FTHS News

Events Calendar
Our schedule of special events is now online in calendar format for your convenience! Check out the FTHS Events Calendar page to learn about community events, FTHS seminars, and more!

Old Fashioned Christmas Celebration - December 18

Join us at the Meeting House from 6 to 8 p.m. on December 18 for a warm evening of traditional Christmas carols, stories and refreshments! Cookies and punch will be served.

Reminder: Membership Renewal

Our membership calendar year runs from January 1 through December 31. If you have not already renewed your membership for 2012, you can send in your dues now and avoid any lapse in membership. For more information, see our membership page.

A Celebration of Learning
Franklin Township Historical Society has published an updated book on the history of Franklin Township Schools. A Celebration of Learning: An Updated History of Franklin Township Schools is now available for purchase! Pick up your copy at any FTHS event, at the Meeting House during Open Hours, or visit our Publications page for ordering information.

Quilt Display Racks For Rent
Need to display quilts or other hangings? Is your organization holding a quilt show or sale? Look no further for your display materials!

FOR RENT: Two units each that can be set up in lengths of 7 ft, 21 ft, or 35 ft. each. Each 7-foot length is capable of displaying 2 full size quilts (one on each side). The possible length combinations can accomodate 2, 6 or 10 full size quilts. The two units can accommodate 4, 12 or 20 full size quilts. One complete unit occupies a floor space of approximately 3 ft.6 in. wide by 35 ft. long and is about 9 ft. high. The quilt racks are housed at Franklin Township Historical Society Meeting House in Indianapolis.

Rental rate is $150 in advance for use of the quilt racks. Delivery, set up and tear down are included (for one event not to exceed 7 days and within 60 miles of Indianapolis).

Payment to be cash or check payable to FTHS. For questions and/or more information, please call (317) 862-8822.

Meeting House Open Hours
The FTHS Meeting House, 6510 S. Franklin Road, is open to all visitors on the first Saturday and third Sunday of each month from March through October. Open hours are 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

News Archives

Old Fashioned Christmas Celebration - Sunday, December 13
Thanks to everyone who joined us for a festive Christmas event at our Meeting House. We sang carols, enjoyed refreshments, and even had a visit from Santa Claus! If you missed the event, you can see photos here.

Bring-An-Item Antiques Showcase Draws Items of Interest
It just goes to show that often it’s right to hang on to those old things.

The “Bring-An-Item” antiques showcase, sponsored by the Franklin Township Historical Society and held Aug. 2 at the Zion United Church of Christ, drew a wide variety of items to be evaluated. Attendees arrived with china, a Civil War sword, an autographed baseball, old artwork, silver and statuary, among other things. But the focus of the event turned out to be a set of toys that were originally paid for with chickens.

Harold Prange brought farming toys that were originally purchased for him in 1938 when he was a boy. At that time, he says, the toys were paid for with two chickens, and he played with the toys quite a bit. But when “Antique Week” editor Connie Swaim examined the toys and looked up the prices at which the same items had recently sold at auction, Mr. Prange learned that his three toys are now worth $1,500.00.

It’s the hope for that sort of news that draws many of the people who attend events such as this one. Some come with a cherished family heirloom; others attend just hoping that that old item they stored all these years might turn out to be worth something.

This was the second year that the Franklin Township Historical Society has offered the “Bring An Item” event. This year, as last, those attending were able to enjoy complimentary refreshments while they waited to have their items examined, and were also able to browse the collection of Historical Society publications for sale.

This year’s event was again made possible with the assistance of “Antique Week” editor Connie Swaim and a group of evaluators from the Exit 76 Antique Mall. The Franklin Township Historical Society greatly appreciates the work done by each of these individuals, all of whom came at their own expense, making it possible for the Society to again offer this event to the public free of charge.

The Historical Society also wishes to thank Zion United Church of Christ for graciously allowing the use of its facilities.

You can view photos from this event here.

Summer Days for Youth Garden Club Visit
What a difference ten energetic aspiring gardeners can make in ridding a garden of weeds! Franklin Township Historical Society recently enjoyed a visit from the gardening club of Summer Days for Youth, a children’s ministry at East Tenth Street United Methodist Church. Their bus driver and Center Director, Michael T. Bachman, dropped the students off about 1:30 p.m. and by 3 p.m., the Meeting House grounds were well groomed and the kids were well-versed in how to pull weeds and “dead-head” spring bloomers. Carolyn Kanouse, a member of East Tenth UMC and Franklin Township Historical Society, arranged the outing and provided the gardening tools.

