Westfield Washington Historical Society & Museum

10/02/2023

Did you all forget? Belated HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the Westfield Washington Historical Society & Museum ! It was officially created on October 1st 1997! We are 26 years old! Isn't that something! Who wants to wish us Happy Birthday? We do accept Birthday gifts late too on our online and offline locations :-)
https://www.wwhs.us/donate

09/28/2023

CHANGE OF PLANS!: Jim Peyton will be available on Saturday September 30th and will have the museum/cabin open. If he isn't at one building, check the other next door. 10a-2p!

FYI - we will be closed Saturday September 30th due to a lack of volunteer availability. Please contact us if you are able to volunteer in October/November/December please.

Thanks

09/22/2023

Humanoids have been building log cabins for much longer than originally thought!
https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/20/africa/oldest-wooden-structure-zambia-scn/index.html

09/20/2023

Thank you Hamilton County Bicentennial for highlighting Thomas Jefferson.... Lindley and our newish website feature about Famous Shamrocks/Westfield Residents! Really made my day! 🥹

Thomas Jefferson Lindley, a prominent politician, Civil War soldier, and friend to James Whitcomb Riley was born and raised in Westfield, Indiana. His family was involved in the Anti-Slavery Movement and were Quakers.

The Westfield Washington Historical Society & Museum is researching his family history and has made the collection of records available for public viewing.

See the pictures of the museum’s Lindley collection:
https://www.wwhs.us/collection/famous-shamrocks/thomasjlindley?fbclid=IwAR3lm-pGW5GGcDvKqTUhTDXTAk-l7sq2YnNfB4HeztIXveP-GTeLVP0gJCA

09/20/2023

Volunteers Needed:
The Westfield-Washington Historical Society is in need of volunteers to host the opening of the Museum and Barker Cabin. The Museum and Barker Cabin are open Saturdays from 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM. For those who have not volunteered for one or the other, training will be provided. Please consider helping the Historical Society by volunteering to be a Museum or Barker Cabin host. We need two volunteers for Saturday 23rd immediately. Text Jeff Beals at 317-460-4844 or email [email protected] to be scheduled

09/16/2023

Great music! Porch concert! Hope first of MANY more!

09/16/2023

Delightful fun music and banter from the Jelly Rollers Dixieland band!

09/16/2023

Wow, they are great!

09/14/2023

Lol

Sharing a little to start your day.

DID YOU KNOW?
The measured drawings, historical reports and large-format photographs produced through the HABS/HAER/HALS Programs is the nation's largest archive of historical architectural, engineering, and landscape documentation? Yep! It's housed in The Library of Congress.

Conduct your personal search of documentation on over 40,000 historic sites at https://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/

09/08/2023

Sad news today :-( Joe will be missed.

With profound sorrow, the City of Westfield announces the death of District 3 City Councilor Joe Edwards. Edwards passed away on Friday morning after a long illness. He served Westfield for two decades, first as a town councilor and then as a city council member. Our deepest condolences to his wife, Jo Ann, and his children and grandchildren. Funeral services are pending.
***Link to the news release below***
https://us20.campaign-archive.com/?e=__test_email__&u=3b4615471287568023972d947&id=701f4cd3c4

09/07/2023

We are looking for an additional volunteer for this Saturday September 9th to be able to have both the Museum and the Log Cabin open. In case this is your first time, don't worry, you will partner with an experienced volunteer

Please contact Jeff Beals at [email protected] if you have time Saturday 10a-2p

09/06/2023

We've added another entry to our webpage for Famous Shamrocks/Westfield residents: Camilla Jean Allen Axelrod 1929-2002.
Mom of Town and Ms. Christmas, Town Council member, Business owner, volunteer and so much more!
https://www.wwhs.us/collection/famous-shamrocks/camillaallenaxelrod

https://hub.catalogit.app/4415/folder/5ba63520-2809-11ee-bd1a-e98aeb7c8894/entry/dd45ceb0-c66c-11ec-8e2e-b95802323362

08/19/2023

OPEN SATURDAY 8/19 10a-2p: Museum & Log Cabin!

