Ball State University will use historical preservation funds to survey the Limberlost Swamp Conservation Area this coming year. Photo from Indiana State Museum and Historical Sites.

Marissa Meador
Indiana Capital Chronicle

Indiana will begin work on a dozen archaeology and historic preservation projects across the state this summer after receiving a grant from the National Park Service’s Historic Preservation Fund Program.

The projects will span 14 counties, including archaeological surveys at the Harrison-Crawford State Forest, the Limberlost Swamp Conservation Area and Trine State Recreation Area.

The first two archaeology projects will be led by Ball State University, which hopes to document fifteen new sites at the state forest and understand the use of wetlands by indigenous populations in the conservation area. The project at Trine State Recreation Area will be led by Purdue University, which hopes to document 12 sites at a state park that has not been previously studied. Both universities are funding the projects with the help of federal grants.

The remaining nine projects involve rehabilitation and preservation, which will be achieved through grants given to local governments, churches and businesses.

For example, the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana will conduct the rehabilitation of the Peru High School building — currently the tribe’s headquarters — by repairing masonry.  Other projects involve the Carnegie Library in Muncie, the bell tower in the Old Vanderburgh County Courthouse and the Thomas Marshall House, commemorating a former Indiana governor and American vice president, in Columbia City.

The work is expected to be completed by June 30, 2025, according to a press release from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, which is administering the grants through the Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology.

The public can provide input on the projects by contacting the grants manager, Malia Vanaman, at [email protected] by June 30.

See full article here.