The Hayden Historical Museum’s hours of operation will be Mondays from 4 to 5:30 p.m. and Wednesdays from 4 to 8 p.m. until Memorial Day, when longer summer hours will resume.
Visits can also be arranged by calling 812-592-8445, by messaging on Facebook or by e-mailing [email protected]. Organizations and civic groups are especially welcome to tour our facilities.
The museum features a research library and an exhibit area with several different displays to highlight Hayden and Spencer Township’s heritage. Some of the attractions include the Gallery of Agricultural Leaders, a pre-1900 bedroom, a 1939 kitchen, a 1965 living room and a mid-1950s school classroom.
There are also displays for the veterans from the community, the eight pro baseball players from Hayden and a special area to honor former Indiana governor and Hayden native Edgar D. Whitcomb.
The museum’s largest exhibit is the old Sinclair gas station. First built along U.S. Highway 50 in 1926, this building was moved to the museum property in 2001. Volunteers used an old photograph to restore the station to the way it looked in 1947.
In 2014, a monument was erected for Edgar D. Whitcomb and it is located in the side yard of where he grew up in Hayden. The marker highlights Whitcomb’s life and career as a veteran of World War II, a politician and a sailor who navigated around the world by himself.
The newest attraction for the museum is the building that was opened in 2015. “A Place Called Yesterday” is devoted to showing what home entertainment was like before the days of electricity.
Visitors can see and hear the various antique musical instruments and devices that require no electricity or battery power. This building also contains a display of an almost complete collection of Life magazines.
