Speeches in Indiana and Indiana Basketball focused on Crispus Attucks High School.

Each History Escape Room kit will align with Social Studies Standards in Indiana for grades 6-12. These standards include map reading, industry in Indiana, primary and secondary sources, and events and movements in the 20th century. Escape rooms could be used by teachers as an engaging activity both during and after school hours. Youth librarians could use them as a pre-planned out-of-the-box program. History Escape Room kits will be designed for up to 16 youth to work on together but could be used by groups as small as four. Teachers could check out two to three copies of the same kit to accommodate larger classroom sizes.

Ease of use is front of mind for these kits. Teachers and librarians should be able to receive a kit, watch a video and get their room set up in 20 minutes or less. All solutions and hints will be included for the lead librarian or teacher, and all kits will be tested with actual teens before release. Interested libraries and schools will be able to reserve kits through KitKeeper, the same service that is used to book Storytime Kits, Book Club Kits, and Lego and Duplo Kits.

Training on using the kits will be available both at the Indiana Library Federation’s Youth Services Division conference held on Aug. 13 in Indianapolis, and at fall trainings held by the Indiana State Library yet to be scheduled.

The Escape Room Kits are sponsored in part by the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Midwest Region Program, located at Illinois State University. Content created and featured in partnership with the TPS Midwest Region does not indicate an endorsement by the Library of Congress.

Questions? Reach out to Suzanne Walker, Indiana Young Readers Center librarian.

This blog post was submitted by Indiana Young Readers Center librarian Suzanne Walker.

More ways to research historic sites and buildings

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Searching for information on a historic business, building or other site can be both rewarding and frustrating. Beyond the standard resources such as fire insurance maps, online newspapers and city directories, here are suggestions to find images and more.

Make sure to check digital memory projects since these collections often include photographs and postcards with images of streetscapes, historic districts and buildings. That smaller building might be included due to its proximity to a more famous landmark. In Indiana, the best statewide aggregator of local history photos and documents is Indiana Memory.

Indiana Memory

Many libraries and history-focused organizations have added unique photos and materials from their local collections to Indiana Memory. A notable contributor of over 23,000 images to Indiana Memory is the Indiana Album online catalog. The Indiana Album project seeks out rare photos from attics and private collections statewide and scans are made for the online collection. Please note that clicking on an image result from Indiana Album will then link outside of Indiana Memory to the Indiana Album online catalog.

 

Additional Indiana Memory collections that consist primarily of images include:

DNR Historic Preservation and Archaeology – This collection includes photographs from the Historic Theater Initiative and the Cemetery Initiative.

Indiana Historic Architecture Slide Collection – This Indiana Landmarks collection has images from the early 1960s through present day and captures historic architecture throughout the state.

Indiana Landmarks Wilber D. Peat Collection – Along with images, the collection has articles (1928-1952) by Agnes McCulloch Hanna who wrote a column on Indiana architecture for the Indianapolis Star and Indianapolis News.

Postcards of Indiana the Jay Small Collection – From the Indiana Historical Society (links outside Indiana Memory).

Porter County Interim Report

Not to be overlooked are the valuable clues in compiled sources, like the Interim Reports of Indiana Historic Sites and Structures. The printed reports usually have one county per volume. Indiana Landmarks in partnership with the Indiana Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology started compiling data in the late 1970s to document buildings and sites of interest for historic preservation. The Indiana State Library has copies of all printed interim reports in the Indiana Reference Collection, call number IND. REF. 977.2 I385his. Some of the older reports have been digitized in the Indiana Memory collection Indiana Historic Sites and Structures Inventory. Many reports were updated with a second edition, but the printed reports were phased out since the data is also entered into the Indiana State Historic Architectural and Archaeological Research Database. As older sites are re-surveyed, newly-eligible sites will be documented for first-time inclusion in the survey. More information about SHAARD is available on the database site, with public access available through the link “Enter SHAARD as a guest.”

