Montgomery County Historical Society

08/18/2026

We are grateful to Subaru of Indiana Automotive and the SIA Foundation for their generous grant support of $9,970.36 to the MCHS!! 🎉

This grant will help us better protect our unique and important framed objects from light damage. Our plan is to re-glass around 48 framed objects with museum acrylic. This is safer for the object and will also allow visitors to better see objects.

In June, our Executive Director, Jill Coates-Matthews, and Assistant Director, Owen Bennett, were delighted to attend the grant ceremony held at the SIA’s Training and Reception Center in Lafayette. We are incredibly thankful to have been awarded an SIA Foundation Grant!

In July, we took our first batch of framed objects over to Morgan’s Glass & Paint to be re-glassed. Last week we took our second batch of framed objects in, which left the Lane Place Library a little bare. We hope to have some of the items back on display later this month!

08/07/2026

To anyone who may have mailed something to our PO Box in the past month or so, our box is back in working order! The USPS is as baffled as we are that a stop was put in our box, with no indication of how long it’s been in place.

We noticed that we hadn’t gotten mail through our PO Box for most of July, but no notices had been sent and when asked the USPS said everything looked good on their end. Apologies to anyone who may have had their mail sent back to them during this period!

08/05/2026

Have you walked by Lane Place this summer?

If so, you might have noticed the bright orange temporary fencing around the north side of the home. Taking a closer look you would see the sad state of our north porch and columns. Due to a leak in the porch roof, water infiltration has caused havoc. A bad situation transformed into a critical situation thanks to a mix of extreme freezes, difficulty in finding a contractor, and sorting out the finances to fix the problem.

Replacing our north porch header beams and columns is a critical need, and is the next step in safeguarding historic Lane Place. In late 2023, it was first noticed that due to issues with the roof, water had penetrated the edge of the porch roof down into the structure. Since spring of 2024, the column capitals and bases have rapidly deteriorated, most likely due to extremely low temperatures experienced over the past two winters. In 2024, a Montgomery County Community Foundation (MCCF) Grant allowed us to replace the flat roof above the porch. Ideally, we would have then had the column work done in 2025. However, it took longer than anticipated to find contractors capable of completing the column work, and we were unable to apply for any grants last year. This year we were awarded an MCCF Grant of $70,000 for this project! We are still hoping to raise another $30-40,000 towards this project and next year’s renovation work. Donations can be made online at www.lane-MCHS.org or can be mailed in to the MCHS.

We will replace the columns and header beams this fall, stopping further damage. Continuing in our mission to safeguard historic Lane Place, our next major project will be to replace the building’s copper roof and gutter system. Preventing water infiltration and protecting our county’s history is our top priority.

07/29/2026

Check out this great radio tour that our Assistant Director, Owen Bennett, gave to True Country 106.3 - WCDQ-FM!

WCDQ had the chance to get a tour of the Lane Place to learn more about its history and the story behind some of Crawfordsville's most notable citizens ...

07/22/2026

Did you know Henry S. Lane served in the Mexican-American War?

On May 13, 1846, Governor James Whitcomb authorized Lane to raise a regiment of Indiana volunteers to serve in the war. On June 20, 1846, Captain Lane mustered the 1st Indiana Volunteers into the Army and embarked southwest to patrol the Rio Grande. By the end of his service on June 16, 1847, Lane had achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Please stop by the Veterans Memorial Park to honor Lane’s service by recognizing his commemorative brick alongside those of other brave men and women who served in the armed forces.

To learn more about Lieut. Col. Lane’s service in the Mexican-American War and his political journey through the American Civil War, please stop by the Montgomery County Historical Society to view our new exhibit A Journey Through Conflict: The Lanes and the American Civil War.

For more information on how to schedule a tour, contact [email protected] or call our office at (765) 225-8257. If you’d like to support the MCHS or schedule a tour online, go to www.lane-MCHS.org

07/15/2026

Thank you to everyone who braved the heat last Wednesday and made it to our reading of the Declaration of Independence! We had a nice crowd and a wonderful sense of shared patriotism!

Here are a few photos from the event! Keep an eye out for a link to a recording of the reading!

07/15/2026

Help support YOUR local history in under 5 minutes at no cost!

Support us through the Kroger Community Rewards program! This does NOT take away from your Kroger rewards! This program makes fundraising easy by donating to local organizations, like us, based on the shopping you do every day! Once you link your Kroger card to the Montgomery County Historical Society, all you have to do is shop at Kroger and swipe your Shopper’s Card! It's a set-it-and-forget-it way to support us all year round!

You can follow this link to connect your card online, or follow these easy steps with your Kroger App. Open your Kroger App, click the profile icon on the top left. Go to “Payments & Resources” then “Community Rewards”. Search for “Montgomery County Historical Society” then select us from the list and click “enroll” or “save”. That's it!

Thank you for supporting your MCHS!! 💛

Learn more about how you can help raise funds for community schools, churches and other nonprofit organizations. Our community rewards program makes it easy. Learn more about Kroger Community Rewards.

07/08/2026

Join us today at 5:40 PM on the front grounds of Lane Place for a public reading of the Declaration of Independence! Our readers will be:

Todd Barton, Mayor of Crawfordsville
Seth Nunan, Language Arts Teacher, Crawfordsville Middle School
Jodi Webster, Social Studies Teacher, North Montgomery Middle School
Tony Gonczarow, Dual Credit Biology Teacher, South Montgomery High School
Jill Lamberton, Associate Professor of English & Special Assistant to the President for Belonging and Community

The event will last approximately 40 minutes, and it is a bring-your-own-chair event! We look forward to sharing this special anniversary with you!

07/02/2026

Join us at Lane Place on July 8 for a nationwide simultaneous reading of the Declaration of Independence. Arrive at 5:40 PM for a short program—reading begins at 6:00 PM on the front grounds. Bring family, friends, and a lawn chair for an evening of community and history!

More info: https://wix.to/BgOyuCs

06/14/2026

What a stunning Strawberry Festival weekend! Thank you to all the hard working cvillestrawberryfest volunteers, and thank you to all of our MCHS volunteers! We had around 500 visitors through Lane Place between Friday and Saturday!

If you haven’t been yet, enjoy the final hours of this year’s festival today!