Author: Roadtirementvintage

Bascilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle is a National Shrine in Texas

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This was one of the memorable places we enjoyed while wintering in the Rio Grande Valley a few years back.

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The Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle is a remarkable place in the Rio Grande Valley. The Basilica has a fascinating history that traces back to the 1600’s in Mexico with a reported miracle. The current location has been the sight for pilgrimages for decades.

The bell tower

The Sanctuary

Sher and I decided to go to the Basilica on a Sunday for mass. The Sunday schedule has masses all day, with Spanish, English and bi-lingual. There is a mariachi band providing the music on Saturday and Sunday masses. We opted for the 3 o’clock English mass. The mass was very inspiring.

Free Holy Water fountain

First Station of the Cross

The sculpture on the back sanctuary wall

When we arrived, the 1 o’clock mass had not yet let out, and the parking lots were very full. I was able to find a handicapped spot. The complex has…

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New home for an old bridge

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By 1870 Shelby County Indiana had 154 miles of new gravel roads. It was time for the county to start building bridges at principle crossings of rivers. By 1880 there were 10 “substantial and elegant” iron bridges  with additional bridges planned each year thereafter.

The bridge’s new home, seeing bicycles and pedestrian traffic only

The Clover Ford Bridge over Buck Creek was constructed in 1889 by the King Iron Bridge & Manufacturing Company of Cleveland, Ohio. The cost of the bridge, Shelby County Bridge No. 13, was $3,384.50. The bridge served many years but was closed due to structural issues in 2011.

Beautiful and sound reconstruction

History board

Deemed historically important, it was refurbished in 2018 and moved to the Blue River Memorial Park in 2019. It is now part of the Blue River Trail that traverses Shelbyville. USI Consultants was the company that oversaw the relocation of the restored…

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Fire destroyed the 1879 grandstand ten years ago

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Around midnight on May 19, 2012, Shelbyville, Indiana residents saw flames raising hundreds of feet in the air. The source of the flames, visible from over a mile away, was the historic all wooden grandstands at the Shelby County Fairgrounds. These grandstands were constructed back in 1879, and records show that 6000 board feet of white pine was utilized for the build. Over 130 years later, the wood was tinder dry and the entire structure was fully involved when firefighters arrived on the scene.

New grandstands facing the track

The history of the Shelby County Fair goes way back to original farmer’s markets in the late 1840’s. The legal organization came in 1873 with the writing of the Fair Constitution. Future Vice President of the United States Thomas A. Hendricks took part in the authorship and execution of these documents. The first fair under the Shelby County Fair Association name was in 1874.

Stables in background, turn 3 in foreground

The backstretch

 

 

 

 

 

The grandstand, as mentioned above, was built in 1879 at the same time the race track was being renovated. This track is known as one of the fastest tracks in the state due to it’s design, which was a duplicate of the world-famous Kentucky Derby track at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Horse farms from all over have trained on this track for decades, and still continue to stable and train in this facility.

The old grandstand, photo by Gary Plunkett

The new entrance to the grandstand

New grandstand facing the fair midway

The burning of the grandstand in 2012 a couple of weeks before the scheduled opening of the fair was a shock to this small Indiana community. The temporary portable bleachers just didn’t quite get it. However, in 2014 the new grandstands were completed. with the same basic design, but now constructed with brick and concrete, both fireproof!

St. Peter’s UCC is a beautiful country church

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St. Peter’s United Church of Christ is a lovely church in Ripley County, Indiana. While it has an Osgood address, it is actually closer to Napoleon.

Front of the church

The steeple

Unique double entrance doors

There is a decent sized graveyard behind the church building. Of note is the interesting iron graveyard gate signage over the entrance drive to the graveyard. Also seen is an additional smaller gate entrance piece that has been mounted over a sidewalk entrance to the back of the fellowship hall of the church. It could be guessed that both of these structures have been relocated for original placements.

View of the graveyard

Fancy iron entrance signage

Smaller iron gate arbor

 

 

 

 

 

This church is located on the south east corner of the intersection of W County Rd 700 N and N Fink Road in Ripley County, Indiana.

 

A Vice President’s family log cabin

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Shelbyville, Indiana is a small town in central Indiana and was home to Thomas A. Hendricks, Vice President to Grover Cleveland. A replica of the Hendricks family log cabin is on display at the Shelby County Fairgrounds.

