From Jones's Woods, America's first amusement resort, to Coney Island during the golden age of the mid-1900s, and well beyond into the twenty-first century, the thrills of the amusement park have been a treasured part of childhood for Americans from coast to coast. Though many of the country's grand amusement treasures have now vanished, and many other parks are struggling for survival, their memory and legacy are very much alive: there will be a fascination with these American classics as...

Indianapolis Social Clubs provides nearly 200 rare vintage photographic memories that capture the heart, soul, and history of the clubs. More than banquet halls, golf courses, and swimming pools, social clubs were a haven for businessmen, politicians, and community leaders, offering respite from public scrutiny. Defining Indianapolis, the clubs were stoic agents of power and segregation, providing clear historical snapshots of Hoosier pomp and circumstance. The clubs did more than produce ...

Early-20th-century Indianapolis was developing into a major transportation center. The extension of rail lines operated by the �Big Four Railroad,� the Cleveland, Chicago, Cincinnati, and St. Louis Railway, invaded farmland 5 miles southeast of the busy Indianapolis Union Station. By 1904, the native beech trees neighbored the construction of the Big Four Shops, a facility charged with the production of steam locomotives. The shops brought jobs, an immediate draw for commercial and residen...

With expanding Irish, Swiss, French, and German immigrant populations, the state of Indiana evolved from individual explorers, trappers, hunters, and traders into family-focused communities of farmers and craftsmen. Emerging from the former Indiana Territory, the state's early population was in need of education, health care, and social services to assist young families, the poor, the infirm, and the elderly. These needs were frequently met by Catholic religious orders, including the Bened...

By 1813, in an area originally inhabited by Native Americans, including a significant Delaware Indian village located on White River�s western banks, the future Greenwood was made safe for settlement by the Kentucky and Indiana militias. In 1818, with the New Purchase treaties and establishment of Whetzel Trace, the earliest east-west transportation route through central Indiana, the dense, overgrown forest became readied for settlement. Arising from humble beginnings as Smocktown, the com...

Have you ever watched and listened to any "science versus religion" debate and wondered if they were arguing from facts or emotions? It could be argued emotions, and this is where I make my case. Please note that I'm not trying to shoot down either side but trying to point some things that could improve their debate.

Have you ever watched and listened to any “science versus religion” debate and wondered if they were arguing from facts or emotions? It could be argued emotions, and this is where I make my case. Please note that I’m not trying to shoot down either side but trying to point some things that could improve their debate.