Indiana Historic Buildings, Bridges and Cemeteries Map

There is also a mapping component to SHAARD, the Indiana Historic Buildings, Bridges, and Cemeteries Map. This interactive map has features to research historic sites and structures. The points on the IHBBC map connect to data in the Indiana State Historic Architectural and Archaeological Research Database. Since DHPA serves as the state historic preservation office for Indiana, their staff coordinate a statewide inventory, or survey, of historic properties. Surveyors create an inventory in a particular county by driving every road, recording data, and taking photographs of any property that is at least 40 years old or older and meets other criteria. After a hiatus, the DHPA survey program is resuming in 2023 and will start with Morgan County. Keep checking back for the latest data.

For questions about using any of the resources mentioned in this post, please contact the Indiana Division at 317-232-3670 or “Ask-A-Librarian.”

This blog post was written by Indiana Division librarian Andrea Glenn.

Get started in historical business research!

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Librarians in the Indiana Division of the Indiana State Library frequently get questions on how to find historical information about an old building or where to find the location of an old business. There are several online resources that we usually check first: fire insurance maps, online newspapers and city directories. The search strategy can take different angles, depending on what information is already known and what information is sought. It is always helpful to have a general time range in mind before starting any search.

Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps can prove useful. Fire insurance companies created these detailed, building-by-building maps of most urban areas to assess fire risk for insurance pricing. Many Indiana towns and cities were surveyed from the late 1880s through the mid-1950s and have maps available. An excellent free source of pre-1923 digitized Sanborn maps around Indiana is the Indiana Spatial Data Portal and its new public viewing interface. The Indiana State Library also subscribes to the Indiana maps within the Fire Insurance Maps Online Database, with access available within the building. The Indiana Division also has Sanborn maps on microfilm that includes years after 1923, just check with the staff at the second floor information desk.

Additional years of online Sanborn maps of Indianapolis are available through the Indianapolis Sanborn and Baist (IUPUI) Digital Collection. Thanks to a special project, the text descriptions (metadata) of each map sheet are searchable by keyword, landmark type and intersecting street names. For example, a keyword search for “Lyric” yields six results including Indianapolis Sanborn Map #37, 1915 that shows the location of the Lyric Theater along Illinois Street.

Lyric Theater – Indianapolis Sanborn Map 37 (1915)

Hoosier State Chronicles is an excellent online collection of newspapers from around Indiana, and the best thing about them is the text-searching capabilities. Using quotation marks around search phrases can yield very precise results. To discover when the Indianapolis Lyric Theater first opened its doors, search for a phrase that might be included in an article, such as “Lyric Theater opened.” The best result from the Oct. 10, 1922 issue of the Indianapolis Times tells of the theater’s 10th anniversary, placing its opening year of 1912.

Indianapolis Times, Oct. 10, 1922.

Why not try searching the city directory? Leafing through the pages can be tedious, but many directories have been digitized for access and preservation. Large cities tend to have earlier years and long runs of directories that were published. The Evansville City Directory online collection contains digitized and searchable volumes hosted through the Evansville Vanderburgh County Public Library. Other organizations such as the Allen County Genealogical Society maintain a guide with links to all known digitized copies of Fort Wayne and Allen County directories. More online copies of historical directories for Indiana cities can be found in Ancestry Library edition, Internet Archive, Google Books and Indiana Memory.

The Indianapolis City Directory Collection is hosted on Internet Archive. It is possible to narrow down and choose a single year’s volume and search the text. The entire set of 149 volumes can also be searched by toggling the search option “Text contents.” Keeping up the search for the “Lyric Theater” in Indianapolis, the results might yield advertisements and even names of theater employees who appear in the residential listings. This search produced 24 results.

While it may take some trial and error to find that perfect phrase for searching by street address, studying how the addresses are shown on the pages can help. Also check for abbreviations used by the publisher. Don’t search for “2234 North Main Street” when the directory lists the address as “2234 N Main.” Keep in mind that the entries might change format over the decades, so the search phrase may need to be adjusted to catch all variations. Business storefronts may expand or shrink, and the Post Office may assign a slightly different address number. Cities and towns have been known to rename their streets too, so use the directories in conjunction with Sanborn maps or other street maps.

Once the maps, newspapers and directories are searched, it doesn’t hurt to go back with any new information and search it all again. As always, the librarians can assist researchers getting started or needing additional guidance with online and print resources. The Indiana Division of the Indiana State Library collects county and city histories, maps, city directories and newspapers from all 92 counties. Let us know how we can help!

