Category: Historically Speaking

A toast to the prohibition days

A toast to the prohibition days Historically Speaking By DARREL RADFORD For The Courier-Times “It is the prohibition that makes anything precious.” – Mark Twain “I would like to get out there and stir these hell holes up.” – Carrie Nation So went the debate over alcohol, its prohibition and then its reinstatement in the…

Cannon getting a facelift

3/16/2014 5:00:00 PM Cannon getting a facelift Scott Neal, left, works with the World War I cannon at Memorial Park Friday as he and his father, Randy Neal load it onto a waiting flatbed for transport to a local company where it will be restored. The cannon weighs nearly 10 tons and has been displayed…

Our towns and their names

By DARREL RADFORD Historically Speaking Imagine a Michael J. Fox-like time machine picking you up and racing backwards through the years. The itinerary includes some strange names – Uniontown, Wheeland, Woodville, Warnock’s Station and a place called Chicago where not a single skyscraper is in sight. It might surprise you to realize that this time…

Historical Society Museum a place of wonder

Friday, December 27, 2013 Museum houses wonder-inspiring relics HISTORICALLY SPEAKING By DARREL RADFORD For the Courier-Times Friday, December 27, 2013 The year was 1870. Less than 100 years after America won its independence. Just 54 years after Indiana became a state. Only 48 years after a place called New Castle and formation of a county…

Remembering Christmas past

A Christmas tree nearly touches the tall ceiling in the Gen. William Grose home. There are old-fashioned, homemade decorations galore on its branches, but not a single light. Perhaps the glow back then came from the appreciative eyes of family and friends, celebrating together in a simpler time. Sunday, weather permitting, the Henry County Historical…

Mr. Lincoln comes to New Castle

Historically Speaking: A Lincoln log Historical Society presenter chronicles Abe’s early life, recites Gettysburg address By Darrel Radford For the Courier-Times Those attending Sunday’s Henry County Historical Society program on Abraham Lincoln rode an inspiring, yet uncomfortable time machine. Wilbur Tague, the Brownsburg photographer who looks remarkably similar to the 16th president, donned his top…