North Side of West Main Street, Then and Now

The Visit Morgan County, Indiana website's Mooresville page has a photo (probably taken in 2022) that reminds us of a similar view captured on film roughly 60 years ago.

Photo courtesy of Visit Morgan County, Indiana website (ca. 2022)

(Click Images to Enlarge)

The pedestrian shown in the picture above is walking east along the north side of West Main Street in downtown Mooresville.  Compare it with this photo taken in the early 1960s, with the pedestrian walking in the opposite direction at about the same spot.

North Side of West Main Street, Downtown Mooresville (Early 1960s)

Rewind another 40 years or so to see how the north side of West Main Street appeared then.

North Side of West Main Street (July 18, 1920)

(Photo by Manley Brown)

Inexplicably, the writer of the above photo's caption stated that it captured the view "west on Indiana Street," which is impossible, because Indiana Street runs north and south through downtown Mooresville.  The view, however, IS west, but the street shown is West Main Street, looking across the intersection of Indiana Street in the center of downtown.

Manley Brown's 1920 perspective was repeated in this advertisement from the 1964 Mooresville High School yearbook, Wagon Trails.

The 1959 Mooresville High School Wagon Trails shows the north side of West Main Street in a gatefold shot.

Interestingly, in Mooresville Public Library's Indiana Room collections, there are many more photos of the north side of West Main Street than the south side.  There are about an even number of pictures showing the north and south sides of East Main Street, with comparatively fewer photos showing North or South Indiana Streets.  Perhaps aiming the camera northward was easier to capture better light, since the sun would have been behind the photographers for much of the year.

Learn some of the history of the north side of West Main Street from this digitized handout, courtesy of Mooresville Public Library's Indiana Room.

Mooresville Bicentennial Promo Trailer

2024 UPDATE:  Here's another video commemorating Mooresville's bicentennial.

Mooresville Moments 30, by Mooresville Public Library

Mooresville, Indiana Bicentennial (1824-2024)

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Mooresville, Indiana celebrates the bicentennial of its founding in 2024 (having been established in 1824 by Samuel Moore), and Mooresville Public Library has a promo trailer for the event.  Click the video (below) to watch.

Mooresville (Indiana) Bicentennial Promo Trailer,

by Mooresville Public Library

 

There are also a couple of books (just published in January, 2023) celebrating the town's bicentennial:

• A children's book written by Cauli Le Chat, MPL feline roving reporter (digitized version available below; print copy available for checkout at Mooresville Public Library; paperback and Kindle editions available to buy from Amazon);
•  Complete PDF
  

and

• A grown-up's book written by some author you've never heard of (digitized version available below; print copy available for checkout at Mooresville Public Library)
  
• PDF Part One
• PDF Part Two
• PDF Part Three
• PDF Part Four
• PDF Part Five
• PDF Part Six
• PDF Part Seven

Watch our book trailers (below) to learn more about these two books.  (Click the boxes below to play videos.)

 

 

MPL Book Trailer #865
 

MPL Book Trailer #869

 

The Mooresville200 group is planning a big bicentennial celebration during 2024.  It should be great fun!  The library created a couple of promo trailers for Mooresville200 (click players below to watch the videos).

Mooresville200 Promo Trailer 1, by Mooresville Public Library

Mooresville200 Promo Trailer 2, by Mooresville Public Library

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) 

 

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.

Noel Plunkett's Library Video (May/June 1987)

Those familiar with the history of Mooresville Public Library (MPL) know that construction of the "new" library building began in June, 1987.  The library is fortunate to have a VHS videotape recording made in May/June 1987 by Noel Plunkett, which shows the "old" library Carnegie building located at 32 West Main Street in downtown Mooresville, Indiana, as well as the construction site for the "new" library, which I call the 1988 building.

What good is a VHS cassette, you may well ask.  Who has videocassette recorders (VCRs) anymore?  Thankfully, there are wonderful gadgets that can convert videotapes into DVDs or digital recordings, and the library has such a gizmo.  Yesterday, I converted the videotape to DVD and digital formats.  Then, I took the raw video/audio and made a quick edit using Wondershare Filmora software.  Here's the result:

Mooresville Public Library, May/June 1987 Video, by Noel Plunkett

(Click Above to Play Video)

 

Mr. Plunkett's video begins by showing the front exterior of the MPL Carnegie building, then moves to selected interior shots.  Three MPL employees were captured on videotape:  MPL Director Sharon Beatrice, MPL Assistant Director/Indiana Room Librarian Wanda Potts, and MPL Staffer Mattie Deaton.  Then, Mr. Plunkett moves a few blocks west to 220 West Harrison Street, where construction began (in June, 1987) on the 1988 building.  Several unidentified construction workers appear in the video.  Mr. Plunkett provides a couple of voice-overs during the recording, in which he states the date of videography at the construction site.