This blog post was written by Indiana Division librarian Andrea Glenn. For more information call (317) 232-3670 or “Ask-A-Librarian”.

Lake depth maps: 1920-1925

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The Indiana State Library has been digitizing a set of historic lake maps and making them available online for free to use and download. This set of maps was created between 1922-1925, making them all around 100 years old. Have a lake house? These might make nice pieces to frame!

There were 37 lakes mapped by the Indiana Department of Conservation, Division of Fish and Game in the first half of the 1920s. The maps show lake depth, adjacent topography, cottages, access roads and vegetation. The detailed surveys were the result of labor by William Motier Tucker, a native of Ripley County and Professor of Geology at Indiana University. He always worked with a student assistant, conducting the surveys in the summer months. The maps were then available for sale from the Department of Conservation for 50 cents each. They were purchased by interested fishermen and cottage owners.

There was much interest in Indiana’s lakes in the 1920s, mostly relating to fishing and fish hatcheries. Indiana had six state owned fish-hatcheries on lakes by 1926. They were responding to requests for stocking fish for sport and food. A lot of effort went into artificially propagating fish. You can read about these efforts in the Division of Fish and Game annual reports available online through the digitized yearbooks. In 1925, the Division sold over 205,000 fishing licenses, which contributed to the Division being self-sufficient. They receive no regular appropriation from the legislature. Today, 29% of Fish and Wildlife funding comes from license funds (source, pie chart).

In addition to being interesting to fishermen, the lake maps were to serve as a reference for years to come as they show the permanent benchmark levels for the lakes. There was concern that land drainage projects were threatening to lower lake levels in the northern half of the state. The Department of Natural Resources makes modern lake depth maps available on their website. So, while these 100-year-old maps may not have much practical use and are superseded by newer maps, they remain quite interesting. My favorite details are the manmade surroundings shown on the maps – there are cottages represented, some hotels and access roads are named. Many of Indiana’s beautiful lakes are remote, located way off state and interstate highways. Many no longer have many, if any, lots open for new development, making lakefront living a special privilege. I hope you find something interesting, too!

Bonus interesting information: William M. Tucker, the Indiana University professor who created the maps, left Indiana for a position at Fresno State College in the late 1920s. In 1937, he discovered the vertebra of huge prehistoric sea lizard, 50-million-years old. A few months later, the skull was found, making it one of the most valuable fossils discovered in the area.

This post was written by Monique Howell, Indiana Collection supervisor.

State Agency Documents Collection: Indiana State Police

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Our newest addition of materials to our Indiana State Agency Documents Collections is about the Indiana State Police.

The earliest item in the collection is a booklet from the Indiana Division of State Police Auxiliary Committee and the National Movement for State Police, published on Jan. 1, 1921. This booklet was published to advocate the creation of a state police force and includes articles about other state police forces and how the force would help in Indiana. This was basically an advertisement to push for the creation of legislation that would form the Indiana State Police. A few months later, on July 15, 1921, the Indiana legislature created the Indiana Motor Vehicle Police, making them the first law enforcement agency in the state to have statewide jurisdiction to enforce traffic laws. Limited to 16 officers, the force was only tasked with enforcing traffic laws.

During the late 1920s, faced with the rise in crime, prohibition and the now infamous gangsters of the time, the Indiana State Police expanded in 1927 with the creation of three bureaus – one reported and recorded crashes, one conducted criminal investigations and one was the Bureau of Criminal Identification, which included fingerprint identification. In the early 1930s, Governor Paul McNutt overhauled Indiana’s government. Through the Executive Reorganization Act of 1933, he reorganized 167 state agencies into eight new departments, as well as consolidated the law enforcement bureaus into one agency, the Indiana State Police Bureau. You can read about the work of the State Police Bureau in a booklet covering the years 1921 to 1937, which includes chapters on all the bureaus’ divisions.

Among the items in the collection is a 1936 advertisement pamphlet, “For Your Security and Protection.” This pamphlet offers general information and an overview of the vehicle traffic laws in Indiana. “Security and protection, for the people is the fundamental motive underlying the operation of any police department. And so, security and protection for the people of Indiana is the goal of Indiana’s state police department.”