The group was accompanied and supervised by Liz Chaten, Sheila Mamandur and Danny Engelhardt who are spending their summer working at the Day Care. Liz will return to Notre Dame in the fall to continue studying biology. Sheila, a 2008 Notre Dame grad, will pursue a medical degree at IUPUI in August. Danny, a 2009 Butler graduate, is the Program Coordinator of Summer Days for Youth and will continue to work with the school-agers throughout the coming school year. Chaten explained the daily summer routine for students at East Tenth, “IPS teachers meet with the kids in the morning to help them retain those skills they learned in reading, math, and science the previous year. The afternoons are spent in small groups of varying interest.” The gardening club recently planted tomatoes and pumpkins in their own gardening plot.

When their work was done, the students spent some brief minutes in the Meeting House before clambering back on the bus. They had worked hard and were all smiles when one of the kids reminded them, “when we get back, we’ll have our afternoon snack!”

You can see photos from the club's visit here.

Big Run Cemetery Dedication

On June 10, 2007, the Franklin Township Historical Society celebrated the dedication of a sign identifying the historical significance of the Big Run Cemetery, as well as the completion of the new landscaping and fence at the cemetery. The historical marker informs visitors that the cemetery, established in 1854, is "listed in Indiana's Cemetery and Burial Grounds Registry of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources."

Big Run Cemetery was gifted to the FTHS in 1977 along with the former Big Run Baptist Church (located at 6510 S. Franklin Rd.), which became the Society's Meeting House. Both the church and the cemetery were admitted to the U.S. Department of Interior's National Register of Historic Places, as well as the Indiana Register of Historic Sites and Structures, in December 2005.

The enamel sign at the cemetery, denoting the site's inclusion in the historic register, was the gift of FTHS members Larry and Diana Stevenson. A plaque displayed at the door of the Meeting House was donated by FTHS members Larry and Nancy VanArendonk . The cemetery fencing project was engineered by Eagle Scout Steven Crawley, of Boy Scout Troop 104, and made possible by donations from community members and local businesses, including Quality Fence Co. Cemetery landscaping was designed by Dale Walton of Walton & Vector Landscaping.

A special thanks to everyone who helped make this possible! Your contributions help the Historical Society protect and preserve these pieces of history for future generations.

Big Run Cemetery Project
For his Eagle Scout project, Steven Crawley and fellow members of Troop 104 have trimmed around headstones and cleaned along the fence line of the Big Run Baptist Church cemetery. With the generous donation of discounted materials and labor from Dave Munn, Sr., owner of a local fence company, Steven was able to facilitate the replacement of the deteriorated cemetery fence. He is still hoping for donations to help cover the $1200 cost of the fence materials. Anyone who wishes to donate may call Steven at 862-5919.

Original Church Pump Organ Donated
Ruth Handy, whose late mother Margaret Handy was one of the last members of the Big Run Baptist Church, has donated the pump organ which was used in the church in its later years. We are delighted and honored to have the opportunity to display the organ in the building in which it was played.

Big Run Baptist Church Cemetery Gets Landscaping and Marker
On October 2, 2006, new landscaping by Walton & Vector Landscaping was completed at the Big Run Baptist Church cemetery. This was done in preparation for the installation of a new marker denoting the cemetery's listing on an Indiana register of historic cemetery properties. The sign, donated by Larry and Diana Stevenson, will be mounted at a later date.

The cemetery, located across Franklin Road from the Meeting House (the former Big Run Baptist Church), dates from the mid-1850s and was associated with the church. A number of families currently living in Franklin Township have ancestors buried in this small pioneer cemetery.

Meeting House Added to the Register of Historic Sites & Structures
At a meeting of the Indiana Historic Preservation Review Board on Oct. 19, the FTHS Meeting house was named as a property worthy of preservation. As a result of this designation from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and the Division of Historic Preservation & Archaeology officials, the former Big Run Baptist Church and cemetery will now be listed in the Indiana Register of Historic Sites and Structures, as well as in the U.S. Department of the Interior's National Register of Historic Places. FTHS has received certificates for State and National recognition.

The nomination, written by Diana Stevenson, documented the architectural significance of the building as well as the history of the congregation that built the church in 1871. Members of the Big Run Baptist Church deeded the building to the Franklin Township Historical Society in 1977, when their congregation was dissolved.