Vigo County Historical Society

Speaker to extoll city’s past

Terre Haute in the 1920s was a Midwestern town full of promise, with a rich history and looking toward a prosperous future. The photo shown depicts the south side of Wabash Avenue in 1929 looking from Seventh toward Sixth Street.

A series of radio essays depicting the inner workings of this town, which was once referred to as the "Crossroads of America," was made by Tom Roznowski for WFIU, a public broadcasting station in Bloomington.

In one of the segments, describing Terre Haute as a "real American home town," he says:

"Every spiritual journey begins along an ancient path. In this case, the old Cumberland road, built in 1811 to carry Americans west toward the frontier. As the country grew, so did the road. By the 1930s, it ran from coast to coast. It had been paved and renamed U.S. Route 40. By traveling west along U.S. Route 40, we’ll soon reach the banks of the Wabash River.

"Here, according to the U.S. census of 1920, we’re standing at the absolute center of the nation’s population, as many American living North as South, East as West. The census also tells us the population was evenly divided between city and countryside. So here we are, for one place in time, in 1924 we’ve arrived at the point of perfect balance.

"We find ourselves in a city of about 62,000. There’s a very busy downtown--six large department stores, eight movie theaters, an electric street car system, more pedestrians on the sidewalk than cars on the street. Most of the businesses carry their proprietors’ names and sprinkled throughout the town, there are dozens of small locally owned factories. They turn out everything from glass bottles to baking powder, ice cream to overalls. There’s a Rumanian Orthodox Church, a German-speaking Masonic Lodge, an African-American community named Bagdad.

"What Terre Haute was back then was very, very different. The world was certainly much bigger, maybe it was a little wider too. See, once upon a time, Terre Haute, Indiana had a Catholic hospital, a factory named after Quakers, and high atop the McKeen Bank Building, a statue of the Roman god Mercury, a symbol of business and commerce. He was cast running into the future with a pair of golden wings."

This is just a sample of stories Roznowski will tell when the Historical Society presents a program about Terre Haute as it was in the 1920s and 30s. As we reminisce, Tom will walk us down the streets and introduce us to the people and reveal a way of life that no longer exists.

The event will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday at 931 S. Seventh St. This is the former home of Mrs. Anton Hulman Sr., which has been restored to its original beauty.

The evening includes a tour of the house and refreshments. The charge is $10. Please call (812) 235-9717 for reservations.