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 Benedictines, Sisters of Providence, Franciscans, Daughters of Charity, and other established organizations of dedicated religious men and women.

Indiana's Catholic Religious Communities (Images of America)

Arts & Photography

Hillman, Jim

Murphy, John.

Photography & Video

Arcadia Publishing

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 Olympic swimmers, world-class golfers, and tennis professionals; they were Indianapolis’s multigenerational playgrounds. There were the politics and business dealings at the Columbia Club and the Indianapolis Athletic Club, the golfing, tennis, and formality of Woodstock, Meridian Hills, and other country clubs, and the family fun in the sun at Riviera, Devon, and Olympia. These organizations offered more than magical summers with family and friends; they were the places to be seen.

Indianapolis Social Clubs (Images of America)

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 community was officially named Greenfield in 1825, followed by renaming to Greenwood in 1833. The territory has seen tremendous growth through the decades since John B. and Isaac Smock arrived, transforming the land from a pioneer village into a contemporary hub of business and industry. Accused of being a “bedroom community” of Indianapolis, Greenwood strives to maintain its relevance as a unique and historically proud community.

Greenwood (Images of America)

Johnson County Museum of History

As the treaties with the Delaware tribes and the forging of the Whetzel Trace opened central Indiana for settlement, the town of Franklin emerged from wilderness, echoing the development of newly christened Johnson County. Founded by Kentucky natives Simon Covert, Garret Bergen, and George King, the land that became Franklin was chosen because of ample waterways and the availability of game. Previously populated by Native Americans within the dense forest, the area was often overlooked because of flooding and harsh, thicketed landscapes. George King persuaded the Indiana Legislature to create Johnson County on December 31, 1822, before persuading the new county’s commissioners to establish the town of Franklin, named after Ben Franklin, as the seat of county government.

Franklin (Images of America)

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 residential development, culminating in 1906 when the unnamed, adjacent community incorporated as the town of Beech Grove. A century later, the city of Indianapolis has grown to entirely surround the vibrant community, yet Beech Grove retains its small town atmosphere. Anchored by a vibrant Main Street, the charm of Beech Grove is found within quiet residential neighborhoods, distinguished schools, diverse churches, and major employers, including Amtrak and St. Francis Hospital.

Beech Grove (Images of America)

America's amusement industry emerged from simple swimming ponds, family picnic areas, and community gathering spots. Although the first major entrepreneurial-driven amusement resort, known as Jones Woods, grew from the banks of New York's East River in the 1800s, the Golden Age of American amusement parks began with the mid-1800s development of a Brooklyn peninsula into "America's Playland": Coney Island. Coney Island also paved the way for other developments, including America's oldest continuously operating amusement park, Lake Compounce in Bristol, Connecticut, and the defunct Rocky Point Park in Warrick, Rhode Island.
By 1893, and the opening of the Chicago World's Columban Exposition, Americans were becoming familiar with the marvels of the midway. By the early 1900s, amusement parks dotted the landscape and several larger cities had more than one commercial park. Many of these parks became the stuff of lasting memories, icons of America: Playland Park in San Francisco, Elitch Gardens in Denver, Riverview in Chicago, Riverside in Indianapolis.
Many of America's grand amusement treasures have vanished, and many other parks are struggling for survival. But while many of the parks have disappeared, amusement park memories are alive and are firmly part of nostalgic America. As long as the clatter of the old coaster cars fosters nervous anticipation and the thumping of the carousel band organ remains, there will be a market for these American classics. With thoroughly researched text and historic images, author and park enthusiast Jim Hillman captures the sights, smells, and vitality of America's grand amusement park traditions.

Amusement Parks (Shire Library USA, 715)

History

Americas

Shire Publications

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 Benedictines, Sisters of Providence, Franciscans, Daughters of Charity, and other established organizations of dedicated religious men and women.

Indiana's Catholic Religious Communities

Arcadia Publishing Library Editions

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 community was officially named Greenfield in 1825, followed by renaming to Greenwood in 1833. The territory has seen tremendous growth through the decades since John B. and Isaac Smock arrived, transforming the land from a pioneer village into a contemporary hub of business and industry. Accused of being a "bedroom community" of Indianapolis, Greenwood strives to maintain its relevance as a unique and historically proud community.

Greenwood

Franklin

Beech Grove

Beech Grove Public Library

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Hillman, Jim. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Hillman, Jim