Indiana Landmarks is a private non-governmental heritage preservation organization focused on the U.S. state of Indiana. It is America's largest private statewide historic preservation organization. Founded in 1960 as Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana by a volunteer group of civic and business leaders led by Indianapolis pharmaceutical executive Eli Lilly, it has nearly 6,000 members.The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis By David J. Bodenhamer, Robert Graham Barrows, David Gordon Vanderstel, pg 685 At the end of 2023, an independent auditor reported a total endowment of 67.8 million for the organization.Independent Auditor’s Report and Consolidated Financial Statements. Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, Inc. d/b/a Indiana Landmarks, August 31, 2023, and 2022. p. 26. The organization simplified its name to Indiana Landmarks in 2010.
Indiana Landmarks owns and restores historic buildings, buys and sells vacant and endangered property, and helps people throughout Indiana save and restore historic places through a variety of programs including grants, loans, and advocacy. Indiana Landmarks employs staff at its state headquarters in Indianapolis and in regional offices throughout the state of Indiana. Regional offices are located in South Bend, Gary, New Albany, Aurora, Evansville, Richmond, Wabash, and Terre Haute. The organization's state headquarters are located at the former Central Avenue United Methodist Church in Indianapolis, now known as Indiana Landmarks Center. In addition to Indiana Landmarks Center, Indiana Landmarks owns and operates two historic properties as event and rental venues: the Morris-Butler House in Indianapolis and Veraestau historic site in Aurora, Indiana. Landmarks' honorary board chair is Indiana's former Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard. The organization's first project was restoration of the 1865 Morris-Butler House in Indianapolis. Eli Lilly personally underwrote the acquisition and restoration of the house as a museum of Victorian decorative arts. Though the Morris-Butler House no longer operates as a museum, it is part of the Indiana Landmarks Center campus and functions as an event and rental facility.
One of Indiana Landmarks' largest projects was the $30 million+ restoration of the West Baden Springs Hotel's exterior and public spaces. Indiana Landmarks helped lead the effort to bring riverboat gaming to Orange County, Indiana, as a way to revitalize the French Lick Resort Casino and the West Baden Springs Hotel.
New name and headquarters
In April 2010, in conjunction with the organization's 50th anniversary, Indiana Landmarks announced its name change from Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana. At the same time, it announced that medical device entrepreneur Bill Cook and his wife, Gayle had pledged $17 million to renovate the former Central Avenue United Methodist Church at 12th Street and Central Avenue in the Old Northside Historic District of Indianapolis as a performance space and new headquarters for the organization, to be known as Indiana Landmarks Center.
Endangered landmarks Each May (National Historic Preservation Month), Indiana Landmarks announces a list of the state's 10 Most Endangered landmarks. Circumstances that cause properties to be named to the list generally involve one or more of the following factors: demolition threat, abandonment, neglectful owner, dilapidation, obsolete use, lack of money for repairs, unreasonable above-market sale price, out-of-the-way location, or encroaching sprawl. Indiana Landmarks uses the 10 Most Endangered list to bring public attention to the imperiled sites and mobilize support for their preservation. +10 Most EndangeredYearNameLocationPhoto2015 Bedford Elks BuildingBedfordCamp ChesterfieldChesterfieldFirst Presbyterian Church & Lafayette BuildingSouth BendIndiana County HomesStatewideIndiana Medical History MuseumIndianapolisIOOF United Brethren BlockHuntington, INMcCurdy HotelEvansvilleMcDonald HouseAtticaMills HouseGreenwoodRivoli TheaterIndianapolis2016 Beech ChurchCarthageRivoli TheaterIndianapolisHazelwoodMuncieSpeakman HouseRising SunWashington County CourthouseSalemMonon High BridgeDelphiPryor’s Country PlaceFox Lake (near Angola)Ford Motor Company Assembly BranchIndianapolisSouth Side Turnverein HallIndianapolisCamp ChesterfieldChesterfield2017 Marion National Bank BuildingMarionNewkirk MansionConnersvilleFormer Fire Station 18IndianapolisOld Marquette SchoolSouth BendOld YMCATerre HautePryor's Country PlaceFox Lake (near Angola)Round and polygonal barnsStatewideSimpson Hall, Indiana School for the DeafIndianapolisSpeakman HouseRising SunWashington County CourthouseSalem2018 Cannelton Historic DistrictCanneltonCommandant’s Row at Indiana Veterans’ HomeWest LafayetteThe Courtyard InnRising SunCravenhurst BarnMadisonMuncie FieldhouseMuncieNational Bank BuildingMarionNorth Christian ChurchColumbusOld Masonic HallKnightstownRocky EdgeTerre HauteSaint Joseph’s College campusRensselaer2019 Crump TheatreColumbusPulaski County CourthouseWinamacChurch of the Holy CrossIndianapolisMineral Spring HotelPaoliDowntown AtticaAtticaPeru Circus Winter QuartersPeruReid Memorial Presbyterian ChurchRichmondJohn Howe MansionHoweCommandant's RowWest LafayetteCannelton Historic DistrictPerry County2020 Tipton County Jail and Sheriff's ResidenceTiptonRomweber HouseBatesvilleUnion Literary InstituteUnion CityChurch of the Holy CrossIndianapolisDowntown AtticaAtticaElwood Carnegie LibraryMadison CountyReid Memorial Presbyterian ChurchRichmondFalley-O'Gara-Pyke HouseLafayetteTheodore Roosevelt High SchoolGaryMonon StationBedford2021 James M. Shields Memorial GymnasiumSeymourDavis ClinicMarionB.G. Pollard Lodge#1242BloomingtonOxford Community MausoleumBenton CountyKamm & Schellinger BreweryMishawakaMonon DepotBedfordTheodore Roosevelt High SchoolGaryCourthouse AnnexNew CastleTipton County Jail & Sheriff’s ResidenceTiptonFalley-O'Gara-Pyke HouseLafayette2022 Cades Mill Covered BridgeFountain CountyHulman Building & GarageEvansvilleStinesville Commercial BuildingsMonroe County First Friends ChurchMarionKnox County Poor AsylumVincennesBirdsell MansionSouth BendGeter Means HouseGaryKamm & Schellinger BreweryMishawakaJames M. Shields Memorial GymnasiumSeymourCourthouse Annex New Castle2023 Starr Historic DistrictRichmondBirdsell MansionSouth Bend Knox County Poor AsylumVincennes Historic Fraternal LodgesVernon and BedfordThomas & Louisa Little HousePlainfield Hulman Building & GarageEvansville State TheaterAndersonFirst Friends ChurchMarionStinesville Commercial BuildingsMonroe County International Harvester Engineering BuildingFort Wayne
Annual awards Indiana Landmarks issues several annual awards, including:
Cook Cup for Outstanding Restoration Sandi Servaas Memorial Award Williamson Prize
Together with the Indiana Farm Bureau, Indiana Landmarks co-sponsors the John Arnold Rural Preservation Award.
References
External links
National Trust for Historic Preservation