𝗚𝗥𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗛𝗜𝗚𝗛 𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗡𝗦 𝟭𝟬𝟬!
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘎𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘏𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭’𝘴 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺!
𝘔𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘊𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘯 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘬, 𝘸𝘦’𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯
𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫
𝙶𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚝𝚋𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚛 𝐑𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐇𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝’𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚊 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕’𝚜 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚝𝚋𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚖 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝟷𝟿𝟸𝟽-𝟸𝟾 𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚋𝚢 𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝟏𝟐𝟎 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚐𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝙼𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎. 𝙻𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚗, 𝚁𝚞𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝟷𝟷𝟶 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚐𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚁𝚘𝚜𝚜.
𝗚𝗥𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗛𝗜𝗚𝗛 𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗡𝗦 𝟭𝟬𝟬!
𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐚𝐭 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜. 𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝟐𝟓 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝟷𝟿𝟻𝟶’𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚣𝚘𝚗. 𝙿𝚘𝚜𝚝-𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚆𝚊𝚛 𝙸𝙸 𝙱𝚊𝚋𝚢 𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙷𝚘𝚖𝚎s 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚎 𝚗𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚟𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜’ 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝐆𝐈 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬.
𝙶𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚝𝚑’𝚜 𝚙𝚘𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝟺,𝟺𝟶𝟶. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝙵𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚕𝚒𝚗 𝚂𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚜!! 𝙰 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚊𝚡𝚒𝚖𝚞𝚖.
𝙸𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙶𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 $𝟓𝟖𝟗,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚐𝚑 𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚕. 𝙸𝚗 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢’𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 $𝟼.𝟿 𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚘𝚗!
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥, 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝟏𝟗𝟓𝟒.
𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴.
𝐄𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲!
📸Griffith Historical Society members work on putting together a two-sided Display Board showing photos and info from Griffith High School’s 100 years.
➡From left to right are Debby Hoot, Karen Kulinski, Martha Gatlin, and Nancy Stout.
🏫When the board is finished, it will be taken to the High School and put on display there!
💻We’ll work on sharing digital copies here and our Facebook page as well!
𝗚𝗥𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗛𝗜𝗚𝗛 𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗡𝗦 𝟭𝟬𝟬!
𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙂𝙧𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙃𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙎𝙤𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜!!
𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴.
𝐄𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲!
𝙵𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝟗𝟑𝟎𝐬. 𝙶𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚗. 𝙵𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚕𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚍, 𝚝𝚘𝚘.
𝚃𝚠𝚘 𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚍, 𝟏𝟐 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐬, 𝚙𝚕𝚞𝚜 𝟺 𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚐𝚢𝚖𝚗𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚞𝚖. 𝙰𝚗𝚍, 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍, 𝚝𝚘𝚘!
𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙵𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚕𝚒𝚗 𝙷𝚒𝚐𝚑 𝚂𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚕.
𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝟸𝟶 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜, 𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚕 𝙶𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚝𝚑’𝚜 𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚆𝚊𝚛 𝙸𝙸.
𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬!
𝗚𝗥𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗛𝗜𝗚𝗛 𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗡𝗦 𝟭𝟬𝟬!
𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙂𝙧𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙃𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙎𝙤𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜!!
𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴.
𝐄𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲!
𝙸𝚝 𝚜𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚍𝚍𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚏𝚒𝚎𝚕𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝚍𝚒𝚍. 𝙱𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝟷𝟿𝟷𝟷, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚗’𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚒𝚐 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝, 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 $𝟗,𝟎𝟎𝟎 — $𝟸𝟼𝟼,𝟶𝟶 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢’𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚢. 𝙱𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎, 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖𝚜, 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜. 𝙱𝚒𝚐 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝙶𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜, 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝟏 𝐭𝐨 𝟖.
𝐈𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫!
𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝐇𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐝, 𝚛𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚍𝚊𝚢.
𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝙶𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚝𝚑, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚊 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙿𝚃𝙰 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚜, 𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜.
In the olden days, a train equipped with a wedge plow in front of the engine cleared snow from the tracks. Clearing snow from around railroad depots, towers, and other outbuildings, like the Griffith watchman’s shanty shown here, was done by railroad workers with shovels, as in this photo.
In truth, most of what was done in the early days of railroading was done by hand. Tracks were all laid by hand. Heavy wooden ties and steel rails were carried by two men, using special equipment, and put into place on the trackbed. Then, the men used a spike maul, similar to a sledge-hammer, to attach the rail to the ties by driving huge nails, called spikes, into the wood.
