Indiana – RDZ Photography

Virtual Travel – Indiana

Architecture, Art, History, Museum, Nature, Sports, Transportation

The Hoosier State – Indiana.

1946 – Dedicated to James Whitcomb Riley, Indiana’s Poet.

His boyhood home in Indianapolis is now a museum.

1953 – Intersection of Highway 52 and 136 in Indianapolis.

1957 – Tri State Express. This is the same freeway featured on the Illinois 1959 map.

Today that freeway is 10 lanes wide

The Indiana Welcome Center in Hammond has a statue from the movie Christmas Story. It was set in Hammond, but filmed in Cleveland.

1970 – Indiana State Capitol. Dating from 1888 it is the 4th building to be the Indiana Capitol.

2015 View.

1971 – The map as a map cover. Columbus, Indiana is shown on the right.

Columbus has a fantastic collect of modern architecture. Irwin Miller was the Chairman of Cummins Engine Company, and a fan of this type of architecture. His leadership resulted in a town known around the world for the quantity and quality of architecture.

1972 – Indiana Highway 37 near Bloomington.

Bloomington, home to Indiana University, is a small city in south central Indiana. (Photo from Bloomington Tourist Office)

1973 – A collection of signs.

1976 – Indianapolis – The Return Home on the Soldiers and Sailors Monument.

The Soldiers and Sailors Monument is the center of Indianapolis. Rising to a height of 284′ (87m) this obelisk has numerous statues surrounding it and an observation deck near the top. (photo from Wikipedia)

1978 – Unidentified country scene.

1979- Whitewater Canal State Memorial. In the early 1800s canals were built all over the country, and Indiana was no different. The route of the Whitewater Canal was unique in that it had a drop of almost 500′ at a rate of 6.4′ per mile, compared to the the Erie Canal at 1.7 feet per mile.

Located in the historic town of Metamora, the canal and the accompanying buildings give a sense of life in the early 1800s.

1986 – Indianapolis

Indianapolis, as the state capitol and largest city in the state. Highlights of the city include:

The Ruins of Holiday Park are remnants from an old building in New York City sitting in the middle of a park in Indiana.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway & Museum.

Indiana War Memorial Building

The former baseball stadium is now apartments.

Indianapolis Museum of Art. The time we were there they were having an exhibit on prototype automobiles.

The current baseball stadium

Lucas Oil Stadium – Home of the NFL Colts

Skyline view (Photo from Pintrest)

1991 – 175th anniversary of Indiana.

1994 – Indiana State Highways 75th Anniversary

1995 – Indiana Countryside. The tourist bureaus in Indiana play up the country life quite a bit.

Shipshewana is the largest tourist center for this ‘country life’. With some Amish residents it is common to see horse and buggies on the roads. In addition their flea market is one of the largest in the country. (Photo from Tourist Office)

1997 – Generic map

2001 – Transportation in Indiana. The Indianapolis Airport is the 5th largest air freight center in the country.

Indiana is the capital of RV production. Elkart has the RV Museum, as well as a number of manufacturing faciities.

2003 – As with the other states in the path, this year is a celebration of Lewis and Clark.

On October 26, 1803 Merriweather Lewis meet William Clark across the river from Louisville, Kentucky and set sail down the Ohio River. That spot is now known as Clarksville, Indiana. That meeting is celebrated at the Falls of Ohio State Park.

This park has a nice view of Louisville.

2004 & 2016 – Indiana State Museum. The current building pictured here was completed in 2001.

The building is over 40,000 square feet, and covers the natural and civil history of the state. Also included is the ’92 walk’ – a collection of sculptures representing each of the 92 counties in the state.

2005 – Wildflower.

A few of the the Indiana State Symbols include: (Photos from Wikipedia)

State Flag – 19 stars, representing Indiana being the 19th state.

State Motto – Crossroads of America.

State Seal – Depicts a setting sun, sycamore tree, a woodsman and a bison.

