Bluffton, Indiana

Bluffton, Indiana is where I grew up. More precisely, although I was born in Fort Wayne and live there now, I lived from about age eight until my late teens on a dairy farm off County Home Road. I attended Poplar Grove from third through eighth grades and graduated from Bluffton High School in 1957. My mother still lives on the family farm south of town, and I'm in and around Bluffton quite a lot.

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Wells County Courthouse - Built of Indiana Sandstone, the Wells County Courthouse was designed in the Romanesque style by George W. Bunting of Indianapolis. The cornerstone was laid in 1889 and the building was dedicated in 1891. The first photograph in this set (black & white) was made on a Sunday in 1962. The others were made in 2003 and 2004. The tank shown in the first photo now sits in front of the National Guard Armory at Spring and Wayne Streets. Originally a fountain in the center of a circular pond, encircled by a wrought-iron fence, occupied that spot.

Downtown Bluffton

The River Greenway begins at a small park just of Wabash Street east of Main Street and runs about five miles along the Wabash River and through Ouabache State Park. It's a flat, easy ride and beautiful in the fall when the leaves are turning.

First United Church of Christ, this was First Evangelical and Reformed Church when I was subjected to the rigors of the Heidelberg Catechism in the early 1950s by Reverend Matthew Worthman. It was less painful than the Inquisition, I suppose.
April 10, 2006 - I just read that First United Church of Christ has chosen to separate from the United Church of Christ and to become First Reformed Church. The major divisive issue cited is the UCC's support for blessing same-sex relationships. This move sets the clock back about 72 years for the congregation. If I remember correctly, the Reformed Church and the Evangelical Church merged in 1934.

The Cloverleaf Depot served the Toledo, St. Louis and Kansas City Railroad, and sat by the tracks west of downtown between Washington and Cherry Streets. This photo was taken about 1970.

Bluffton Street Fair 2004

Gas engine and tractor shows are everywhere, nowadays. In the early sixties, they weren't so ubiquitous. About 1961, there was a small display during Street Fair at the corner of Wabash and Main Streets. In the first picture, my 5HP Sears Economy engine is belted to a buhr mill for grinding corn meal. The green engine in the background is Bruce Maxwell's 6HP McCormick. Rolland Maxwell's Ellis Champion wooden thresher sits behind my Economy engine and the buhr mill. That's Rolland Maxwell's 30hp Case Steam Traction Engine in the second picture.

Crosbie Bridge 2004 - In 2004 the North Main Street / Indiana 1 bridge built in 1934 by Bluffton Contractor James Crosbie received a major rehabilitation, including new roadways, new sidewalks and new walls. The design of the new walls replicates that of the originals, and wall lighting similar to that in the bridge's original design is being installed. The photographs taken west of the bridge along the river show the piers for a pedestrian bridge to be erected just west of the Main Street Bridge. The column with the frayed top failed testing and was demolished and replaced.
The black-and-white night photograph, taken about 1962, shows the bridge's wall lights still working, and new, tall highway-type street lights in place but not yet turned on. A recent project has removed those tall lights and replaced them with streetlights similar to the ones in the old picture. The second black-and-white photograph shows the Airplane Station north of the bridge as it looked about 1962.

Commerce-Arts-Visitors Center - A successful fund-raising campaign paid for the $2 million Commerce-Arts-Visitors center overlooking the Wabash River just west of the Main Street Bridge with private donations. This building and its plaza and walkway along the river significantly enhance the appearance of the area and provide a venue for art displays, dance classes, and public meetings and other events. Across the river on the site once known as Fairland Park is Kehoe Park, site of summer concerts and other entertainment. A large part of what was once Fairland Park was filled in and is now occupied by Dutch Mill Plaza, named for the popular restaurant that burned several years ago. Fairland Park was once the location of Bluffton Street Fair's livestock exhibits and tractor- and horse-pulling contests.

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