Saturday, January 28, 2023

Mooresville's Bicentennial Book: a History for Kids

HEY, KIDS!  Learn about the history of Mooresville, Indiana from Cauli Le Chat, feline roving reporter at Mooresville Public Library.  Click the book cover (below), or click here, to read a digital copy (in PDF format).  Just in time for Mooresville's bicentennial celebration (1824-2024)!

NOTE FOR PARENTS AND TEACHERS:  If your child(ren) (or the children you teach) attend elementary school grades 3 or 4, then this book will be particularly interesting to them, because they will be studying Indiana history in those grades.  Younger and older readers might enjoy the book, too.  Try reading it aloud to your preschoolers and early grade schoolers.

 


For those who prefer print books to digital, Mooresville Public Library has paper copies available to checkout, if you have an Evergreen Indiana library card. Visit the library's Indiana Room to pick-up a copy (Call Number I 977.251 CAU). See the Evergreen Indiana online catalog for details.

If you have an Amazon Kindle reader, a Kindle edition is available to buy from Amazon for $1.99. Paperback editions may also be purchased from Amazon for $6.50 plus shipping and handling.

 Here's a book trailer (below) that briefly describes what to expect:


A Bicentennial Celebration (Mooresville, Indiana),

by Cauli Le Chat (MPL Book Trailer 865)

(Click Video Above to Watch) 

 


Friday, January 20, 2023

Walnut Grove School

Until 1971, grade school students living in southern Madison Township (Morgan County, Indiana) attended Walnut Grove School, which was located on North Kitchen Road about a half-mile north of the Five Points intersection on State Road 144.  (Madison Township grade schoolers living further north attended North Madison Elementary School on East Hadley Road.)

Cover of Commemorative Booklet, Walnut Grove Memories (1971),

showing Walnut Grove School

 

Map from Walnut Grove Memories (1971)

 

Late 1970s photo of Walnut Grove Building

(courtesy of Becky Hardin, Morgan County Historian [1980s])
 

Walnut Grove was built in the Fall of 1921.  The first principal was C. L. Fix.  The general contractor was Jake Mann, who also constructed many buildings in and around Mooresville, including several downtown that still stand today.

On April 24, 1971, current and former students, faculty, staff, and their families held a reunion at the school.  A commemorative booklet was printed, which provides a detailed history of the school.  You may read a digitized copy online.