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THE NEW HISTORIC COLUMBUS INDIANA WEBSITE IS UP AND RUNNING. CLICK HERE TO GO THERE! Growing Up In Columbus Indiana In The 1950's And 1960'sMission: To offer broad public access to the history of Columbus Indiana through an online library as an educational resource, available and useful to the residents of Columbus Indiana, and the American people. The Historic Columbus Indiana website is NOT affiliated or associated with the Bartholomew County Historical Society. Historic Columbus Indiana is designed and created by David Sechrest. Historic Columbus Indiana is located inside the Cummins Bookstore building, 406 Washington Street, Columbus, IN 47201. (812) 376-8734 |
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THE NEW HISTORIC COLUMBUS INDIANA WEBSITE IS UP AND RUNNING. CLICK HERE TO GO THERE! This site is slowly being moved to Historic Columbus Indiana. All new items are being added there. If what you're looking for was once here, and is no longer, chances are it's been moved over to the new site mentioned above. There will not be anything new added to this site. Dave Sechrest, October 27th, 2003 "We used to decorate our bikes on summer afternoons. Weave red and blue paper mache through those skinny silver spokes and wrap colored balloons around the sides of the frame and ride up and down Center Street until all the balloons popped and the paper mache no longer had anything to cling to..." There's a Twilight Zone episode that remains my favorite after all these years. Originally aired on October 30, 1959, Walking Distance stars Gig Young as Martin Sloan, vice president in charge of ad media, who has had enough of the pressures of his modern day life, and seeks an escape from it all. He winds up on the outskirts of Homewood, his home town of twenty-five years ago ("I just had to get out of New York City. No more board meetings, phone calls, reports, problems."), leaving his sports car at a service station for a lube job and oil change, and walks the 1 1/2 miles into Homewood. Upon entering the town, he notices nothing has changed ("It's as if I left yesterday, it's as if I'd been away overnight."), and, upon further examination of Homewood, he realizes he has gone back into time... At some point in our lives, possibly in times of much worry and stress, maybe we all attempt to defy the barriers of age and time, and go home again. Back to a simpler time when the problems that burdened our shoulders then seem so simple to solve now. To just step backward for a taste of our youth...the friends we played with...the places we hung out...family and neighbors we gathered with on warm July evenings waiting impatiently for fireworks to fill the night sky...fall parades we bundled up for and stood on Washington Street while bass drums filled our insides... These nostalgic thoughts fill my head tonight. My past clings to my present state in the same way that distinctive smell in Cummins Bookstore still clings to the insides of that old and dear friend, after all these years, making it just that much more difficult to believe that I'll turn 50 this year. I sit quietly, lost in the reflection of Columbus on the other side of this window as my past consumes me...the Columbus Drive In a little over to the right from where I sit gazing...almost directly in front of me a Pay Lake where you can fish all day long, and, if nothing else, catch a great sunburn. And following 31A on in to town, well...that's where this story really starts... Welcome...to Columbus...
There's a pool hall across the street
from Zaharako's and a game of 8 ball has just begun. A lady walks in to
Standard Grocery on Washington Street and another walks out,
folding S&H green stamps in half, and sticks them in her purse. A
young boy with summer blond hair is outside, throwing a superball against the side of the building.
A man in a passing Buick honks at another motorist on his way to Saps Bakery to pick up a
dozen yeast donuts for tomorrow's breakfast and maybe just a couple for an afternoon snack
and gets stopped by a passing freight train around 14th and Washington.
The guy in the Buick glances over at the headlines from the Evening
Republican which he just picked up at Cummins Bookstore. A Coke truck
sits waiting for the train to pass. The driver inside has a parrot on
his shoulder and feeds it crumbs of crackers from a paper bag and I stand in the middle
of all that's happening, just watching... |
You Are The
Visitor To My Web Site *counter
designed and created by David Sechrest Although this web
site is a labor of love, it requires a great deal of time and resources.
