“Steps Through Time” at the Bartholomew County Public Library is a great way to have some fun and learn about your community.
Wind your way through the Library, inside and out, following the yellow footsteps for a journey back in time. You will see fascinating displays from more than 25 individual collectors, local organizations and museums.
While many of the displays are static in nature, there are also many that provide opportunities to see history in action. You will see Reeves and Cummins gas engines in operation. Watch the engines pump water and grind corn! See if you can guess what old-fashioned kitchen utensils were used for and try them out. Compare how school is today with how it was 100 years ago.
Search your family history or find out if you had someone come over on the Mayflower. The genealogy and DAR groups can assist with those questions. View exhibits that explain who Cleo Rogers was and what the library was like 50 years ago. Climb aboard a vintage fire engine and take a ride around the tracks on the vintage Ottaway Pump-It train.
Did you know that in 1959 Annie Oakley paid a visit to the Bartholomew County Fairgrounds when it was located on 25th Street? See other memorabilia of long-gone (and some not-so-long-gone) businesses that were once found along 25th Street. Three Guys, Tovey Shoe Store, Gene’s Bakery, Wake-Up Gas Station, Red Barn, Becker’s, Po’ Folks and Olympia Dairy are names of a number of businesses that are gone, but survive now as a special collection of signs and other items.
Vintage go-karts like the Rathman Xterminator and the Home-a-Lite Scarlet Fighter are always a draw for wanna-be racing enthusiasts along with Columbus Racing Memorabilia. Take a ride on the “Ottaway Pump-it Train” and check out the 1937 Stutz Cummins Diesel Fire Engine.
There are fascinating exhibits brought in by individual collectors about Columbus High School, panoramic photographs of Columbus as it was in 1953, maps of railroad locations, Orinoco furniture and Cummins history. You will want to take your time and not miss any of the displays.
If you’re a teacher, Friday is open for students to visit. We have lots of hands-on activities. Try the scavenger hunt to find where Cleo is hidden or decorate a Chuck Taylor tennis shoe. This is a great way to have fun and learn about local history. All these activities and more will be available to do and see Friday and Saturday at the Bartholomew County Public Library.
If you have a group that would like to attend, there’s still room. Many students who visited on Friday last year returned on Saturday with their parents. That says a lot when kids get this excited about history
For more information call 812-379-1266 or email [email protected].
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You can see from the list below that the Library will be jam packed with history.
UPSTAIRS EXHIBIT AREAS
• Front Window Area: BCPL history from the late 19th Century up to 1969.
• Rhonda Bolner: Orinoco Furniture and Lincoln Chair Company
• Columbus Indiana Architectural Archives: New exhibit reflecting on past and present of CRML.
• Marjorie & Jack Schmeckebier: Vintage Kitchen & Home Making Devices
INDIANA ROOM
• Bartholomew County Genealogical Society focusing on Cleo Rogers
Getting Help With Family Research: Using “Find-a-Grave” & “Newspapers.com”.
• D.A.R. – Daughters of the American Revolution, Joseph Hart Chapter
• BCPL – Demonstrations on “How To Use Microfilm” & “What’s in the Indiana Room?”
DOWNSTAIRS EXHIBIT AREA
• Yellow Trail Museum, Hope, Indiana
• Simmons School, Hope, Indiana
• Bruce Neal: Columbus Racing Memorabilia
• Robert (Bob) Taylor: Indiana Master Woodcarver featured in Traditional Arts Indiana
• Shirley Taylor: Braided Rugs
CONFERENCE ROOM
• Jim & Gayle Loesch: 25th Street History & Reeves 4 HP Gas Engine
RED ROOM
• John Rondot: Local History Slides; Hands-On History; Aerial Maps of Columbus: 1937, 1949, 1960, 1968 & 2014
• Wayne Rust: Cummins V903 – in production in the US since 1987. Today it’s used primarily for military applications.
PLAZA & STREET
• Bartholomew County History Center: Reeves Gas Engine; Water Pump; Corn Grinder;
1907 Model A Worth Automobile
• Cummins: Special Vehicles provided by Cummins Volunteers
• Randy Watts: Cummins 1-1/2 HP “Thermoil” Engine
• Bill Stahl: Vintage Ottaway Pump-It Train; Cummins 3 HP “Thermoil” Engine
• John Stults: 1961 Home-a-Lite Scarlet Fighter Go Kart
• Mike Anderson: Rathmann Xterminator Go Kart (Friday only)
• Columbus Fire Department: 1937 Stutz Cummins Diesel
• Don Harvey: 1933 Plymouth 4 Door Sedan
• Atterbury-Bakalar Air Museum: 1942 U.S. Army Jeep
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