State Bird – Cardinal

State Flower – Peony

2009 & 2012 – Unidentified Road Construction Projects

Lincoln Highway construction in Indiana in the early 1900s.

2014 – Southern Indiana Hills

The largest city in Southern Indiana is Evansville. We made a stop there on Road Trip 2019.

Vanderburgh County Courthouse

Restored Art Deco Greyhound Station – now a hipster hamburger place.

Bosse Field – One of the oldest baseball stadiums in the country.

Primary filming location for the movie League of Their Own.

2015 – Bristol, Indiana – Bonneyville Mill. This mill is the oldest in the state. It was built by Edward Bonney in 1833.

2017 – Brown County State Park, Hesitation Point. This is the largest state park in Indiana, covering more than 15,000 acres. It is known for it’s scenic vistas.

2018 – Williamsport Falls. This 90′ high falls is the 2nd highest in the state.

The flow of the falls is very seasonal.

2019 – Berne, Indiana – Settled by Mennonite immigrants in 1852. The town has been built by Swiss and German immigrants, resulting now in a small town of 4,000 residents.

It is known for it’s picturesque town square.

Across America – May 2019 – Random Scenes Part 2

Architecture, Art, History, Nature, Transportation, Water Features

Central Tennessee – Bus Graveyard

Northern Alabama – Rock Zoo

Scottsboro, Alabama – Did you ever lose your luggage on an airplane and never get it back. It likely ended up here, as they buy all of the unclaimed luggage from the airlines and sell it in essentially a thrift store.

Pawhuska, Oklahoma

Bartlesville, Oklahoma – Phillips 66 Petroleum Company Headquarters

Vinita, Oklahoma – Will Rogers Rodeo

Eastern Oklahoma – Pensacola Dam. A mile long and releasing a lot of water because of the recent rains.

Joplin, Missouri – America’s 2nd largest truck stop.

Southern Missouri – Presumed dead armadillo

Somewhere else in Southern Missouri – Coke Machine Graveyard

Scenes around Cairo, Illinois – At the confluence of the Ohio River and Mississippi River – with flooding.

Evansville, Indiana – Restored Greyhound Bus Station, now a hipster hamburger place. Manhattan prices in small town Indiana.

The interior looked nothing like a bus station.

Evansville, Indiana – County Courthouse

Scenes around Louisville, Kentucky

And after 3 weeks of running around the country – back in Ohio (in Cincinnati). Only 2 hours to home.

Evansville, Indiana – May 2019 – Bosse Field

Architecture, History, Sports

Bosse Field in Evansville, Indiana is known as the 3rd oldest baseball stadium still in use, although they are disregarding Rickwood Field in Birmingham in that statement.

The stadium is most famous for being used in a number of the scenes from the movie A League of Their Own.

While it is an interesting stadium, it does not have the character of Rickwood Field.

September 2018 – Auf Wiedersehen to the Audi

Architecture, Art, Festival, History, Nature, Sports, Transportation

Over the last couple of years the cars have become frequent subjects in my photos. After 4 years of loyal service, and fantastic adventures, the Audi S5 was traded in.

This posting highlights the Audi’s trips it took us on.

First trip was to Western Ohio – and a giant fiberglass bull.

Most of the time the birthplace of Presidents are honored locales, but not for Rutherford B Hayes – his is a BP station in Delaware, Ohio.

A covered bridge in Fairfield County, Ohio – The car was not allowed to cross it, but we were.

Utopia has been found (along the Ohio River).

The settling of America – on the right is a famed S bridge of the original National Road. Overhead is US Route 40 – the main route west from the 1910s through the 1960s. A 1/2 mile to the left (not shown) is Interstate 70.

A riverboat in Cincinnati.

867 feet above the Audi the New River Gorge Bridge. They offer tours where they connect you to the beams underneath and you cross – I passed.

Polo anyone. 3 horses in the field and 340 under the hood.

After Utopia, come Paradise – in the Northern Peninsula of Michigan. I find it ironic that somewhere that gets 200 inches of snow a year is considered Paradise…

The Audi is not on a runway – it is an abandoned air force base in Michigan – with some random Jets parked around town.

