Jay C. Bixby Collection now online!

Researchers of southern Indiana architectural history will be thrilled that the Jay C. Bixby Architectural Records are now online in the University Libraries' Digital Media Repository. This collection contains architectural and business records from the Vincennes, Indiana, architectural office founded by John B. Bayard and continued by Rudolph W. Schucker and Jay C. Bixby, from 1910-1965. 

Included are architectural working drawings by the firm for 15 projects in southwestern Indiana, and additional projects represented by specifications, photographs, newspaper clippings, contracts, and bills for architectural services. The images, above, show the Vermillion, Indiana, Courthouse from concept drawings to photographs of construction and the completed building.

The collection also contains drawings for two houses in Nevada, Iowa, designed by Bixby early in his career, scrapbook material, and plans by the Hirons & Mellor architectural firm from New York, New York, for the George Rogers Clark Memorial in Vincennes, Indiana.

Images: Vermillion County Courthouse drawing; construction and completed building photographs, 1924-1925. Jay C. Bixby Architectural Records, Drawings + Documents Archive, Ball State University.

George Rogers Clark Memorial, Vincennes

This is a 1930s era photograph depicting leveling the concrete foundation for the George Rogers Clark Memorial in Vincennes, Indiana, located along the Wabash River at the southern end of the state. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt later dedicated the completed memorial June 14, 1936.

If your memory of high school history class is a little rusty, George Rogers Clark defeated the British on a cold February day in 1779. According to the National Parks Service website for the memorial:

The British flag would not be raised above Fort Sackville Feb. 25, 1779. At 10 a.m., the garrison surrendered to American Col. George Rogers Clark. His American army, aided by French residents of the Illinois country, had marched through freezing floodwaters to gain this victory. The fort’s capture assured United States claims to the frontier, an area nearly as large as the original 13 states.

Although it depicts something a bit more mundane than capturing a fort, this photograph has us all enthralled with the small details--the engaged audience for the workmen, the process of leveling the concrete, and even the workman's coat hanging on a wooden post in the center of what will later become a beautiful monument. Go ahead and click on it to see it for yourself.

Uncertain future for Washington Elementary School in Vincennes

Indiana Landmarks reported in the latest issue of Indiana Preservationist magazine that Washington Elementary School in Vincennes, along with nearby Inman Field, is facing an uncertain future. The stately, Collegiate Gothic landmark has been closed due to budget cuts, and joins two other vacant historic schools owned by the Vincennes Community School Corporation. Hopefully Vincennes will be able to identify reuses for these beautiful buildings.

In happier times, the city celebrated the building's 25th birthday in style, according to this news article in our Jay C. Bixby Architectural Records Collection:

The Pantheon Theater, Vincennes, Indiana

The Pantheon Theater building in Vincennes, Indiana, is currently undergoing restoration work. Here's how it looked originally, from photographs in the Archive's Jay C. Bixby Architectural Records Collection.