During World War II, the Public Relations Division of the Indiana State Police published Service Links, “dedicated to all, I.S.P. service men, contains excerpt of letters from men now on leave of absence from the Department. As a monthly reminder that each man on leave is, despite his absence, definitely linked to the Department, this publication came into existence.”

For further reading about the history of the Indiana State Police, follow this link to their website.

This post was written by Christopher Marshall, digital collections coordinator for the Indiana Division at the Indiana State Library.

Regimental reunions of Civil War veterans

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After the close of the Civil War, Union veterans’ organizations were formed, such as the Grand Army of the Republic. Both the national and state levels of the GAR held regular meetings called encampments, and those were well-attended by members from local posts. At the same time, individual regiments began organizing less-formal reunions of their veterans. Often reunion organizers decided to meet in late summer when men might have free time in conjunction with their county fair or even during State Fair week activities at Indianapolis.

Fifth annual reunion of the 20th Indiana Vet. Vols., held at Crown Point, Indiana, Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 3rd and 4th, 1890. Indiana Pamphlet Collection [ISLO 973.74 no. 39].

Several of these local regimental reunions were well-documented with printed commemorative programs and proceedings. As with other types of reunions, a name list of attendees or surviving members was often published and may have been reported in a local newspaper. Some regiments would pay tribute to those who had died since their last reunion with a necrology list. Many Civil War veterans were becoming elderly in the time between the 1880 and 1900 U.S. Censuses, before there was full compliance with state death records laws. By placing a veteran along with his friends and neighbors at a particular reunion, these rosters can prove useful to researchers trying to bridge the gap.

Program of annual meeting. Roster. Seventy-ninth Indiana Veteran Association. 1889. Indiana Pamphlet Collection [ISLO 973.74 NO. 45].

Newspapers are always a great place to check for historical accounts of these “old soldiers” or “old veterans” reunions. A search of the Hoosier State Chronicles Digital Newspaper Collection points to reunions around the state. The details of the reunions may vary from names of organizers and officers to full lists of attendees.

Indianapolis Journal, Sept. 22, 1887. Hoosier State Chronicles Digital Newspaper Collection.

Keep trying searches with the regimental number spelled out in words (e.g., twenty-first, twenty-second, twenty-third, etc.) and also re-do the search as an ordinal number (e.g., 21st, 22nd, 23rd, etc.) which may give different, but equally useful results. For more information about items in the Indiana Collection or tips on finding regimental reunion documentation, please contact the Indiana State Library at 317-232-3670 or “Ask-A-Librarian.”

This blog post was written by Indiana Division librarian and state documents coordinator Andrea Glenn.

Indiana announces 2022 Great Reads from Great Places selections

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The Indiana Center for the Book and Indiana Humanities have announced two book selections for the annual Great Reads from Great Places program of the United States Library of Congress.

In 2022, the Indiana Great Reads selections will be “Zorrie” by Laird Hunt and “You Should See Me in a Crown” by Leah Johnson.

Every year, a list of books representing the literary heritage of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands is distributed by the Library of Congress’s Center for the Book during the National Book Festival. Each book is selected by a local Center for the Book. In 2022, the Library of Congress suggested states pick two books: one for young readers and one for adults. Books may be written by authors from the state, take place in the state, or celebrate the state’s culture and heritage.

Hunt’s “Zorrie,” a 2021 finalist for the National Book Award in Fiction, tells the story of one Hoosier woman’s “life convulsed and transformed by the events of the 20th century.” Taking place in Clinton County, the novel is a poignant study in rural Midwestern life and an exploration of the passage of time through individuals and communities. A professor at Brown University, Hunt is an Indiana native, having grown up in Michigantown and graduated from Indiana University Bloomington.

Johnson’s “You Should See Me in a Crown,” a 2020 release named by TIME magazine as one of the best 100 young adult books of all time, tells the story of a queer Indiana teenager’s senior year of high school and her pursuits to get into an elite college by winning the school’s prom queen contest as well as capture the attention of the new girl in school. Johnson grew up in Indianapolis and is a graduate of Ben Davis High School and Indiana University Bloomington.

