A STROLL THROUGH TIME: With help of app, a walking tour celebrates history of downtown sites

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Tom Strickland of Greenfield Historical Landmarks stands in front of Carnegie’s restaurant, which used to be Greenfield’s library. The building is on the new walking tour of 10 significant downtown sites. (Tom Russo | Daily Reporter) Tom Russo | Daily Reporter

GREENFIELD — Local history buff Gwen Betor had long dreamed of creating a walking tour that would teach passersby all about the historic buildings in downtown Greenfield.

This summer, she finally got her wish.

A self-guided walking tour is now available through a digital app that guides users through the historic downtown, sharing information about 10 sites, detailing each of their own unique stories.

The tour was designed by members of Greenfield Historic Landmarks, in partnership with Greenfield Main Street, two nonprofits each tasked with celebrating the city’s heritage in the historic downtown district.

“We’ve been working on it for months, and are so happy it’s finally up and running,” said Tom Strickland, a longtime member of both boards.

The walking tour was made possible through a Historic Preservation Education Grant from Indiana Landmarks, Indiana Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Greenfield Historic Landmarks members selected the buildings they thought should be featured in the tour, and members were each given two or three to research.

“For each building, we researched the architect, the building style, the date it was built, and whether it had any issues or peculiarities that might be of interest,” said Strickland, who narrated the introduction to the audio tour.

Each Landmarks member narrated the stories of the building they personally researched.

Debra Smith, director at Greenfield Main Street, downloaded the stories into the digital app called Distrx.

The app features photos of each historic building along with the narrated history of each one.

Strickland said the app works through beacons that are attached to each building, which tell the app which building to show based on the user’s location.

“We are excited for people to take the tour and learn about Greenfield’s historic downtown,” said Cathleen Huffman, president of Greenfield Historic Landmarks.

“The buildings have tales from over a century ago. They are part of Hancock County’s story. We hope people learn to love these buildings and, as a result of this connection, they support our historic downtown,” she said.

That means not only supporting the historic commercial district, but supporting the ongoing upkeep and preservation of the local historic buildings, Huffman said.

“We encourage education and preservation of our architectural heritage of Hancock County. We want to promote keeping the buildings in excellent condition, thus preserving them for future generations,” she said.

Greenfield Historic Landmarks promotes the preservation of buildings in more ways than one.

The nonprofit hosted a historic home tour in 2018 and has given out historic preservation awards to local home and commercial property owners over the years.

In the future, they plan to add historical markers to the buildings featured in the audio tour.

“We decided to hold off on that because we want the markers to compliment the signage that will be used on the future Riley Literary Trail,” which will wind through the downtown, Strickland said.

The Riley Literary Trail is planned as a loop that begins at the Pennsy Trail and connects the Riley Boyhood Home and Museum; retail and commercial businesses; neighborhoods; and governmental services in downtown Greenfield. It would be a multi-use path intended for pedestrians and bicyclists and would highlight Greenfield’s cultural heritage, particularly the writing of James Whitcomb Riley.

Strickland can envision history buffs from other parts of the state, and even beyond, visiting Greenfield to learn more about the downtown area’s architectural history.

“This is just the beginning,” he said. “We can have other buildings that we can add to the tour in the future.”

While the app offers an audio tour, printed maps are also available outside the Greenfield Main Street office on the first floor of the former Masonic Building at 2 W. Main St., which is one of the buildings featured on the tour.

Betor hopes the app will tempt local history buffs to get out and walk around downtown and see all the featured buildings in person.

“If you’ve ever driven down the street and wondered about this building or that, now through technology you can find out about the history and stories of these places. It’s really exciting,” she said.

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A historic walking tour of downtown Greenfield is now available, thanks to a partnership between Greenfield Historic Landmarks and Greenfield Main Street.

The free tour shares historic facts and details about 10 historic buildings in the downtown area.

For more information about local historic structures, visit GreenfieldHistoricLandmarks.org.

To take the tour, visit GreenfieldMainStreet.org/walkingtour.

Featured buildings:

A.J. Banks building, 15 W. Main St.

Bradley Hall Ballroom & Events Venue (formerly known as the Masonic Building), 2 W. Main St.

Bradley United Methodist Church, 210 W. Main St.

Carnegie Library, 100 W. North St.

City Building, 19 W. North St.

Greenfield Christian Church, 23 N. East St.

Hancock County Courthouse, 9 E. Main St.

Hancock County Prosecutor’s Office, 27 American Legion Place

Randall Building, 13 N. State St.

Riley Boyhood Home & Museum, 250 W. Main St.

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