GET HANDS ON
Get hands-on experiences with programs and classes that introduce and share our history! (Let’s plan!)
PLAN A VISIT
Visit us in downtown Columbus to view the exhibits, research your family history, or just ask questions! (Let’s discover!)
RENT THE FARM
Imagine, a barn and grounds you can rent for all types of occasions from casual corporate events to your special wedding day. (Let’s go!)
We hope you will join us June 7 & 8 for a walking tour just north of downtown, featuring nine private homes full of history, interesting details, and amazing stories. This year’s signature fundraiser will unveil homes over 100 years old! Find out more >
LEARN ABOUT THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
The Historical Society museum includes both permanent and rotating exhibits throughout the year, so that residents and visitors of all ages are able to experience what life in Bartholomew County was like in our past and to connect these stories with our lives today. In addition, you can explore historical documents and do genealogical research.
See the 16 HP Reeves Steam Traction Engine in action!
WHY STUDY HISTORY? HERE’S WHY…
You are an ancestor: Listen inside and you’ll hear the voices both of your own ancestors and of the ones who will follow you; they’ll help you make good choices. – ERIC UTNE
The best moments in reading are when you come across something – a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things – which you had thought special and particular to you. Now here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand has come out and taken yours. – ALAN BENNETT
You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. – JAMES BALDWIN
FUN FOOTNOTES IN COUNTY HISTORY : PEOPLE JUST LIKE YOU & ME
History is far more than numbers and facts. History is people, just like you and me – a wild menagerie of fascinating, amazing, inventive people – people finding their way, making do, and carving out their own personal history, sometimes in ways that impacts and improves their communities, and their world. You will do well to learn from them, admire them, appreciate them.
This Third Street scene was taken many years before the Commons was even a dream. These buildings were located between Washington and Jackson Streets. It is believed the man in the photo is Mr. Beatty.
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