Welcome to Minnesota doncha ya know.

Big Horn Canyon National Recreation Area Montana/Wyoming.

Yellowstone. That is not the radiator overheating 🙂

One of the funniest moments in our travels was the day we ran into a cattle drive on a road in Idaho – this cow spent 5 minutes licking the bugs off the front of the Audi.

We drove 9 miles out a dirt road at the Golden Spike National Historic Site (where the transcontinental railroad met in the 1800s). Wondering who was dumb enough take an Audi out this dirt road, until a Tesla pulled up.

Devils Rocks Utah

Pagosa Springs, Colorado. The hotel was filled with a Corvette Club and us.

Bonjour from Paris – Texas

We went down to the Crossroads….Clarksdale, Mississippi.

We have seen Utopia and Paradise, and now the Center of the World

The original Model T factory in Detroit. They let my German car go along with all the classic American cars on the Woodward Dream Cruise all the way through the city to the burbs where the other 100,000 cool cars were cruising.

Plymouth, Massachusetts – National Monument to the Fore Fathers.

The Marine Atlantic Ferry to Newfoundland. A 600 car ferry and a 18 hour ride!

Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland, Canada

The Audi and a large basket – but there are larger basket buildings in Ohio.

The historic Cincinnati Observatory and the Audi.

Watkins Glen Race Track. They were having club racing with little Mazdas, etc – if I had the safety equipment to go on the track I could’ve taken them – I think.

Age of Steam Roundhouse in Sugarcreek, Ohio.

The Auburn/Cord/Dusenberg Festival in Indiana. That car is sooo much cooler than mine.

The final road trip for the Audi – Downtown Chicago with the El in the background. While the Audi is gone – the adventures continue…..

Cassopolis, Michigan – September 2018 – Restored Gas Station Tour Continued

Architecture, Art, History, Transportation

Cassopolis, Michigan – A Restored Sinclair Station

Previous trips:

Two stations in the same small Ohio town of Bucyrus. First up is a Sinclair Station.

This station is next door to a repair shop owned by Carl. We stopped by at 7 AM on a Saturday morning and Carl was just opening his business up for the morning, and invited us in. Carl has a large collection of auto related items – so much in fact that the TV show American Pickers once paid him a visit.

Just outside of town is a small restored Marathon station called ‘Mom and Pops’. We saw someone walking out of the driveway as we drove up and asked him it if the station was his. He replied no – but yelled at ‘Bob’ who was outside the house next door if it was ok if we took some photos. Bob yelled back ‘ yep thats what it is there for’.

In the early days the stations were tiny little buildings, unless they did service.

This station was well restored.

As our weekend continued we found ourselves back in Plymouth, Indiana for a stop for dinner. We have previously visited this Mobil station, but in the rain. This gave us a chance to get some photos in better weather.

And the time warp gas station travel continued.

On our way home from Pittsburgh we stopped in Steubenville at a auto repair shop that is actually a fully restored Sohio station.

When John Rockefeller had grown Standard Oil to be a monopoly the government forced them to break up – as a result there were a number of Standard Oil companies in different states (not a full list):

Standard Oil of New Jersey – Esso, which became Exxon

Standard Oil of New York – Socony, which became Mobil

Standard Oil of California – Socal, which became Chevron

Standard Oil of Indiana – Stanolind, which became Amoco

Standard Oil of Ohio – Sohio. In the 1980s BP bought Sohio and converted all the stations to BP.

There are many people who are collectors of ‘petroliana’, old gas station items. Barry Robb must have been one of those people. According to their website Barry was an assistant manager of a former owner, and he took over the station in 1986, operating it as a BP station.

In 2011 their agreement with BP ran out. They restored the look of the original Sohio station, and continued in business as a repair shop only (as well as a museum).

As a side note Sunset and Wilshire looks nothing like the one in California, but still a nice neighborhood.

Out front is a collection of pumps from various eras.

