Good evening, everyone! Hope you all had a pleasant day (without shoveling or plowing, preferably). Today has been amazingly hectic, as I am sure happens to everyone after a snow day.
I had a fantastic meeting with Brenda Sheetz at the Porter County Community Foundation (PCCF) office regarding future grant opportunities for the Historical Society and Museum. Afterwards, Bob Kasarda from the NWI Times stopped by to talk about next Friday’s (February 13) mural unveiling. A bit later, I met with Brian Schafer, Lucie Whitlow, and Diane Cooley to plan for the Friday, February 13 VIP party before Ragtime at the Memorial Opera House. We also discussed the future of the VIP parties extending into 2010 and 2011, but that is a topic for another blog…
Enough about my day. Well, not really, but I will detail my schedule in future blogs. Getting back to the title of this blog…
The Porter County Museum is an amazing small Museum—one that gets better with every passing day. However, there are several other fine Museums and Historical Societies in our county. The Brown Mansion/ Westchester Township History Museum. The Alton Goin Historical Museum at Countryside Park/ Portage Community Historical Society. The Hour Glass Museum/ Historical Society of Ogden Dunes. The Kankakee Valley Historical Society. The Stagecoach Inn & Panhandle Depot/ Hebron Historical Society.
I feel it is my duty to promote every Museum and Historical Society within our county. We are all in the business of sharing history—why not work together to accomplish our common goal?
About a month ago I decided to call the Stagecoach Inn, which is located in Hebron, Indiana. Kathryn Wiltfang, a volunteer and member of the Hebron Historical Society, set up a time for me to visit. Both she and Betty Osby graciously toured me through the Stagecoach Inn and Panhandle Depot.
What an incredible local Museum!
The Stagecoach Inn was built in 1849 by Mr. McCune and is a “saltbox” style house. The preservation of the “saltbox” house was made possible by the pay, compensation, and life insurance of Donald Louis Alyea (1925-1944), a member of the Army Air Corps who lost his life in a bombing mission over Foggio, Italy. Mr. Alyea bought the house and opened the Museum in remembrance of his son.
(Pazour Point—The “saltbox” house was named for its resemblance to the wooden saltboxes used in early New England. This style of house was extremely popular in New England because of the relative ease to add more rooms. New England whalers brought the style to California with a slight variation known as the “Spanish saltbox”.)
I will continue to detail my visit—especially about the Panhandle Depot and its contents—in tomorrow’s blog.
Oh no! It is time for an unexpected HISTORY FACT BLAST!
Did you know that Hebron was known as the “Corners” until 1844? Were you aware that Reverend Hannon established the name Hebron, which was historically the name of the capitol city of King David’s reign? Know that Hebron had the LAST Carnegie Library ever built in the nation?
Did you know any of the facts listed in the HISTORY FACT BLAST! above? No?! Then it is time you make arrangements to visit Hebron’s Stagecoach Inn. You will not be disappointed (and you will learn more about the southern part of our county)!
Until you read again…
Best,
KMP
Executive Director
Porter County Museum