 

Wanda Potts & Mattie Deaton appeared in this photo

of MPL Carnegie's last day (January, 1988)

L to R:  Director Pat Vahey, Asst. Dir. Wanda Potts,

Staffers Mattie Deaton, Theresa Lucas, and Sandy Lefler

 

MPL Director Sharon Beatrice (1984-1987)

Indianapolis News, Monday, June 15, 1987

 

The original video quality was low-resolution, and the audio was captured by a condenser microphone on the camera, so it is difficult to hear.  Retail camcorders from the mid-1980s filmed in analog, so the recording appears fuzzy on modern digital video players.  The quality, however, was standard for the retail market of the mid-1980s.

Mr. Plunkett's video is an invaluable historical account that captured the look and feel of the library (and construction site and its surroundings) from the time period.  Captured, too, were images (and faint voices) of some of the library staff from way back then.  For those who lived in and around Mooresville during the 1980s (and who frequented the library), it will bring back fond memories, as well as revealing what the library's current site looked like as construction began.  Sadly, such historical artifacts are often discarded, damaged, or otherwise lost as the years pass.  We are grateful that Mr. Plunkett donated a copy of his videocassette to the library, and that library staff had the foresight to preserve it.

 

History Cyber Sleuths (New Video Series)

Mooresville (Indiana) Public Library has a new video series called History Cyber Sleuths, in which library staff attempt to uncover historical details about undated or unidentified artifacts (photographs, documents, diaries, paintings, drawings, maps, objects, etc.) that have been brought to their attention.  This brochure elaborates.

Here are the first four episodes (click below to play videos):

History Cyber Sleuths, Episode One

"History in 'Plane' Sight"

by Mooresville Public Library

 

 History Cyber Sleuths, Episode Two

"Founder Portraits Found"

by Mooresville Public Library

 

History Cyber Sleuths, Episode Three

"Mooresville's Musical Aloha"

by Mooresville Public Library

 

 

History Cyber Sleuths, Episode Four

"James Hill, Emma Torr, and the Indiana Y.P.R.C."

by Mooresville Public Library

 

Can the library's history cyber sleuths solve these mysteries?  You'll have to watch to find out.

Our Spooky Haunted Book Trailer Playlist

Halloween is only a month away, so it's time to do some fun reading about ghosts, hauntings, poltergeists, spirit communications, and such like.  Mooresville (Indiana) Public Library (MPL) has a paranormal book trailer playlist on YouTube for nonfiction books on these and related subjects.  See the entire video playlist here.

Click on the videos below to watch book trailers for these recommended reads.  Many of these items are available to checkout from MPL's Evergreen Indiana catalog.

 

RECOMMENDED READING

 

HOOSIER HAUNTINGS

These books discuss haunted places, ghosts, poltergeists, and spirit communications in Indiana.

Haunting at Sycamore Lake, by Karl C. B. Muilliwey

(MPL Book Trailer 14)

(An Indiana Haunted House)

 The Feeders at Night, by Aldo Gonzalez

(MPL Book Trailer 307)

(An Indiana Haunted House)

Haunted Histories in America, by Nancy Hendricks

(MPL Book Trailer 660)

(Includes Indiana Haunted Places)

 

 

The People in the Attic, by Doretta Johnson
(MPL Book Trailer 691)

(An Indiana Haunted House)

Shelf Doll & Other True Paranormal Tales, by Karl C. B. Muilliwey

(MPL Book Trailer 110)

(NOTE:  This book is unavailable, but a summary can be viewed here)

 

SPIRIT COMMUNICATION & THE AFTERLIFE

These books discuss evidential communications people purportedly have had with their deceased loves ones and friends, as well as other communicators.  Some communications allegedly describe the afterlife.  Some (such as A. Campbell Holms' book) offer comprehensive, encyclopedic coverage of all psi phenomena.