While inside (it was closed this day – photos taken through the glass) is a collection of smaller items.

Interestingly next door is a modern gas station/mini mart.

After checking out my photos I realized that we have recently came across 3 fully restored stations, and all 3 times we had the same car with us.

This spectacular Shell station is in Winston Salem, North Carolina.

Today it serves as a tourist information center.

Shaped like a giant scallop shell, it is the last of a handful that a local oil company owner had built in the 1930s.

Another restored gas station – another shot with the GTI in it. This one is a Mobil station in Plymouth, Indiana.

To add to their atmosphere they have a restored police car in the parking lot.

Much like the Sohio station in Steubenville their interior has a collection of smalls for Mobil.

They also have a restored tow truck.

Elkhart, Indiana – September 2018 – Hall of Heroes

Art, History

In a residential neighborhood in Elkhart, Indiana a backyard of a house has a building built to look like the Hall of Heroes from comic book fame. Inside is a collection of over 60,000 comic books, 10,000 toys, figure and props and over 100 pieces of original comic art pages, at the Hall of Heroes Museum.

We parked in the yard and entered, where we were greeted by Allen Stewart, the primary collector and current Director of the Museum.

Among the treasures are a Batman suit used by Adam West in the 1960s as he toured the country (above as the Featured Image) and the Captain America Shield used in the movie The First Avenger. The shield has been signed by many of the actors in the movie.

After an introduction we set off to check out the collection. Among the thousands of collectibles are Wolverine and friends.

Not being a huge action hero fan I can’t identify many of them, but the artwork is great.

There were numerous Captain America’s throughout – small, and large.

The display cases are nicely done. Allan has many rare comic books displayed throughout.

More figures – Hulk and Captain America.

A Wonder Woman.

There were some life size masks.

Not sure how Mighty Mouse made it in, but he looks good.

The approach to females in action heroes has always been a bit sketchy.

Another of the full size items.

They had a small collection of lunch boxes.

A full size Spiderman outfit.

William Katt’s Greatest American Hero costume from a 1980s TV show.

And finally the Cobra that Robert Downey landed on as Iron Man.

Kendallville, Indiana – September 2018 – Windmill Museum

Architecture, Art, History, Nature, Sciences, Transportation

The Mid America Windmilll Museum located in Kendallville has about 50 water windmills from the last 100 years. These windmills were key to the development of farming in the midwest.

The museum has a barn with some of the windmill wheels showing how they function. The museum was originally built to showcase a local windmill manufacturer, but now has models from several different companies.

While most are the tall thin metal type, they do have one example of an English post mill.

The blades, or sails, have a variety of shapes.

The tails help stabilize and turn the windmill into the wind at the most optimum angle.

The tails also serve as advertising for the manufacturer.

Each manufacturer had a variety of shapes and sizes of tails and blades.

Some painted colorfully.

More symmetry – this time from the windmill blades.

The water windmill allowed farms with no electrical power to be able to pump water in the vast remote regions of the midwest.

The gears in the wheel assembly would turn the hub attached to the long pump rod inside of the pipe in the well.

This up and down motion pulls the water up.

These simple, elegant machines were the lifeline of the country.

A close up of the wheel mechanisms.

A wheel made to look like a Native American head dress.

An overview of the collection. Note the different manufacturers on the tails.

The museum also featured a small covered bridge.

The post mill stands out in the crowd.

Ironically the fountain in the water uses a modern electric pump, not the windmills. And the outhouse is just for decoration.

One final look at the collection of windmills at the Mid American Windmill Museum in Kendallville, Indiana.

Fort Wayne – August 2018 – Tipcaps Baseball

Architecture, Nature, Sports

Our day ended by watching a few innings of minor league baseball. The Fort Wayne Tincaps are a low minor leagues farm team for the San Diego Padres.

The name alludes to ‘Johnny Appleseed’, aka John Chapman. Born in Massachusetts Johnny Appleseed spent much of his life travelling the midwest planting orchards. The legend, perpetuated by a Disney movie, was that he wore a tin pot on his head for a cap.

