It's All Uphill From Here (Gravity Hill)

A few miles west of Mooresville, Indiana, is Gravity Hill (sometimes called Magnetic Hill). Since horseless carriage days, people have discovered that their motor vehicles, if placed in neutral, will roll uphill by themselves.  At least, so it appears.  Round objects, too, will do the same.

My Library has many digitized newspaper clippings and handouts describing the phenomenon over the years.  There's also a video from an Indianapolis public TV station online.  Check out these links (below):

• Gravity Hill (video by WFYI-Channel 20)
• Gravity Hill (newspaper clippings & handouts)

 

 Click Images to Bigify

Gravity Hill is along Keller Hill Road, which is a really busy highway these days. Drivers race along at around 60 miles per hour (although we didn't officially use radar to clock their speeds, they all exceeded the posted speed limit of 40 m.p.h.). Given that, and the lack of any convenient pull-offs at Gravity Hill, I considered it unsafe to attempt even a photo, let alone allowing a car to roll uphill. Thanks to the Internet, however, there are plenty of videos and photographs.

"Gravity Hill," from Episode #209 of Across Indiana (1991)
(Courtesy of WFYI-Channel 20 Indianapolis)

 
"Gravity Hill" (2009) by Lekshmi Radhakrishnan

"Mooresville, IN Gravity Hill" (2011) by Interesting Ted

 

It's an optical illusion, of course.  You could try it out for yourselves, but, frankly, I think it's too dangerous, what with all the busy traffic careening along the road WAAAAAAAY too fast. I wouldn't recommend it.

A Tale of Two Kellers

Downtown Mooresville, Indiana has its G.A. Keller building (constructed in 1907) and Columbus, Indiana, has its C.M. Keller building (constructed in 1913).  These two buildings resemble each other, suggesting a similar construction plan, architect, or general contractor.  Were the Kellers whose names grace these structures relatives?

According to our self-guided downtown walking tour, George A. Keller (1859-1923) started his hardware and implement business in 1885, purchasing Alexander Conduitt’s property on East Main Street in downtown Mooresville.  In 1885 George constructed a one-story frame structure on the front of the property (nearest the street) and used Conduitt’s residence (built ca. 1843) on the back of the property as a storeroom until it was demolished in 1907.

In 1907, George began constructing a new brick building, which bears his name today.

The G.A. Keller building is the light-colored brick structure in the middle

(photo ca. 1910 by J.P. Calvert)

(Click Images to Enlarge)

The G.A. Keller building as it appeared in May, 2008

(photo by Mooresville Public Library)

Until 1921 Mooresville High School basketball games were played on the second floor of the G.A. Keller building, which had a wooden floor and was the only space sufficiently large to field a basketball court.  Fans sat in wooden chairs against the walls—essentially on the court itself—so out-of-bounds was a tricky matter of straddling seated spectators to pass the ball into play.

 

 "Where Were MHS Basketball Games Played Until 1921?"

Grandpa Billy Bob's Mooresville History Super Fun Quiz 6

by Mooresville Public Library

(HINT:  The answer is C.  The Second Floor of G. A. Keller's Hardware Building)

Mooresville Times article about the new G.A. Keller building (June 6, 1907)

Enlarged article

Mooresville Times, June 6, 1907

During construction George moved his old wooden store into the middle of East Main Street and continued conducting business there while work progressed on the new brick structure.  Eventually, citizens complained to local government officials, who pressured George to remove his old quarters.  George put the old building on logs, harnessed a team of horses, and, with the help of several stout fellows, hauled the structure to the southeast corner of West Main and South Monroe Streets, where it remains today as a single-family dwelling.

Old G.A. Keller building (constructed 1885) as a single-family home

at 155 West Main Street across from Mooresville Public Library

(2009 photo by MPL)

After a quick research of George A. Keller’s genealogy, we discovered that his father, Frederick Keller (1826-1908), moved (at age 22) with his parents and siblings from Baden, Germany, to Morgan County, Indiana.  George’s grandparents, David Keller (1790-1864) and his first wife, Salome Keller, and his second wife, Margret Keller (1810-1904), had several children, three of whom were boys.  George’s uncles (i.e., Frederick’s two brothers) were named Michael Keller (1823-1897) and Michal (possibly Michel or Michael) King Keller (b. ca. 1838-?).  So we can safely rule-out uncles as “C.M.” possibilities.  Additionally, none of George’s other relatives’ names appeared to have the initials C.M.  Most of George’s clan are buried in the Mooresville Cemetery, and nobody in the Keller family plot has initials C.M.

So we searched the federal censuses for a C.M. Keller who lived in Columbus, Bartholomew County, Indiana, around the turn of the 20^th century.

Christian Martin Keller (1860-1927) was listed as a plumber in the 1900 U.S. census.  He operated his business, C.M. Keller & Company, in Columbus, and, according to the Complete Directory of Bartholomew County, Indiana, 1903-1904 (p. 182), he owned (and presumably constructed) the C.M. Keller building in 1913, where, for decades, G.C. Murphy’s five-and-dime store operated.

G.C. Murphy Company (1950s) in the C.M. Keller building

at 415-417 Washington Street, Columbus, Indiana

(Photo courtesy of Historic Columbus Indiana website)

According to Ancestry Library Edition, Christian’s parents moved to Columbus from Pennsylvania prior to 1860, the year Christian was born (in Columbus).  So it doesn’t appear that Christian Martin Keller and George A. Keller were related, at least as far back as the late 18th century family trees.

Since both Keller buildings were constructed within a few years of each other, one may presume that similar, popular architectural styles were incorporated.  But it wasn’t “all in the family,” so to speak.

In the Painter's Shoes (Paul Hadley Paintings), Part Four

As a member of the Mooresville Nature Club, Paul Hadley created original artwork for the group's printed program covers.  These small watercolors were called medallions and are some of the rarest of Hadley's work.  We have several on display at the library, thanks to our anonymous patron.  Click the images below to enlarge them.

Mooresville Nature Club "Medallions"

(for covers of the group's printed programs)

by Paul Hadley

Here is a brief history (written for the 60th anniversary, 1983) of the Mooresville Nature Club by Myrtle Keller, longtime member, as well as a librarian at Mooresville Public Library during the 1960s and 1970s.  The club was established in 1923 under the leadership of Alma Worrell Miles.  There were initially 26 founding members.

Myrtle Keller (at steering wheel) going to the Old Settlers Picnic (1919)

Bonita Marley and Myrtle Keller (right)

at the library's 51st anniversary celebration

May 7, 1967

We have a few items in the library's Indiana Room vertical files about this organization.

 Mooresville Nature Club celebrates its 25th anniversary

(October 1948)

(from the MPL Indiana Room vertical files)

 Mooresville Nature Club 50th Anniversary program cover (1973)

  Mooresville Nature Club 50th Anniversary program (1973)

Newspaper clipping about the Mooresville Nature Club

(Mooresville Times, May 5, 1977)

Our next installment will consider another Hadley watercolor and the probable location of its setting.