08/17/2023

We posted yesterday about the Eagletown Brick Barn, the listing, and some pictures we posted before. Here some pictures of the breathtaking attic space that really show how amazing this building is - should really be part of the listing as a selling point! These were also from our August 17 2021 visit! - Michael K

08/16/2023

We don't normally post real estate listings but this building is close to our heart, we thought we do it anyway! We visited 2 years ago and it is such a fantastic property. The owners had great plans for it, but seems like they are ready to let someone else try! Check it out and our pictures from the day August 17th 2021 - Michael K
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/17520-Little-Eagle-Creek-Ave_Westfield_IN_46074_M41023-17077

08/07/2023

Thanks Jan's Village Pizza for the pictures. Sad to see the bank and other buildings go. Here a link to our collection entry on how the bank looked brand new! Plus! In the background you can see the 2nd story of Jan's that is long gone! Plus view of Picketts/Funderburgh/Erikas building that last we heard will be relocated!
https://hub.catalogit.app/4415/folder/160a2420-7a39-11eb-ae37-c5a160dd0ae7/entry/e4767bc0-5b7a-11eb-997e-e9d966296a00

08/07/2023

I wonder what a video like that Westfield Washington Schools one would look like from 1923 :-) Well, I guess the next best thing is the 1923 yearbook! (Before it was called Shamrocket) - Rurosa 1923! Check it out on our site you can load the full PDF and page through it: https://hub.catalogit.app/4415/folder/b69a3e70-3079-11eb-bf86-47cf234c474c/entry/6ef10060-2d25-11eb-8afe-c36686951776

08/05/2023

Volunteers Needed:
The Westfield-Washington Historical Society is in need of volunteers to host the opening of the Museum and Barker Cabin. The Museum and Barker Cabin are open Saturdays from 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM. For those who have not volunteered for one or the other, training will be provided. Please consider helping the Historical Society by volunteering to be a Museum or Barker Cabin host.

We have openings starting the 2nd week of September and through October. Email Jeff Beals at [email protected] to be scheduled. Send him your phone number in the email so he can call or text you back too!

Thank you!

08/05/2023

Visit the museum and especially the 1835 Barker Log Cabin today to see Jeff and Jim putting together a rope bed!

08/05/2023

Btw the museum and log cabin are OPEN! Until 2 PM

08/03/2023

Thank you IndyStar for this story on one of our Washington Township cemeteries. Greenwood Friends cemetery.

Thousands of visitors arrive daily to watch the Indianapolis Colts at training camp, many of them driving past the old Quaker cemetery near the corner of Spring Mill and 191st Street. Read more on the cemetery and its history: http://rb.gy/2akhr

08/02/2023

Thank you IndyStar for the story about Washington Township Greenwood Friends Cemetery. We love all our cemeteries! https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/columnists/gregg-doyel/2023/08/02/tiny-cemetery-next-to-colts-camp-at-grand-park-tells-civil-war-stories/70456624007/

07/30/2023

Watching Little Orphant Annie at The Lacy Arts Building . Including a brief talk from County Historian David Heighway about Rileys connection to Noblesville. Michael K our curator might mention connections to Westfield too ;-)

07/29/2023

And our Westfield Carnegie library opened in 1910 and was the first Carnegie in Hamilton County! Thanks Indiana Historical Bureau

in 1902, the first Carnegie library in Indiana was dedicated in Crawfordsville. The Current Events Club, a local women's organization, had been organizing the city's public library for four years when Andrew Carnegie donated $25,000 for construction costs.

While this was the first Carnegie library to open in the state, Indiana came to have more Carnegies than any other state in the nation. Crawfordsville's public library relocated in 2005, and the original building reopened as the Carnegie Museum of Montgomery County in 2007.

To learn more about the Crawfordsville Carnegie Library, click here: https://bit.ly/carnegielibin
Image courtesy of Visit Montgomery County.

07/28/2023

Thomas Jefferson Lindley was born and raised in Westfield, Indiana! He became very prominent in the State of Indiana and the legislature especially in his later years. He also was a Civil War solider!

He is another of our "Famous Shamrock" entries on our new section our Website here:
https://www.wwhs.us/collection/famous-shamrocks/thomasjlindley

07/25/2023

UPDATE: Judy Shuck was worried the picture originally posted wasn't Martha but her sister Frances. So we changed the picture to one we are sure is Martha - the Indianapolis Times said so.

Martha Doan was born and raised in Westfield, Indiana and went on to accomplish many things over her lifetime. Very well educated and an expert in her field. Let us know if you knew her, if you have any pictures of her and any letters we would sure like to have them or copies in our collection!

She is another of our "Famous Shamrock/Westfield residents" entries on our new section our Website here:
https://www.wwhs.us/collection/famous-shamrocks/marthadoan

07/23/2023

Yesterday Lucas and his former neighbor Lorenda visited our 1835 Barker Family Log Cabin. They lived/live very close to where the cabin used to be and Lucas gotta be the cabins biggest fan. (Maybe tied with our President Diana ;-) He even has pictures of it on the wall in his new home in Switzerland! Come back anytime! Thank you Lorenda for the pictures!

07/22/2023

Nevermind: we have Paula here until 2 PM!