Tunnels though mountains were built by hand, too, by men like John Henry, the legendary steel-driving man. A steel-driver pounded out holes in the mountain, into which blasting powder was poured and lit with a fuse. Not one of the tools any of these men used had an electrical cord at the end of them.
In days gone by, putting up the town’s Christmas decorations right after Thanksgiving was a yearly event in Griffith.
Members of the Community Spirit organization and the Griffith Fire Department are pictured here in the 100 block of South Broad Street. Lighted garlands were strung across Broad for several blocks.
It gave the town an especially festive holiday look, reminiscent, some folks said, of Bedford Falls, the town in the movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
Mat Beiriger, Scottie Schweitzer and Mat Theis pose for a photo amidst a bountiful fall harvest. Farmers were the first to come to the Griffith area in the mid-1850’s when land here was cheap, but needed to be drained before it could be used. Under all the water, they found rich, fertile land on which to plant their crops.
Left: GHS Secretary, Karen Kulinski, talks to students about our Pullman Troop-sleeper railcar.
Right: Railroad history comes alive when a train passes by.
For the second year in a row, we hosted Griffith Public School students as part of our ElmerJ Program, wherein we work with schools as they teach town history, part of the 3rd grade Social Studies curriculum.
The program involves a presentation on Griffith History to the classes in their classroom, and a tour of the Historical Park. This year eight classes participated, with 161 students.
Students receive books on Griffith history written for young people, as well as primary source stories about early Griffith and other historical information.
We are grateful to members Nancy Stout, Karen Kulinski, Debby Hoot, John and Valerie Wotkun, Fran Evans, Marthann Gatlin, Claudia Powell, Victoria Fane, Toni Rickert, Belinda Stark.
Special thanks goes out to Officer Alex Ascolani, from the Canadian National Railroad Police, for providing Operation Lifesaver coloring books and coming out to the Park to talk to the children about train safety.
We are also grateful to the Griffith Park Department for bringing picnic tables up to our Park for us to use.
A year ago last summer, the proud Chesapeake & Ohio Inspection Car, shown below in its honored place next to our Depot Museum, lay in pieces. Taken apart several years before by a long-time member, it had been cannibalized and left to rust away.
We feared the car would remain that way, none of us having the expertise to put it back together. Nor did the Society have the money to pay to have it done, or even know if it could be done. Enter Perry and Kevin Frye.
Father and son Inspection Car enthusiasts, with a passion for restoring them, the men volunteered to bring our little car back to life. And, they would charge us only for parts they couldn’t donate to us, or arrange for others to do the donating.
Mid-summer 2021, the battered, bare-bones skeleton of our little car, was taken away by Perry Frye, along with a heap of random parts that were still left.
The photo shows the shape our car was in when Perry, right, came to pick it up from the town garage where it had been stored for us.
The Fryes couldn’t give us a date when the car would be ready. All they could do was promise that they would bring back the car looking as good as in the first photo above, if not better. They did keep us posted as they worked with photos and updates as to what had been done.
Imagine our surprise, when in mid-January, Perry informed us our car was finished. He brought it to us on January 16th, after stopping off at Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum to actually run the car on the tracks, see photo below. At our site, the car must be a static display.
Perry and Kevin gave us the best gift ever as the Griffith Historical Society celebrates our 40th anniversary this year — they restored our Inspection Car to better shape than it was before. It now has front and back working lights, which were not on the car when it was donated some 40 years ago.
The car also has small brooms attached to the wheels to sweep off the rails while moving along, which was unknown to us. A broom is visible in the upright position on the left side of the car in the picture below.
For now the car will be kept off display until we can find a way to exhibit it without it being constantly exposed to the elements. However, we will be showing it off in the Griffith 4th of July Parade, and it will be on display at the Griffith Historical Society’s 40th Anniversary event up at the Depot, where it all began for us.
Watch our website for more information about the Anniversary event, which will, of course, include having the Depot, railcars and the Tower open to the public. Also on hand will be our Hess Express barrel train, among other fun things.
All of us at the Society will be forever grateful to Perry and Kevin Frye! Our beloved little car came home all in one piece for our 40th anniversary.
Griffith History Museums 