By DARREL RADFORD HISTORICALLY SPEAKING | 0 comments Famous band leaders Jimmy Dorsey and Sammy Kaye played there. Chrysler workers who came here from Kentucky once lived there. The “Rushville Rocket” Tony Stewart honed his skills there. Mt. Lawn has revved up Henry County in more ways than one since Doc Sweigart built the unique, pear-shaped…
By DARREL RADFORD For the Courier-Times This week, America observed two major historical dates. Tuesday was the 150th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address. Friday marked the 50th year since President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. As local history enthusiasts are probably aware, there are several interesting, even odd similarities that forever link Lincoln and…
By DARREL RADFORD Historically Speaking 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 named after a man who famously said “Give me liberty or give me death.” That…
By Darrel Radford For The Courier-Times A brother’s sweet jump shot from the top of the key. A ringside seat for a sectional upset. Big time shots, overtime thrillers and individual heroics. As a basketball fan and a journalist, I have been blessed to see a lot of great games in Henry County. When I…
“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” For 18-year-old Martin Bundy, the time-honored postal creed was not yet in existence. Yet, New Castle’s first mail carrier certainly fit the mold. The man who later became judge, a member of the Indiana…
By DARREL RADFORD Historically Speaking The year was 1871. The Henry County Courthouse was two years old. President Ulysses S. Grant and his family stopped in New Castle on their way to Chicago. And in the community down the old National Road, a boy named Herbert Heller was born. These are the roots of “Rose…
Sectionals bring back memories of John Jordan Historically Speaking John Jordan (Photo provided) By Darrel Radford Contributing Writer “Be a good sport, so we’ll have good sports.” – John Jordan The 1981 New Castle boys sectional basketball tournament will always stand out in this writer’s mind, not because of what happened or who was there.…
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…
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…
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…