Countless hours have been spent locating and researching information for
this site, more hours spent cleaning up scanned newspaper artwork, and
getting all the info ready for the web. If you enjoy what you see here,
and would like to contribute to my cause, please email me. Any photos,
especially of downtown Columbus from the 1950's/1960's would be very
much appreciated as well. To send pictures, stories, or feedback,
please contact me at: dave@historiccolumbusindiana.org
It would be very difficult to have a site about the Columbus I grew up
in without including items such as television shows we watched, and what
we listened to on the radio. If you were like me, the TV or radio
(especially the radio) was on all the time. Right now, plans are to include radio
air checks from WCSI, WIFE, and WAKY. They were some of the more popular radio stations
Columbus residents could pick up on the AM band. One entire section will be devoted to Columbus advertising
during that time, and should make a great clip art section, as well as
local ads devoted to the Christmas season. Those of you who are interested in geneology should enjoy my site's offerings strictly through the yearbooks available for you to research. Plans right now include a listing of all Columbus High School (CHS) graduates from 1970 and before. The geneological information contained should be helpful to you. I have many
plans...stay in touch, and please...be sure to write
and let me know what you think. A word of thanks to: All images,
counters, and text on this site and all accompanying links are
copyrighted ©2001 by David Sechrest, unless
otherwise noted, and may not be used without written permission. |
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Historic Columbus Indiana is located in Bartholomew County. Downtown Columbus Indiana was a highlight of architecture even in the 1950's and 1960's and appeared in many national magazines. Old Columbus High School (CHS) was the only high school located in Columbus Indiana during this time. Downtown Columbus Indiana was the only place to shop during the 1950's and 1960's. In the 1960's, strip malls began to appear. Eastbrook Plaza was the first I believe. No doubt Columbus Center followed soon after this. Historic downtown Columbus Indiana has many places to shop and eat. If you are visiting historic downtown Columbus Indiana for the first time, be sure to check out my web tour. It may give you some insight on what you may want to see when you visit historic downtown Columbus Indiana....Growing up in Columbus Indiana in the 1950's and 1960's is written, produced, assembled, categorized, and designed by me. All words were written by me. All music listened to while designing these pages and writing these words were listened to by me. All coffee consumed while working was consumed by me.
This is a recording...
Historic Columbus Indiana is located in Bartholomew County. Downtown Columbus Indiana was a highlight of architecture even in the 1950's and 1960's and appeared in many national magazines. Old Columbus High School (CHS) was the only high school located in Columbus Indiana during this time. Downtown Columbus Indiana was the only place to shop during the 1950's and 1960's. In the 1960's, strip malls began to appear. Eastbrook Plaza was the first I believe. No doubt Columbus Center followed soon after this. Historic downtown Columbus Indiana has many places to shop and eat. If you are visiting historic downtown Columbus Indiana for the first time, be sure to check out my web tour. It may give you some insight on what you may want to see when you visit historic downtown Columbus Indiana....Growing up in Columbus Indiana in the 1950's and 1960's is written, produced, assembled, categorized, and designed by me. All words were written by me. All music listened to while designing these pages and writing these words were listened to by me. All coffee consumed while working was consumed by me.
This is a recording...
Historic Columbus Indiana is located in Bartholomew County. Downtown Columbus Indiana was a highlight of architecture even in the 1950's and 1960's and appeared in many national magazines. Old Columbus High School (CHS) was the only high school located in Columbus Indiana during this time. Downtown Columbus Indiana was the only place to shop during the 1950's and 1960's. In the 1960's, strip malls began to appear. Eastbrook Plaza was the first I believe. No doubt Columbus Center followed soon after this. Historic downtown Columbus Indiana has many places to shop and eat. If you are visiting historic downtown Columbus Indiana for the first time, be sure to check out my web tour. It may give you some insight on what you may want to see when you visit historic downtown Columbus Indiana....Growing up in Columbus Indiana in the 1950's and 1960's is written, produced, assembled, categorized, and designed by me. All words were written by me. All music listened to while designing these pages and writing these words were listened to by me. All coffee consumed while working was consumed by me.
This is a recording...
Historic Columbus Indiana is located in Bartholomew County. Downtown Columbus Indiana was a highlight of architecture even in the 1950's and 1960's and appeared in many national magazines. Old Columbus High School (CHS) was the only high school located in Columbus Indiana during this time. Downtown Columbus Indiana was the only place to shop during the 1950's and 1960's. In the 1960's, strip malls began to appear. Eastbrook Plaza was the first I believe. No doubt Columbus Center followed soon after this. Historic downtown Columbus Indiana has many places to shop and eat. If you are visiting historic downtown Columbus Indiana for the first time, be sure to check out my web tour. It may give you some insight on what you may want to see when you visit historic downtown Columbus Indiana....Growing up in Columbus Indiana in the 1950's and 1960's is written, produced, assembled, categorized, and designed by me. All words were written by me. All music listened to while designing these pages and writing these words were listened to by me. All coffee consumed while working was consumed by me.
This is a recording...
Historic Columbus Indiana is located in Bartholomew County. Downtown Columbus Indiana was a highlight of architecture even in the 1950's and 1960's and appeared in many national magazines. Old Columbus High School (CHS) was the only high school located in Columbus Indiana during this time. Downtown Columbus Indiana was the only place to shop during the 1950's and 1960's. In the 1960's, strip malls began to appear. Eastbrook Plaza was the first I believe. No doubt Columbus Center followed soon after this. Historic downtown Columbus Indiana has many places to shop and eat. If you are visiting historic downtown Columbus Indiana for the first time, be sure to check out my web tour. It may give you some insight on what you may want to see when you visit historic downtown Columbus Indiana....Growing up in Columbus Indiana in the 1950's and 1960's is written, produced, assembled, categorized, and designed by me. All words were written by me. All music listened to while designing these pages and writing these words were listened to by me. All coffee consumed while working was consumed by me.