 

The Articulate Dead, by Michael E. Tymn

(MPL Book Trailer 710)

 

The Facts of Psychic Science, by A. Campbell Holms

(MPL Book Trailer 597)

 

 The New Revelation & The Vital Message, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

(MPL Book Trailer 146)

 

Six Books About Animals & the Afterlife

(MPL Book Trailer 609)

What Happens When You Die, by Robert Crookall

(MPL Book Trailer 708)

 

 

 Four Books About Precipitated Spirit Portraits

(MPL Book Trailer 355)

 

The Psychic Life of Abraham Lincoln, by Susan B. Martinez, Ph.D.

(MPL Book Trailer 184)

Four Afterlife Research Books by Rev. Charles L. Tweedale & Violet Tweedale

(MPL Book Trailer 818)

 

The World Unseen, by Anthony Borgia

(MPL Book Trailer 473)

The Supreme Adventure, by Robert Crookall

(MPL Book Trailer 406)

 

 

Conversations Beyond the Light, by Dr. Pat Kubis & Mark Macy

(MPL Book Trailer 81)

 

 

 A Study in Survival, by Roger Straughan

(MPL Book Trailer 109)

Unfinished Symphonies, by Rosemary Brown

(MPL Book Trailer 32)

HAUNTED PLACES, GHOSTS, & POLTERGEISTS

These books talk about specific haunted places, ghosts or earthbound spirits, possession/obsession, and poltergeist phenomena.  A couple of books suggest that spirits assisted archaeologists in finding unknown, lost ruins or artifacts.

Ghosts & Earth Bound Spirits, by Linda Williamson

(MPL Book Trailer 531)

Thirty Years Among the Dead, by Carl A. Wickland, M.D.

(MPL Book Trailer 153)

 

Poltergeist, by Colin Wilson

(MPL Book Trailer 63)

 

Poltergeists, by Alan Gauld & A. D. Cornell

(MPL Book Trailer 611)

This House is Haunted, by Guy Lyon Playfair

(MPL Book Trailer 152)

Two Books About Haunted Borley Rectory, by Harry Price

(MPL Book Trailer 823)
 

The World's Most Haunted House, by William J. Hall

(MPL Book Trailer 215)

True Ghost Stories, by the Marchioness Townshend of Raynham & Maude ffoulkes

(MPL Book Trailer 1)

 

 

The Gate of Remembrance, by Frederick Bligh Bond

(MPL Book Trailer 414)

The Mystery of the Buried Crosses, by Hamlin Garland

(MPL Book Trailer 100)

 

 

Bass Building Demolition

We've previously blogged about the George W. Bass Building, which was irreparably damaged by a tornado on April 8, 2020.  While walking through downtown Mooresville over my lunch break, I noticed that the structure is in the process of being demolished.

Bass Building Demolition Under Way (September 22, 2022)

(Click Photos to Enlarge)

(Photos by William R. Buckley)

 

It has been two-and-a-half years since the building collapsed, and although Mooresville citizens are undoubtedly pleased that the ruins are finally being removed, we are also saddened that another piece of local history is being carted away.  Since the structure couldn't be salvaged, however, removal was the only sensible recourse.

We've heard on the town grapevine that a parking lot will be constructed on the Bass site.  While that's beneficial for downtown businesses and customers, it seems a rather pedestrian use of the land.  But nobody asked my opinion, so I'll just sit quietly in an out-of-the-way corner someplace.

You can read all of our previous blog posts about the Bass Building here.

Farewell, Bass Building.  You gave us 130 years of wonderful history.  George W. Bass, wherever you are, would be proud of that.

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 29, 2022:   A week after taking the photos above, I returned downtown to shoot some additional photos showing the progress of the demolition.  The concrete structure in the middle of the rubble was the Citizens Bank vault when the bank was located here (1931-1966).  Click the images to enlarge.

UPDATE OCTOBER 15, 2022:  The Bass Building is gone.  These photos (below) were taken on Friday, October 14, 2022.  Since it appears that grass seed has been planted (note straw covering), perhaps the land will now be used as a tiny park space, rather than as a parking lot as rumors previously reported.  An outdoor eating area would be nice.

A Tale of Two Simons

Longtime Mooresville resident, renowned painter and Indiana State Banner designer Paul Hadley painted a watercolor rendering of Simon Moon's cabin, which now hangs along with other Paul Hadley paintings at Mooresville (Indiana) Public Library.

