HPS sets annual meeting for Thursday at museum

The Heritage Preservation Society of Putnam County on Thursday, March 16 at 6 p.m. will hold its annual meeting at the Putnam County Museum. The event is free and the public is encouraged to attend.

The featured speaker will be Ronald V. Morris, professor of history at Ball State University. His subject will be “Mobile Experiences and Community History.”

Carmel provides walking and driving tours of community history accessible as a mobile experience on individual cell phones. Putnam County has the potential to partner with Ball State to create a similar product.

For example, a visitor to the Courthouse Square Historic District would be able to see on his or her own location on a mobile device, as well as the position of significant structures. One option would feature audio information on the individual buildings. Additionally, photos could feature interiors or images from the past.

The mobile experience would be able to be downloaded from the soon-to-be-launched HPS website, which is currently in work.

Each of the historic districts in Putnam County which HPS has successfully sponsored for listing in the National Register would be available as a mobile experience, including the Courthouse Square, Eastern Enlargement, Old Greencastle, Northwood and Forest Hill Cemetery. The Roachdale, Russellville, Cloverdale and Bainbridge neighborhoods which are currently still in the nomination process may be completed in time to be incorporated as well.

Also at the meeting, HPS President Phil Gick will give a summary of the organization’s accomplishments of the past year and future aspirations. Highlights of his talk will be the progress of work on the Civil War Memorial and the courthouse clocks.

Plans will be revealed for a home tour fundraiser in June at the Aker/Timm house on the corner of Washington and Bloomington streets. This residence was built c. 1840 by Elisha Braman, and is the oldest home in the Eastern Enlargement Historic District. The two-story clapboard–clad building retains a high degree of architectural integrity as an example of the Greek Revival style.

Everyone is welcome to join HPS and to support the group’s local preservation efforts. Annual dues for individual members are $25, households are $35, Advocates are $50, Guardians are $100 and Preservationists are $200. Donations can be sent to P.O. Box 163, Greencastle, IN 46135.