Our Historical Park has hosted Railroad Fairs, Santa Claus and even a Halloween event years ago. But next Sunday will be a first for us!
Boy Scout Troop 623, sponsored by the Griffith Isaac Walton League, will be camping overnight at our Park, September 16-17. They will set up camp late Saturday afternoon and sleep in the railcars.
On Sunday, they will take a tour of the Park’s Depot, railcars and Tower. Both buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places and the Indiana Register of Historic Sites and Structures.
Stop by our Griffith Historical Park, 201 S. Broad St., on Sunday if you’d like to see Scouting in action and learn more about Boy Scout Troop 623, or Cub Scout Pack 622.
Find us!! Friday Sept 8 – 9am – 1pm at Strack and Van Til in Highland Friday Sept 8 – 5pm – 7pm at Central Market 🚂 Saturday Sept 9 – 1pm – 4pm at Griffith Public Safety & Community Day in Central Park! 🚂 Friday Sept 15 – 5pm – 7pm at Central Market 🚂
🧲We have Limited Editon Griffith Magnets!! 🚂🚃🚃🚃 for 💲5️⃣ 👕 Or get your own Historical Society t-shirt!Super soft, Bella Canvas tri-blend! 👕 We have V-necks and crew necks available!💲2️⃣0️⃣ 🎫 We also have 50/50 Raffle tickets!! Everyone loves a raffle!💲2️⃣ each or 3️⃣ for 💲5️⃣!! 🗳Drawing is on November 15th. 🚂 When we’re at Central Park, we’ll have the Barrel Train!! Grab your ticket to ride! $3️⃣ per kid! All aboard!!
All sales and proceeds go directly to the upkeep of the Depot Museum, Train Park, Railroad Webcam, and Griffith History Preservation!!
Have you ever wondered about how the Purple Heart military award got its name?
Or how the award even came to be? Hint. It’s way older than you think.
August 7th is National Purple Heart Day, so come on down to the Griffith Historical Society’s first Sunday at the Depot event on August 6th at the Griffith Historical Park, 201 S. Broad Street.
Griffith resident, Karen Kulinski, will be on hand from 1 to 4 p.m. to answers these questions and more. Karen is the author of to beautifully illustrated, THE MEDAL WITH A HEART, which tells the tale of how the Purple Heart came to be. Books will be available for purchase.
Used to be, the railroad depot was the networking hotspot in every town… The place to come for the latest news… The place to watch who came and left on the trains… The place to find out what was going on in your area of the world.
Our Grand Trunk Depot will soon be a happening place again, with our “Sundays at the Depot” programs!
On various Sundays, starting later this month, the Depot will be the site of historic and informational programs and the railcars will be open for viewing!
On the schedule so far is:
August 6th, 1-4 pm : “Celebrating Purple Heart Day” Mrs. Karen Kulinski will be at the Depot sharing her book “Medal with a Heart” about the creation of the award.
In late summer, early fall, the Depot will be the stepping-off place for our popular “Historic Lantern Tour” with Corporal Peter Ghrist.
Keep checking back to find out more about our programs, new listings, and which Sundays the Tower will be open.
We’re celebrating on June 10th, from 12 pm to 4 pm at our Griffith Historical Park.
The Depot, Tower and railcars will be open, and The Hess Express barrel train for kids will be running. Hot dogs, pop, and ice cream will be available for purchase.
More later as we get closer to the day! Come help us celebrate. Everyone welcome!
We are always looking for people interested in helping us gather and display Griffith history, and lend a hand with our activities, too!
Just print off the form linked here, fill it out, enclose your check, and mail it to our address which is on the top of the form. If you’d like, send us an email at [email protected] letting us know that the membership form is on the way.
You’ll be joining in a historic year — our 40th anniversary!
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.
L to r, rear, Griffith Historical Society President Nancy Stout and Secretary Karen Kulinski. L to r, front, Directors Marthann Gatlin and Debby Hoot.
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 