What are the opening hours?

Thursday 10am - 11am 11:30am - 12:30pm Friday 10am - 3:30pm Saturday 10am - 3:30pm

James Whitcomb Riley Museum Home

Name: James Whitcomb Riley Museum Home
Address: 528 Lockerbie Street, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, US
Telephone: +13176315885
Price range: $$
Rating: 4.7

Home
United States
Indianapolis, IN
James Whitcomb Riley Museum Home

Call Directions Website

This Museum Home is a true preservation, not a restoration, of the Victorian home. Visit us for a tour, public event or private event.
(1)

528 Lockerbie Street is a true preservation of the Victorian home the great Hoosier Poet, James Whitcomb Riley, resided in the last twenty-three years of his life. The James Whitcomb Riley Museum Home opened to the public in 1922, and has been offering a glimpse into the history of James Whitcomb Riley and his Victorian world for the last ninety-nine years. The home features the same furnishings and ornate décor Mr. Riley enjoyed during his lifetime. Visitors to our Museum Home will see beautiful ceilings painted by Italian Artisans, the desk where Mr. Riley penned some of his most well known works such as Little Orphant Annie and The Raggedy Man, and a myriad of other treasures. Please visit the Museum Home soon and learn about the life and legacy of James Whitcomb Riley, the Indiana poet who helped define what it meant to be a Hoosier.

10/21/2026

It was brought up last month that Riley had some connection to American Spiritualism, and I think it’s about time to address this fact.

Firstly, American Spiritualism was a religious movement throughout the 1800s that came into being around the same time as many of the other notable American-based religious movements, such as Mormonism or Seventh-day Adventism. This period was known as the Second Great Awakening and was largely centered around Western New York State, in a region known as the Burned-Over District. Spiritualism was rooted in a belief in the persistence of the human spirit on Earth after death, and that some people are able to communicate with these spirits. Two of the biggest early figures in the movement were the Fox Sisters who, as young girls in the 1840s, claimed to be able to communicate with spirits in their cabin through “spirit rapping.” They would go on to become famous mediums, performing countless seances for thousands of people.

The American Spiritualism Movement would remain a popular quasi-religious strain in the United States up through the 20th Century, hosting several churches in the US, one of which still operates in Florida. As for Riley’s connection, while he himself was not an ascribed member of any Spiritualist sect, his mother may have had some overlapping beliefs with Spiritualism, some of which were passed on to her children. Riley would write about his parents’ spirits living on in correspondence with his siblings, not to mention the literature in the home on supernatural occurrences, such as divine healing or telepathy.

10/16/2026

It's a dreary, rainy, cloudy day out there today, perhaps it'd be a good time to break out a topical poem by Riley, "Wet-Weather Talk."

It hain’t no use to grumble and complane;
It’s jest as cheap and easy to rejoice.—
When God sorts out the weather and sends rain,
W’y, rain’s my choice.

Men ginerly, to all intents—
Although they’re apt to grumble some—
Puts most theyr trust in Providence,
And takes things as they come—
That is, the commonality
Of men that’s lived as long as me
Has watched the world enough to learn
They’re not the boss of this concern.

With some, of course, it’s different—
I’ve saw young men that knowed it all,
And didn’t like the way things went
On this terrestchul ball;—
But all the same, the rain, some way,
Rained jest as hard on picnic day;
Er, when they railly wanted it,
It maybe wouldn’t rain a bit!

In this existunce, dry and wet
Will overtake the best of men—
Some little skift o’ clouds’ll shet
The sun off now and then.—
And mayby, whilse you’re wundern who
You’ve fool-like lent your umbrella to,
And want it—out’ll pop the sun,
And you’ll be glad you hain’t got none!

10/12/2026

Not many people realize that, besides his talents as a writer and musician, James Whitcomb Riley was also something of an artist. After it became clear to his father, Reuben, that James was not intent on becoming a lawyer like him, he apprenticed him to a local sign painter in Greenfield. For years he travelled Central Indiana painting advertisements for business and travelling salesman, the one he travelled with the longest was a man known as Doc McCrillus.

Samuel B. McCrillus was what was known as a patent-medicine salesman, a polite term for what is more commonly known as a “snake-oil” salesmen, a term synonymous with fraud. In an age before the FDA, and in the early days of modern medicine, folk-cures were still highly popular, especially among common people. Predatory charlatans and con men took advantage of common people’s faith in folk remedies, and distrust of the medical establishment to peddle elixirs, tonics, and liniments purported to cure all manner of common maladies. At their best, these treatments might provide mild relief due to containing ingredients such as co***ne or laudanum, but at their worst these “medicine” could harm their user, poisoning them or causing chemical burns.

Doc McCrillus sold “Blood Purifier Tonic,” which, as one leaflet stated, “[…] it cures Bilious and Intermittent Fevers, Chills and Fever, Scrofula, Sick Headache, Dizziness, Weakness, Loss of Appetite, Restlessness, Jaundice, Dyspepsia, Constipation, Mental Depression, Etc.” just to list a few of the purported cures his medicine could enact. In the photos, we can see one of the provocative advertisements Riley painted for McCrillus.

10/09/2026

Continuing on the theme of fall season poems, this week we have a poem of his from 1883, "An Autumnal Tonic:"

(the painting included this week was done by Will Vawter, one of Riley's three main illustrators)

What mystery is it? The morning as rare
As the Indian Summer may bring!
A tang in the frost and a spice in the air
That no city poet can sing!
The crimson and amber and gold of the leaves,
As they loosen and flutter and fall
In the path of the park, as it rustlingly weaves
Its way through the maples and under the eaves
Of the sparrows that chatter and call.

