After a tornado devastated downtown Mooresville, Indiana on April 8, 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, Mooresville Public Library prepared this message of hope and encouragement "from" Samuel Moore (1799-1889), town founder.
While Mooresville Public Library was closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic (mid-March through mid-June, 2020), you could still have some fun with Mooresville (Indiana) history, thanks to the library's Indiana Room historian, known to his adoring fan (namely his grandson) as Grandpa Billy Bob (or "Bebo," as his grandson, now age 2-1/2, might say). Here's the first in what hopefully will be a series of local history video quizzes, with, we hope, better lighting in future episodes.
Grandpa Billy Bob's Mooresville History Super Fun Quiz #1
(COVID-19 Edition), by Mooresville Public Library
The quiz answer appears in the video's credits near the end. Or, you could click here. It's your call.
UPDATE: Here's another installment! As if one weren't enough.
Grandpa Billy Bob's Mooresville History Super Fun Quiz #2
(COVID-19 Edition), by Mooresville Public Library
Look for the answer near the end of the video credits, or click here.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Here's another episode! As if your life weren't bad enough right now.
Grandpa Billy Bob's Mooresville History Super Fun Quiz #3,
Did you know that Mooresville (Indiana) Public Library has several local history videos? The playlist is below. Click it, and the videos play! Amazing thing, technology.
To see the entire local history playlist, click the three-line icon in the upper right-hand corner of the box (see image below).
Visit the library's Indiana Room to pickup your "Flat" Cauli Le Chat, and then travel to your favorite Morgan County, Indiana destination, where you could take a "selfie" with "Flat" Cauli (showing your destination, too)--something like the photo below.
This Could Be Your (and "Flat" Cauli's) Travel Selfie
After taking your "selfie," you could upload it to social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), using the following hashtags:
#morgancountytraveler
#MPLrovingreporter
Now you're an official MPL roving reporter! Sorry, you have to provide your own hat.
There are written instructions available in the library's Indiana Room, or just click the image below to enlarge.
Click Image to Enlarge
Your travel adventure awaits! Morgan County excitement beckons!
Watch the library's promo trailer below (for fun):
Morgan County (Indiana) Travel Adventure 2020,
by Mooresville Public Library
P.S. Don't forget to return "Flat" Cauli to the MPL Indiana Room so others may join the fun.
Sometime in late December, 2019, Mooresville's "Founder Stone" was returned to its rightful place on the northeast corner of Indiana and Main Streets downtown. The stone had stood at this location from its placement in 1924 until 2017.
Mooresville-Decatur Times Tuesday, December 31, 2019, page A1 Click Image Above to Enlarge, or Click Here to See PDF
The Founder Stone was removed in 2017 during construction of Mooresville's Bicentennial Park, which had been the site of Paul Hadley Memorial Park, and, before that, of the I.O.O.F. building, and, before that, of town founder Samuel Moore's general store, built in 1824. The Founder Stone was stored in the Mooresville Street Department's facilities until January, 2018, when it was relocated further northeast on what had once been Samuel Moore's residential lot, but was (in 2018) part of the northeast corner of Bicentennial Park, next to Citizens Bank's parking lot.
The Founder Stone's original (and, now restored) position is historically more appropriate, since it commemorates Samuel Moore's general store, the first wood-frame structure in Mooresville. The building survived the Great Fire of 1842, which destroyed all of Mooresville except Samuel Moore's home and business, and the structure was replaced in 1869 by the first I.O.O.F. brick-and-masonry building. The stone once again sits in front of what once had been Samuel Moore's foundational business in the heart of town.
If you have not visited Bicentennial Park and seen the Founder Stone, drop by one day when the weather is nice. You will be standing at the very root of Mooresville's history.
