Author name: Jessica Stroud

Contributed by Teresa Douglass, Genealogy Specialist

National Candy Day was November 4^th, four days after Halloween. Surely this is no coincidence! Grab a sweet treat and help the Genealogy & Local History staff identify the youngsters in this photograph taken around 1950.
This picture captures five young boys enjoying some lollipops. The young lad in the center has been identified as Joseph Martin. None of the other boys have been identified. If you recognize someone, please let us know by email or by calling 812-738-5412.

See this and many other images in HCPL’s Group Photo Collection.

Contributed by Teresa Douglass, Genealogy Specialist

Halloween Party, ca. 1950

Little is known about this ca. 1950 photo of a children’s Halloween party, except for its location: above the A & P grocery store on Chestnut Street in Corydon. No one in the photograph has been identified, but it is possibly associated with the Habermel family.

This image is part of HCPL’s Family Genealogy File Photos collection.

Contributed by Teresa Douglass, Genealogy Specialist

The Matthew E. Welsh Bridge spanning the Ohio River between Mauckport, IN, and Brandenburg, KY, was constructed 60 years ago. Construction began in August 1964. The bridge was formally dedicated on October 29, 1966, and opened to traffic on November 19, 1966.

The Matthew E. Welsh Bridge was completed in 1966 and named in honor of Indiana governor Matthew E. Welsh, who served from 1961-1965 and was a key supporter of the bridge’s construction. Built by the Indiana State Toll Bridge Commission, the bridge remained a toll bridge until August 24, 1992. Visit HCPL’s Transportation Collection in the digital archives.

This view of the Matthew E. Welsh Bridge was taken shortly after construction was completed. The structure stands about 100 feet above the normal river level and is 3,098 feet long. Visit the Walter and Mina Fried Slide Collection.

Contributed by Teresa Douglass, Genealogy Specialist

Harrison County’s glass history dates back to 1925, when the Co-operative Enterprise Glass Company of North Vernon, Indiana, relocated its plant to Corydon. The company produced hand-blown kerosene lamp chimneys that were sold throughout the U.S. and abroad. The plant, south of Indian Creek, employed about 200 men and produced 1,500 to 2,000 lamps daily.

Demand for lamp chimneys dwindled as electricity became more readily available and affordable, and World War II, coupled with rising automation in manufacturing, made the market for hand-blown chimneys obsolete. By 1941, the Co-operative Enterprise Glass Company in Corydon was one of only three companies left in the United States that made lamp chimneys exclusively. The Co-operative Enterprise Glass Company closed its doors in 1948 after twenty-three years in Corydon.

Fortunately, one of the company’s employees, Victor Zimmerman, used his glass-blowing skills to start a new business making hand-blown glass novelties instead of lamp chimneys. Over four generations, the Zimmerman family evolved that business into what is now Zimmerman Art Glass.

The following newspaper articles, published in 1925, detail the Glass Company’s arrival and development in Corydon.

The Corydon Republican, April 9, 1925

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Corydon Democrat, May 13, 1925

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Corydon Democrat, July 8, 1925

Contributed by Teresa Douglass, Genealogy Specialist

Explore your Harrison County family history at the Frederick Porter Griffin Center on West Beaver Street in Corydon. The Griffin Center is open 9 a.m.- 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and offers numerous resources on Harrison County families. HCPL’s digital archives include 66 collections with a wide variety of historic photographs and documents.

This collage features a small sampling of the hundreds of photos available online in the Family Genealogy File Photos collection of HCPL’s digital archives.

Contributed by Teresa Douglass, Genealogy Specialist

Football season is underway, and few could have guessed that the Indiana University Hoosiers would enter it as the defending national champions. Almost no one in 1960 would have predicted it, since the Hoosiers finished that season 1-8, but the fans packed the stadium anyway. The images below show one of the first games held in IU’s newly built Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, when the Hoosiers took on the Spartans of Michigan State University (MSU) on October 22, 1960. That day was both the dedication of the new stadium and IU’s homecoming. Sadly, the Spartans won, 35–0.
Fortunately, the Hoosiers now have Curt Cignetti.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IU and MSU football players line up for a play at the 20-yard line in front of a packed crowd during the October 22, 1960 game. It was one of the first games held in IU’s newly built Memorial Stadium. Construction of the stadium, designed by architects Eggers and Higgins, began in August 1958, and the facility opened on October 8, 1960. The October 22^nd game against MSU was the dedication day for the new stadium and also IU’s homecoming.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Indiana University’s football team gathers in a huddle on the field during a game against Michigan State University in October 1960. The game took place in IU’s newly constructed Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Indiana, and drew a large crowd.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Indiana University’s marching band creates the IU symbol as it performs on the football field at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington. The October 1960 game marked the official dedication of the newly built stadium and the university’s homecoming.

For more images of this and other college football games and marching bands of the era, visit the Walter and Mina Fried Slide Collection and select College Football Games and Marching Bands.

Contributed by Teresa Douglass, Genealogy Specialist

These two teams from the Palmyra, Indiana FFA chapter placed second and third at the district land judging contest held in Orange County, Indiana, on September 29, 1954. The boys are not identified individually in the photograph, but the eight team members are Herbert Hoehn, Norbert Hoehn, Melvin Vance, Arvile Rudolph, Robert Davis, Harlan Adamson, Jack Rumbly, and Larry Martin. Their advisor, C. M. Foster, is standing at the far left in the back row.

Check out the HCPL Palmyra FFA collection, which contains a 1954-1955 chapter scrapbook with numerous photos and newspaper clippings, a newsletter, and a program and scorecard from a national land judging competition.