What hint of delight is it tingles me through?—
What vague, indefinable joy?
What yearning for something divine that I knew
When a wayward and wood-roving boy?
Ah-ha! And Oho! but I have it, I say—
Oh, the last mystery brightens at last,—
‘Tis the longing and zest of the far, far away,
For a bountiful, old-fashioned dinner to-day,
With the hale harvest-hands of the past.

10/07/2026

Today is the 177th Birthday of the Hoosier Poet, James Whitcomb Riley. Born in Greenfield in 1849, James was the third of six total children born to Reuben Alexander Riley and Elizabeth Marine Riley--having an older brother naemd John, an oldersister named Martha Celestia who died in childhood from scarlet fever, two younger sisters named Elva May or "Maymie," and Mary Elizabeth, and a younger brother named Alexander Humboldt or "Hum."

Featured in the photos with week is a self-portrait of Riley at 14, photos of his mother and father, and a photo of James along with his siblings.

10/02/2026

With the arrival of October, the coolness and fall smell coming on the breeze tells us that the beginning of the harvest season is upon us! For Riley, this would have been a time of fond memories from his childhood in rural Greenfield, best memorialized in one of his most famous poems, “When The Frost is on the Punkin’.”

However, fall also marked the beginning of the lecturing season for Riley, which was his primary way of making money for his works. For eight months out of the year he would travel from coast to coast reciting his poetry before packed audiences at venues big and small, all through the winter and into the beginning of the planting season. Given the season in which he would be giving these recitations, it makes sense why When the Frost is on the Punkin’ was such a crowd favorite.

Included in the photos this week are an illustration of a lyceum hall, giving you an idea of the type of venue Riley would preform in, a copy of Riley and Nye's "Railway Guide" chronicling their travels on the circuit in 1888, and an old postcard featuring a stanza from When the Frost is on the Punkin'.

When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock,
And you hear the kyouck and gobble of the struttin’s turkeycock,
And the clackin’ of the guineys, and the cluckin of the hens,
And the rooster’s hallylooyer as he tiptoes on the fence;
O, it’s then the times a feller is a-feelin’ at his best,
With the risin’ sun to greet him from a night of peaceful rest,
As he leaves the house, bareheaded, and goes out to feed the stock,
When the frost is on the punkin’ and the fodder’s in the shock.

They’s something kindo’ harty-like about the atmusfere
When the heat of summer’s over and the coolin’ fall is here—
Of course we miss the flowers, and the blossums on the trees,
And the mumble of the hummin’-bird and buzzin’ of the bees;
But the air’s so appetizin’; and the landscape through the haze
Of a crisp and sunny morning of the airly autumn days
Is a pictur’ that no painter has the colorin’ to mock—
When the frost is on the punkin’ and the fodder’s in the shock.

The husky, rusty russel of the tossels of the corn,
And the raspin of the tangled leaves, as golden as the morn;
The stubble in the furries—kindo’ lonesome-like, but still
A-preachin’ sermons to us of the barns they growed to fill;
The hosses in theyr stalls below—the clover overhead!—
O, it set s my hart a-clickin’ like the tickin’ of a clock,
When the frost is on the punkin’ and the fodder’s in the shock!

Then your apples all is gathered, and the ones a feller keeps
Is poured around the celler-floor in red and yeller heaps;
And your cider-makin’ ’s over, and your wimmern-folks is through
With their mince and apple-butter, and theyr s***e and sausage, too! . . .
I don’t know how to tell it—but ef sich a thing could be
As the Angels wantin’ boardin’, and they’d call around on me—
I’d want to ‘commadate ‘em—all the whole-indurin’ flock—
When the frost is on the punkin’ and the fodder’s in the shock!

10/01/2026

📣 Vendor Call-Out 📣

We have a few spots left for vendors at our Holiday Open House on December 5, 2026 ⛄

Please email Amanda at [email protected] for more information ✨

🎁 Completely free admission event
🎁 Family and kid friendly
🎁 Tour the Museum Home decorated for the holiday season
🎁 Visit with Santa in the Visitor Center
🎁 Shop an indoor local vendor market
🎁 Enjoy winter beverages
🎁 Enjoy kid friendly activities

09/29/2026

Happy Birthday to John Nickum, who was born on this day 205 years ago now. John was the man who commissioned the house at 528 Lockerbie to be built by his friend, the architect Robert Platt Daggett, in 1872. He was born in Maryland originally, relocating to Dayton with his parents when he was still a child.
John made his fortune in Indianapolis during the Civil War by owning a baking company that produced hardtack for the Union Army. Hardtack, also known as ship’s biscuits or worm castles, due to their penchant for becoming infested with pests, was effectively a type of thick dense cracker that could be stored for long periods of time without going bad—because of this, it was favored as a foodstuff for soldiers and sailors alike for centuries. However, hardtack was greatly disliked by those who were made to eat it. Living up to its namesake, hardtack was so hard that biting into it without proper preparation could damage one’s teeth—especially in a time when dental healthcare was sparse at the best of times. To eat hardtack soldiers would often have to bust it apart with the butts of their muskets, and then soak the chunks in water to soften them—often soaking the chunks in their coffee. Hardtack is also noted for being incredibly dry and bland, hence why soldiers often opted to soak them in coffee, so that they would have some sort of flavor. Often they would mix the crushed hardtack with bacon grease and fry it into a sort of hash known as hellfire stew, included among the pictures this week.

Address

528 Lockerbie Street
Indianapolis, IN
46202

Opening Hours

Thursday	10am - 11am
	11:30am - 12:30pm
Friday	10am - 3:30pm
Saturday	10am - 3:30pm

Telephone

+13176315885

Website

http://RileyMuseumHome.org/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when James Whitcomb Riley Museum Home posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Want your museum to be the top-listed museum in Indianapolis?