"Simon Moon's Cabin," by Paul Hadley

(click photos to enlarge)

 

It should be a simple matter to learn more about Simon Moon, whose cabin was commemorated in Hadley's watercolor.  But you'll find a convoluted historical trail that has confused researchers for decades.  That's because there were TWO Simon Moons associated with our local and regional history.

Simon Moon (1786-1879) was a Quaker (Society of Friends) who, during the 1830's, settled land in Morgan County, Indiana (first in Gregg Township, then in Brown Township). He lived near Long Ridge, a few miles southwest of Mooresville.  "Our" Simon Moon (let's call him the "Bethel" Simon Moon for sake of comparison) is often mistaken for a relative, also named Simon Moon (1784-1835), who, on May 6, 1834, founded the town (now city) of Westfield, Indiana (in Hamilton County, north of Indianapolis), along with fellow Friends Asa Bales (Mooresville's first postmaster in 1826) and Ambrose Osborne.  All had relocated to Indiana from North Carolina.  We know that the "Westfield" Simon Moon was married to Hannah (Stout) Moon (1789-1844), and both are buried in the Old Friends Cemetery Park in Westfield, while the "Bethel" Simon Moon and his wife, Lydia Moon, are both buried in the Bethel Friends cemetery (see grave markers).  This has confused historians for many years, since the "Westfield" Simon Moon had once lived with Asa Bales in Mooresville before moving to Hamilton County.

Confusing one Simon with another was not uncommon in the 19th century.  Quakers habitually named offspring with identical Biblical names, so within an extended family tree, there could be many Daniels, Simons, Sauls, etc., all with the same surname and, perhaps, no distinguishing middle names.  Muddying the waters further was a Quaker practice (common during the early 19th century and earlier) of not marking grave sites with named headstones.

Both Simons knew each other.  It was a smaller world back then.  Many of these settlers met one another at religious gatherings or in the ordinary course of social visits or business.  These regular (sometimes everyday) interactions mix-up the historical records when one is searching for a particular person, only to discover another individual with an identical moniker who frequented the same geographical areas.

How can we sort out the two Simons?  Thankfully, Richard L. Moon, the "Bethel" Simon's fourth great-grandson, has written a short book explaining the differences between him (i.e., the "Bethel" Simon) and the "Westfield" Simon.  Richard's book presents the evidence persuasively and compellingly, showing land ownership, deeds, maps, Friends meeting records, family trees, and other documentation that clearly indicate two separate individuals who happened to share the same name.

 

Click image (above) to read a digital

copy of Richard L. Moon's book

(in PDF format)

 

Besides being available (free-of-charge) as a digital (PDF) book that you may access online, a printed copy of the book may be checked-out from Mooresville Public Library's Evergreen Indiana (E.I.) catalog, if you have an E.I. library card.

Morgan County "History Buff"alo Returns

 You can't celebrate Morgan County's Bicentennial (1822-2022) without Brutus.

 MPL's Ms. Catherine with Brutus (August 12, 2022)

(CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE)

 

Brutus, the official Morgan County (Indiana) Bicentennial Bison, is visiting Mooresville Public Library (MPL) during the month of August, 2022.  Get to know the big fella.  We have a bunch of photos.

 "Whoa, Big Fella!"

MPL Executive Director Diane Huerkamp & Morgan County Historian Don Adams coax Brutus to graze in the Grand Hall Directors' Alcove

 

Say, Brutus, did you make that carpet stain?  Bad bison!

   Heading East & West Across the Hoosier Plains

Let's take a peek at those signs, shall we?

What's Brutus' neck tag say?

 

More close-ups?  Sure!

"How ya doin' out there?"

"Wouldn't mind some grass or hay.  Just saying."

 

There's one more REALLY IMPORTANT sign:

 

Does Brutus look familiar?  If you happened to drop by the Library during the 2016 Indiana Bicentennial celebration, you might have seen Brutus wearing different colored fur.  We blogged about his 2016 visit (click here), and Cauli Le Chat, MPL feline roving reporter (2010-2019), also talked about it (click here).

Brutus in 2016 during the Indiana Bicentennial Celebration

Brutus welcomes photo ops, so stop by and take some "selfies" with Morgan County's official Bicentennial Bison.  Just don't climb on or touch him.  He's a friendly dude, but we don't want to get him riled up.  Stampedes we don't need inside the Library.