Due to scheduling issues the museum is not open today. Sorry for the inconvenience.

07/21/2023

Michael Kobrowski, Curator: While accessing items from collection 2023.8 today, pictures from a photo album from Author James Baldwin (Westfield, 1841 - South Orange NJ 1925) I thought what would be a good way to highlight him and other prominent people from the area? So I did what I know - created a couple websites. More to come - anybody want to write something up about others? I can assemble it on our website if you provide the text, etc?

Well, I couldn't think of a snappy title for the page, so I thought we go with the fetching "Famous Shamrocks". I thought it might be nice to have a page on our website to combine information about prominent past citizens of Westfield and Washington Township. As an extention of what we can display

07/21/2023

Note from Michael K our Curator: The company I work for SMC Corporation of America offers a new benefit! A volunteer PTO day! So I decided to take today to work all day at the museum! Accessioning, Posting things, working on future displays.... here you go:
Many people who have been in Westfield and Hamilton county for a couple decades remember Westfield's Pickett's Cafeteria. Well, here a picture of the OG Westfield Cafeteria! Run by the Carey family it is a plays of legends - and finally we have a picture of it! Donated by Marcia Fuson it is a VERY clear picture of the place and people in front. Btw, 31 miles to the next place to eat - this was US31 and 31 miles north brings you to the southside of Kokomo! :)
2023.10.1 more details here:
https://hub.catalogit.app/4415/folder/b69a3e70-3079-11eb-bf86-47cf234c474c/entry/83491420-ff29-11ed-830a-31e2caf6eb6a

07/21/2023

The museum will be open Saturday July 22nd from 10a to 2p!

07/18/2023

Supposedly after Frederick Douglass was attacked he went to Westfield to recover. One of his followers in Pendleton was M.C. White from Westfield who was related by marriage to Levi Coffin. Hamilton County Bicentennial Hamilton County Historical Society Old Sheriff’s Residence and Jail

07/16/2023

Did you know we have postcards for sale? 1835 Barker Log Cabin and Historic Westfield images. You can buy them online or at the Museum https://wwhs-512798.square.site/ #

Once you send them, have the recipient send a picture back! Here is one the person who took the picture of the Cabin in the snow, Rory Gentry sent us with the amazing picture!

"I sent one of the Barker Cabin postcards (the one with my winter picture on it) to my wife in Bangkok. She snapped a picture of this monk holding the Barker Cabin postcard.

I bet that 188 years ago, the Barkers never thought that someone in Thailand would see their house!"

07/15/2023

The museum is open 10a to 2p today!

07/11/2023

Our new neighbor. North East of the building that houses the museum and just north of our Barker Family Log Cabin next to the barn. FeedingTeam.org The Feeding Team Corp

07/10/2023

Fascinating recording from 1964 about a women born in 1878. This reminds me again that we would like to record the recollections of residents of Westfield & Washington Township.
- We can do the recording at the museum or in your home or a different place of your choosing
- We can record your voice only or voice and video, up to you
- We can of course have a friend/relative with you if you like

Please contact our curator [email protected] if you like to schedule a recording session.

Listen to the recording that inspired me to post this again:

0:00 Introduction1:35 Rowena (Belle's Niece) Speaking2:25 Belle Buford Thom Collins SpeakingMy new history channel "The History Zone"Historical videos from a...

07/01/2023

By the way, the Westfield Washington Historical Society & Museum will be open July 1st 10am! Come say hello!

06/28/2023

A member of the Sheetz family asked if we had any color pictures of their building before it was demolished. Well, that reminded me that I (Michael Kobrowski) took pictures of the properties on West Main Street before they were demolished. Come back with me to October 27 2012 - wow, over 10 years ago.... I uploaded two properties so far - 411 W Main (former Sheetz building) and 421 W Main. Accession 2023.12 (Total of 225 pictures!) More to come.
https://hub.catalogit.app/4415/folder/c1d60fb0-155c-11ee-a04e-4de3b5da60ea

06/26/2023

July Hamilton County Bicentennial events coming up! Noblesville Township focus! Hamilton County Historical Society Old Sheriff’s Residence and Jail

This serves as the main event calendar for the Hamilton County Bicentennial. See all our upcoming events in one easy place!

06/23/2023

Anyone from Westfield Washington Township planning to enter? Hamilton County Bicentennial

There's one month left to apply for the Noblesville Fabric Art Show! The show will run August 4 through September 1, with applications due by July 22.

Categories will include heirloom or antique pieces, and modern or newly-created pieces. To be considered, pieces must have a Hamilton County connection either through subject, maker, history or current owner.

Learn more & apply here: https://nickelplatearts.org/.../noblesville-fabric-art.../