Reconstructed log cabin made from original logs from the Hendricks family cabin

Thomas A. Hendricks was a politician and lawyer who served as the 16th governor of Indiana from 1873 to 1877 and the 21st vice president of the United States from March until his death in November 1885. Hendricks also served Indiana in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. He was born in Ohio and his family moved to Shelbyville in 1822.

Information plaque mounted on the cabin

Vintage postcard of the original cabin, courtesy Indiana Historical Society

Thomas A. Hendricks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hendricks was married to Eliza Morgan, and they had one child, a son who sadly died at age three. Hendricks was very popular with the people, and unfortunately he died on Thanksgiving night during his first year in office as Vice President. Hendricks is buried in Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis.

 

Have never seen tombstones like these

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It is always fun to find a different cemetery to explore. Even more so when you find very different tombstones than you normally see. This was the case at the Ross Cemetery in Decatur County, Indiana. Three stones were apparently hand inscribed in wet concrete at some late date, with names and birth/death dates. These might be replacement stones.

Hand inscribed name/dates

Two additional hand made “stones”

 

 

 

 

 

 

This cemetery also has other oddities. There are two different granite stones that serve as listings of others interned here, many are family groupings. The back side of one of these also proudly lists military veterans who are resting in this lovely country cemetery.

Lists of burials in Ross Cemetery

A listing of vets buried here

21 year old killed in action 1862

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are many interesting stones at Ross Cemetery. What is fascinating is the range of size and quality of gravestones. Some are large and beautifully made. Others are simply what appear to be just rocks stuck in the ground. Family names are seen across many different stones, and dates of internments start in 1845 and according to a date on gate arches stopped in 1979.

Variety of marker size, quality clearly seen

Another view of the peaceful cemetery

Cemetery entrance gates

The historic Ross Cemetery can be found south of New Point in Decatur County, Indiana. It on the southwest corner of the intersection of E Co. Road 300 South and S Co Road 850 East. The gate is on 300 South and there is parking on the side of the road.

 

Mud Pike Baptist Church and Cemetery

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We were off on another daytrip in south east Indiana. We did have a couple of specific destinations, but as usual we did enjoy just coming upon interesting sights. One of these surprises was the Mud Pike Baptist Church and Cemetery which we came upon on, you guessed it, East Mud Pike Road. The church is roughly equidistant from Napoleon and Osgood, Indiana, both on US Highway 421, aka Michigan Road.

Pretty white church edifice

Remounted bell and one side of the cemetery

Notice the “Weeping Willow” tree in Mary’s tombstone

The grave of thirty two year old Sarah, passed in 1878

Grave of John Blackmore, Charter Member and church land donor

The bell remounted

Originally Delaware Baptist started in 1842 with 12 members, and Charter Member John Blackmore donated the ground for the church in 1844. In 1911 the bell was mounted in the belfry of the structure. A  fire devastated the church in 1996, resulting in the bell crashing to the floor. It now is mounted in a place of honor next to the flagpole and bench. The church was renamed Mud Pike Baptist Church in 1938, and it celebrated its 175th anniversary in 2017.

What do you call this 1909 structure?

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We came across this during our daytrip the other day. En route to another historic feature in southeast Indiana we were driving through New Point in Decatur County. Here came a short tunnel up ahead on S Co. Road 850 East.

No clearance sign, maybe 12 feet max?

Detail of side abutments

The 1909 date stamp has seen better days

 

 

 

 

 

The active Central Railroad Company of Indiana tracks run over the road using this structure. What is this type of structure called? Is it an underpass? Is it an overpass? Bridge? Tunnel? Viaduct? I’ve heard these called all of these, and have yet to find a definitive answer to the question. Any highway, railroad buffs or others in the know are encouraged to chime in…

Finks Road stone arch bridge

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Ripley County, Indiana is allegedly home to 11 stone arch bridges. The Fink Road bridge spans a branch of Laughery Creek, one of the main waterways in the county. This is a smaller single arch bridge that is not really obvious from the road.

Hard to see the stone arch through the vegetation

All you see are guardrails

Courtesy bridgehunter.com by Anthony Dillon

Stonework in B&W

This bridge was probably built around 1900 and refurbished in 1993. This turn of the century time frame saw many stone arch bridges constructed. The Fink Road Bridge, while only 60 feet long, has an unusual full 19 feet wide two lane spacing. It shows the high degree of craftsmanship typical of the times.