National Register of Historic Places listings in Washington County, Indiana

 

 

Beck's Mill

Beck's Mill is one of the most famous and historic landmarks in Indiana. Beck's Mill was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. Beck's Mill is the only extant mill in Indiana that used only grindstone milling in the entire milling process.

4433 South Beck's Mill Road, Salem, Indiana
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Beck's Mill Bridge

Beck's Mill Bridge is located downstream from Beck's Mill and goes across Blue River

Beck's Mill was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. Beck's Mill is the only extant mill in Indiana that used only grindstone milling in the entire milling process.

4433 South Beck's Mill Road, Salem, Indiana
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Blue River Friends Hicksite Meeting House and Cemetery 


1232 North Quaker Road, Salem, Indiana
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Campbell-Gill House

8178 S. IN 335 Pekin, Indiana

Entrepreneur James Campbell built the house about 1863, intending to operate it as an inn. To attract fishermen, he constructed it over a spring, which was dammed to create pools under and around the house. He aimed to allow guests to fish while seated on the long porches. Novel as this idea was, it did not lead to the inn’s success, and the place was soon converted to a single family home.

 

 

 

First Baptist Church

First Baptist Church was built in Salem in 1900 in the Richardsonian Romanesque style. The church has a central gabled nave and a three-story corner tower with a pyramidal roof. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

201 N. High Street, Salem, Indiana

 

 

Hay - Morrison House

Hay’s birthplace, a small brick house on South College Avenue, was built in 1824 for use as a school building. Dr. Charles Hay purchased the building in 1837. The Hay home was acquired by the Washington County Historical Society in 1967. The house has been restored and furnished in the 1840 period. The Hay birthplace has been a National Historic Site since 1971.

106 S. Colllege Ave, Salem Indiana

 

 

Salem Downtown Historic District

Town platted 1814; historic district area includes original plat. Continues as geographical, governmental, business, and social center of county. Nineteenth and early twentieth century commercial buildings-in Italianate, Gothic, and Classical styles-surround public square. Listed in National Register of Historic Places 1997.

Salem Public Square

 

 

Washington County Courthouse

Washington County was formed in 1814 by the General Assembly of Indiana Territory. Commissioners selected county seat and named it Salem. This third courthouse (shown here) was completed in 1888 using locally quarried limestone. It was designed in a Richardsonian Romanesque Style by Harry P. McDonald, Louisville. Listed in National Register of Historic Places, 1980.

#99 Public Square, Salem, Indiana

 

 

Washington Co Jail & Sheriff Residence

106 S. Main St. Salem, Indiana

 

 

Photo of John Milton HayWho was John Hay?

Statesman, Author, Ambassador

John Hay was a great American statesman, diplomat, author and poet, whose political career spanned over 50 years.  He was born in a small brick home in Salem, Indiana, on October 8, 1838.

After John displayed considerable potential in his schooling, his Uncle Milton Hay, who was a practicing lawyer in Springfield, Illinois, took a special interest and sent him to Brown University, where he graduated in 1858. 

In 1860, when John Hay’s childhood friend, John Nicolay, was appointed Abraham Lincoln’s presidential campaign secretary, he was brought on board to assist with the enormous amount of correspondence. 

Hay grew to adore President Lincoln for his goodness, patience, understanding, sense of humor, humility, magnanimity, healthy skepticism, sense of justice, resilience and power, love of the common man and mystical patriotism. Many later noted that Lincoln too, loved Hay as a son and was very attached to him.

In 1903, after years of negotiating treaties, Hay successfully passed legislation that afforded the United States the opportunity to start construction on the Panama Canal. 

Brown University’s John Hay Library was named in his honor, as was the John Hay Air Base, in the Philippines and both his birth home, in Salem, Indiana and his summer estate, The Fells, in New Hampshire, have been historically conserved. 

John Hay Center Hours of Operation

Thursdays - 10:00am – 5:00pm
Fridays - 10:00am – 5:00pm
Saturdays - 10:00am – 5:00pm

Tour Pricing

Self-Guided Tours

Adult (Age 18+) - Donation
Child (Age 6-17) - Donation

Guided Tours

Complete Comprehensive Tour
(Museum,Pioneer Village, The Depot)
Adult (Age 18+) - Tour Price  $20.00
Child (Ages 6-17) - Tour Price $10.00
Guided Tours - Free to Members

Steven's Museum Guided Tour
(Approximate 2 hour Tour)
Adult (Age 18+) -  Tour Price $7.00
Child (Ages 6-17) - Tour Price $4.00
Guided Tours - Free to Members

Pioneer Village
(Approximate 1 hour Tour)
Adult (Age 18+) - Tour Price $7.00
Child (Ages 6-17) - $4.00
Guided Tours - Free to Members

The Depot Railroad Museum
(Approximate 1 hour Tour)
Adult (Age 18+) - $7.00
Child (Ages 6-17) - $4.00
Guided Tours - Free to Members

School Tours

Private & Public School Tours: $3.00 per student/parent (Teachers free & 10 student minimum)

Private Tours

Scheduled Private Tours (More than 5 Guests) (Minimum $50)

Additional Information

*All regular tours are free for Life Members
*Children under 5 are free

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