The Meeting House: A Virtual Tour

The Franklin Township Historical Society's meeting house is located at 6510 S. Franklin Road. The structure is the former Big Run Baptist Church, built in 1871. When the congregation of the church was dissolved in 1977, the members deeded the building to the Historical Society with the stipulation that the building be preserved in its current state and the contents of the building (including the original wooden pews) remain in place.

The building has two doors, because in the era in which it was built it was not uncommon for churches to have separate entrances for men and women, who also sat on different sides of the church during the service. (The south door has been retrofitted with a ramp, making the building handicapped-accessible.) The bricks used to construct the church were made on-site, and some of the leftover bricks were likely used in the construction of local houses. Most of the building's windows still have original 19th-century rolled glass panes, identifiable by the wavy distortion of objects viewed through the glass. The building was built before indoor plumbing, and there is an elaborate double outhouse in the back of the churchyard.

On October 19, 2005, the Indiana Historic Preservation Review Board named the property worthy of preservation. As a result of the designation from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and the Division of Historic Preservation & Archaeology officials, the former Big Run Baptist Church is now listed in the Indiana Register of Historic Sites and Structures. The building has also been placed in the National Register of Historic Places. A plaque commemorating the national designation is displayed on the front of the building.

The meeting house doubles as the Historial Society's museum, and is stocked with thousands of items of local and historic significance. The FTHS maintains a large archive of school yearbooks, newspapers, memorabilia, documents, photographs and other records, as well as a detailed record of the area's historic cemeteries, many of which date back to pioneer days.

In addition to paper records, the meeting house contains dozens of artifacts from previous centuries, including clothing and shoes, books, sewing tools, farm implements, and many other items used in everyday life. One of the most popular stations for visitors to the meeting house is the "What Is It?" table -- a display of many strange-looking items from decades or centuries past, once used commonly, but now nearly forgotten in the wake of modern technology. (When was the last time YOU found yourself using a kitchen fish-scaler or a button hook?)

The meeting house also contains a recreation of a one-room schoolhouse, comprised of period antiques: books and ink-bottles, writing desks, a slate chalkboard salvaged from one of the township schools, a stove and coal-bucket, a globe, and even a teacher's bell that would have rung every day to call the students to class.

The meeting house also features a recreation of a vintage Hoosier kitchen. The display includes an example of the Hoosier cabinet, a unique piece of upright kitchen furniture which made it possible for the housewife to do her mixing and baking in one location. Also included in the exhibit are antique graniteware, Depression-era dishes (some of which had belonged to the Big Run Baptist Church), vintage cookbooks and feed sack towels. A replica stove, made by board member Dave Ostheimer, holds antique metalware.

Some of the artifacts housed in the meeting house have received statewide and even national attention, such as a famous black dress that has been featured on the television programs Sightings, Unsolved Mysteries and Beyond Chance. Curious? The story goes like this...

On a dark and stormy night, a motorcyclist on I-74 near the Acton, Indiana exit was struck by lightning. Paramedics who rushed to the aid of the unconscious man were helpless, and could not find a pulse. Suddenly, out of the darkness stepped a woman. She was wearing a long black dress and carried a book, perhaps a Bible. "Let me help him," she said as she knelt beside him. She laid the book on his chest and spoke in strange words. A moment later, a paramedic said, "I've picked up his pulse!" The woman rose and disappeared into the darkness.

An old-fashioned long black dress at the meeting house, not far from the scene of the accident, is believed by some to be the dress worn by the mysterious woman.

The Meeting House is open to visitors on the first Saturday and third Sunday of each month from March through October, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Weekday visitation arrangements may also be made for school field trips or other group activities.