“Picking books to represent Indiana at the National Book Festival is such a joy,” said Suzanne Walker of the Indiana State Library. “This year’s selections are so strong, and I’m delighted to shine a national light on these two worthy authors.”

The 2022 Great Reads from Great Places in books will be highlighted at the 2022 National Book Festival, which will be in person for the first time in several years and will take place on Saturday, Sept. 3, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington D.C. This year’s theme is “Books Bring Us Together.”

This post was submitted by Suzanne Walker, director of the Indiana Center for the Book, and Marisol Gouveia, director of engagement at Indiana Humanities.

Indiana Union of Literary Clubs

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The Indiana Union of Literary Clubs was started after the Indianapolis Woman’s Club was established at the Indianapolis Propylaeum. The Propylaeum, founded in 1888, was the central meeting place for many different women’s clubs in Indianapolis. At that time, there were already several different women’s literary clubs in Indianapolis alone. Although a rare men’s club is listed in the 1905 “Manual for the Indiana Union of Literary Clubs” (ISLO 374.2 NO. 7), the Union mostly consisted of women’s literary groups.

The late 19th and early 20th centuries were the height of popularity for literary clubs. By 1894, there were 175 organizations in the Union of Literary Clubs around the state of Indiana, according to “Literary Clubs of Indiana” (ISLI 810.6 M 153) by Martha Nicholson McKay. Of these, there were roughly five times as many women’s clubs than men’s clubs. Of the twenty men’s clubs, half were existing organized college literary societies (McKay, p 33).

The popularity of literary clubs among women seemed to point to a growing sense of intellectual curiosity. This could have been due to women seeking to improve so that “when the day of larger social and political freedoms dawns, they will be prepared for the new duties the wider field may disclose” (McKay, p.33). The boom in literary clubs also coincided with the suffragist movement in the United States.

To organize the numerous literary clubs around the state in the early 1890s, the Indiana Union of Literary Clubs became the first state organization of clubs. In 1892, the third convention of the Indiana Union of Literary Clubs was held in Lafayette.

Here is the cover of the Bulletin from the 1892 convention of the Indiana Union of Literary Clubs from the Indiana Pamphlet Collection (Ip 374.2 no. 49.)

“The Bulletin,” (Ip 374.2 no. 49), a publication from the convention, provides a transcript of the inaugural address, “The Value of An Intellectual Life” by Miss Elizabeth Nicholson of the College Corner Club of Indianapolis. She indicated that there was a need for women to have intellectual pursuits in addition to their roles as homemakers. A common criticism of women’s clubs during that time period was that they took too much time and energy away from home and family responsibilities. Miss Mercia Hoagland, a representative of the Fort Wayne Women’s Reading Club responds to this type of criticism (Convention of the Indiana Union of Literary Clubs 1892 : Lafayette, p 3):

Other speeches and discussions at the convention included, “The Moral Power of the Novel” and “Woman as a Factor in the World’s Progress.” “The Bulletin” also recounted news from literary clubs around the state.

At the end of “The Bulletin,” there is a transcript of a discussion as to whether the Indiana Union of Literary Clubs should take an exhibit to the Columbian World Exposition in Chicago the following year. It was brought up that if they did take an exhibit, it would need to represent all the various literary clubs around the state.

Ultimately, the Union did take an exhibit to the Columbian Exposition. The Indiana State Library has the item, “Exhibit of Work at Columbian Exposition,” in the Indiana oversize collection ([q] ISLI 374.2 I385E). These pages are examples of how each club contributed a program or leaflet that represented them.

This is the page representing the Ladies’ Literary Society from Brazil, Indiana. All participating clubs had a two-page entry in the book.

In 1906, the Indiana Federation of Women’s Clubs and the Indiana Union of Literary Clubs were consolidated and were renamed the Indiana State Federation of Clubs so that they could apply to become a chapter of the National Federation of Women’s Clubs.

Some of these literary clubs still exist today. For example, the Fortnightly Literary Club, established in 1885 is still active in Indianapolis. Hopefully, the love of knowledge, books and the pursuit of intellectual curiosity will never fade.

This blog post was written by Leigh Anne Johnson, Indiana Division Librarian, Indiana State Library. For more information, contact the Indiana State Library at (317) 232-3670 or “Ask-A-Librarian” Ask-A-Librarian.