Since he spent his last days in Fort Wayne, they adopted this look for their mascot.

The stadium itself, as with all stadiums in America, sold it’s naming rights to a local hospital and has commercialization throughout – including the Toyota Picnic area.

Since I like symmetry in photos, this was perfect (before the people arrived).

Another baseball tradition that has been taken to extremes is the first pitch. Historically for important games a celebrity or politician would throw out the first pitch from the stands. Over the last 30 years it has become tradition to do it from the field.

Now instead of being a special event they do it every game, and end up with 8 ‘first pitches’ like this one.

We were honored to be in the presence of Wonder Woman – at least that is what her shirt says.

There actually was a game.

But it was more fun checking out the crowd, including these two young ladies who managed to stand right next to the sign that says no standing.

The crowd was fairly passive all game, despite some close plays.

In the early years of baseball the stadiums were built into tight city lots, so they were asymmetrical. Starting in the 1950s they built them all the same with perfect symmetry, but after 1990 everyone wanted the ‘retro’ look and went back to quirky setups, even though they had the space to build a consistent field.

Baseball is the only sport where the playing field differs at each stadium (although obviously the infield is the same everywhere).

Sunset , clouds and stadium lights – the ultimate in photo lighting.

Fort Wayne, Indiana – August 2018 – Random Sights Around Town

Architecture, Art, Nature

The city of Fort Wayne, Indiana is the 2nd largest in Indiana, behind Indianapolis. While not huge, it was large enough to have a few interesting things to see and do.

Easily the most architecturally interesting building is the Allen County Courthouse.

The building had numerous carvings and reliefs.

The carved tablet emphasizes the idea of justice for all.

While Lady Justice looks over the setting.

The Lincoln Tower was for 50 years the tallest building in town. There are a couple of ones taller now, but none more stylish.

Directly across the street from the classic architecture of the courthouse and the Lincoln Tower is this modern mid rise.

The main branch of the library.

Fort Wayne was surprisingly (to me) nice. There is some recent development downtown, the neighborhoods were pleasant and overall it didn’t feel like an old industrial city.

One of the more unusual local tourist attractions is the Hanson Quarry on the southeast side of town. Where else in the flat lands of Indiana can you find a giant 1000′ deep hole in the ground.

They have an observation deck built that is open during daylight hours where you can come check out the giant hole in the ground.

The next morning we made our way to Lakeside Park and Rose Gardens.

The gardens feature some sculptures.

But their 2000 rose plants are the highlight.

Late August heat has put stress on the roses.

Lakeside Park in Fort Wayne is worth a visit.

Auburn, Indiana – August 2018 – The Start of a Car Weekend

Festival, History, Transportation

The small city of Auburn, Indiana was the home of early 1900s auto manufacturers including Cord and Dusenberg. Each Labor Day weekend the town holds a festival and auto auctions celebrating those cars, and others.

As part of the celebration they have a large custom car show on Friday around the courthouse square. With more than 800 cars on display it was an impressive sight.

So come along – just enjoy it.

In addition to the shows there are two very large classic car auctions during the weekend. A massive one is held by Sotheby’s at a grounds outside of town – with hundreds of cars sold.

Another smaller one was held at the historic National Automotive and Truck Museum. We arrived in time to check out the cars during the preview.

This classic 1957 Pontiac Star Chief Custom Safari Wagon is a rare two door wagon.

Among the vehicles was this 1940s car carrier. I guess if you buy enough cars, you need to bid on the carrier to take them home.

Outside the building was this sweet Alpha Romeo.

While back inside we passed by a George Barris custom car. George is famous for designing cars for TV and the movies including the 1966 Batmobile, and the Munster’s car.

This car was originally a 1950 Mercury. Designed by Leo Lyons, with assistance from George, it was displayed at the 2015 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

After checking out the auction cars, we headed back to the courthouse square show where we found a brief preview of the Auburn’s we would see far more of on Saturday.