Making the Rounds
Indiana Bicentennial Train to remain at fairgrounds until 2019
Visitors explored the train during the state fair
INDIANAPOLIS (December 2015) – The Indiana Bicentennial Train brings a special traveling exhibit to the public to commemorate the state’s Bicentennial. Currently, it is at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, where it will remain throughout 2016, reaching the statewide audience of Hoosiers who attend the Indiana State Fair each year. Through a five-year agreement, the train will remain at the fairgrounds until 2019.
A span of 200 feet of track was laid by ISFC at its new home. It resides on the northeast side of the fairgrounds, in the Family Fun Park.
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Photo provided Indiana State Fair visitors line up to visit the displays inside the Indiana Bicentennial Train at the recent Indiana State Fair in Indianapolis. |
The Bicentennial Train uses three air-conditioned boxcars as galleries to display “The Next Indiana” – a look at the state’s past, present and future through the lenses of four themes (transportation, land use, talent and community). Several hundred visuals from IHS’s rich archival collections show historical and contemporary images that will inspire visitors to ponder the state’s future.
Several hundred visuals from the IHS’s rich archival collections show historical and contemporary images that will inspire visitors to ponder the state’s future, which depends on an understanding of how our past has shaped the present, and is connected to the choices we are making today.
Since 2013, the Bicentennial Train has visited eight communities around the state – Kokomo, New Haven, Valparaiso and Delphi in 2013, followed by Columbus, Jasper, Terre Haute and Bargersville in 2014.
“The Indiana State Fair has been a part of Hoosier lives since 1852 and like the Bicentennial Train we have been a vessel to showcase our industry’s evolution,” said Cindy Hoye, Executive Director of the Indiana State Fair. “We are happy to have such a historically rich partnership with the Historical Society and know this addition to the Fairgrounds will only enhance our visitor’s experience.”
The Indiana Bicentennial Train is presented by the Indiana Historical Society, in partnership with the Indiana State Fair Commission, Indiana Humanities and the Indiana Bicentennial Commission. It is funded generously by the Indiana Rail Road Co., Norfolk Southern Corp. and Kroger.
Since 1830, the Indiana Historical Society has been Indiana’s Storyteller, connecting people to the past by collecting, preserving, interpreting and sharing the state’s history. A private, nonprofit membership organization, IHS maintains the nation’s premier research library and archives on the history of Indiana and the Old Northwest and presents a unique set of visitor exhibitions called the “Indiana Experience.”