Madison and Hanover: Special Opportunities
Thursday, September 21, 2023
This year’s “Hoosier Heritage Fall Pilgrimage” will be visiting southeastern Indiana, specifically Madison, Hanover, and Jefferson County. You’ll visit historic colleges, private homes, an historic church, and much more.
The itinerary:
- Visit historic Eleutherian College in Jefferson County. Founded in 1848 by local anti-slavery Baptists, the college became the first in Indiana to admit African Americans. Students, including free and escaped enslaved people, were admitted without regard to race or gender. Our guide at the building, a National Historic Landmark that has been partially restored to its 1850s-era appearance, will be Jan Vetrhus, a board member of Historic Eleutherian College.
- In Madison, tour the legendary Shrewsbury-Windle Home, a mansion built in the 1840s and designed by early Indiana architect Francis Costigan. The Pioneers will be guests of John Stacier, Executive Director of Historic Madison Inc., which owns the home listed on the National Register of Historic Places. We will be able to see the renovation of the mansion, a project that was beginning when the Pioneers last visited in 2016.
- Enjoy a box lunch from the Red Pepper Deli while sipping a cider, wine, or non-alcoholic drink at The Thomas Family Winery. In the 1850s the building was a livery stable and blacksmith shop, then the bus station before becoming a winery.
- Tour St. Michael the Archangel Church, built in the Gothic Revival style beginning in 1838 under the direction of Father Michael Edgar Shave, the first Catholic priest ordained in Indiana. Now owned by Historic Madison, the church is the state’s second oldest structure built as a Catholic church.
- Visit the historic, privately-owned Stark/Ray Home in downtown Madison. Built in the 1820s by early settlers of the town, the Federal-style home retains many of its original features (including woodwork) and, unlike many houses in downtown Madison, never was divided into apartments. The current owners have collections of antiques, including crystal and silver, dating to the 1850s.
- Enjoy a motor coach tour of Madison, which is one of the largest National Historic Landmark Districts in the country. Jan Vetrhus of Historic Madison will share insights about the architecture, the reuse of many historic buildings, and the town’s role in the Underground Railroad.
- Tour a stellar example of historic renovation: the Fairfield Inn & Suites, a downtown Madison hotel in a former cotton mill that had been abandoned. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places.
- Enjoy a tour of scenic Hanover College, founded in the 1820s near the Ohio River and the state’s oldest private college. Dr. Jim Fadely, a current trustee and alum of Hanover and a past president of the Pioneers, will provide commentary on the tour of the college.
- Enjoy an appetizer reception on the Hanover campus. The reception will be at the J. Graham Brown Campus Center.
The price is $187.00 per person, which includes transportation, lunch, the appetizer reception, admissions, gratuities, and donations to sites and our driver.
Register soon! Registration is limited to 50 travelers and is now open to the general public.