Bibliography
“Convention of the Indiana Union of Literary Clubs 1892 : Lafayette, I.” (1892). The bulletin: a collection of addresses, papers and discussions of the third convention of the Indiana Union of Literary Clubs, held at Lafayette, May 18, 19 and 20, 1892. In M. E. Hoagland (Ed.). 1, p. 18. Lafayette: Indiana : Indiana Union of Literary Clubs, 1892. (Ip 374.2 no. 49)

“Indiana union of literary clubs – Reciprocity bureau.” (1905). Manual. unknown: unknown(ISLO 374.2 NO. 7).

McKay, M. N.-1. (1894). “Literary clubs of Indiana.” Indianapolis, Ind. United States: Indianapolis : Bowen-Merrill Co., 1894. (ISLI 810.6 M153).

The Indianapolis Fortnightly Literary Club. (May 11, 2022). Retrieved from https://fortnightly.org/

Indiana Union of Literary Clubs. Exhibit of work at Columbian exposition. [Place of publication not  identified], [publisher not identified], [date of publication not identified] ([q] ISLI 374.2 I385E).

Automobile Camps for “tin can tourists” in Indiana

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With automobiles becoming more accessible to Americans in the 1920s, Hoosiers – like many Americans – hit the road for tourism, travel and vacationing like never before. However, there was a lack of places for automobile tourists to stay overnight. Car travelers would pull over and “camp” along the roadside. Firepits, camp cooking trash and other evidence of camp were left behind. These automobile adventurers were sometimes referred to as “tin-can tourists.” I can’t determine if that references the cars they were driving or the trash they left behind.  

Indiana tourist camp map, 1922.

Indiana Director of Conservation, Richard Lieber, advocated for federal funding so states could develop safe places for motorists to stay along the road. In 1922, the Indiana Department of Conservation, still led by Lieber, published a map showing automobile camps across the state. You can view the map online in the Indiana State Library’s Open Space Historic Places digital collection. 

Riverside/Taggart Park, in Indianapolis, is listed as one of these urban automobile camps. The entrance was at 18th Street. It had only a few amenities but was in a beautiful and accessible corner of the park. This Hoosier Motor Club map from the 1920s shows the camp and proximity to main routes. View the full map here in the Indiana State Library’s Map Collection. 

A wonderful May 13, 1922 Indianapolis Star newspaper profile of that camp mentions that there were 15-18 cars a day using the camp that year; and those visitors came from across the United States. At the time of the article, there were campers from Nebraska and Florida.

There are 30 other automobile camp sites listed on the Indiana map. Some were run by local municipalities, local chambers of commerce and some were state parks. There’s also a plea not to destroy wildflowers, most likely written by the staff of the Indiana Department of Conservation.  

The countryside had not seen many tourists prior to the automobile. City dwellers could now explore the pristine countryside. The back of the map includes a Manual for Automobile Tourists written by AAA, which includes tips for selecting a campsite, when a campground for motor tourists isn’t available. “Towards evening select a suitable spot that appeals, near a farmhouse, where usually may be procured fresh milk and eggs and probably a loaf of homemade bread or a jar of home-preserved fruits.” 

It was an opportunity to show hostility or hospitality. Dr. Morrison, of Clinton County, urged hospitality. He wrote to the Indianapolis Star, “forty-seven miles north of Indianapolis there is a church yard of about one acre that contains 85 shade trees. At the approach from both ways you will see the following signs: ‘Tourists Welcome, drive in.’ Tourists from most all parts of the United States and Canada have accepted the invitation of welcome.” He continued in his letter to the editor, “let us all do what we can to help Mr. Lieber in bringing about the roadside camp for the tourists all over the grand old state of Indiana…” 

The map and articles about the development of the autocamps are fascinating. They sit in an idyllic sweet spot of the automobile era – seemingly full of optimism, freedom, comradery and adventure. Happy trails and cheers to that! 

The Denver Public Library has some photographs of what the autocamps looked like. This photo shows the Overland Park motor camp in Denver. Find more images online through the Digital Public Library of America.  

This post was written by Monique Howell, Indiana Collection supervisor.