Road Trip Indiana - Ripley County
Covered Bridges, Great Museums and a State Park
Otter Creek Covered Bridge
Otter Creek Bridge, near Holton, was built in 1884. The bridge is listed on the Ripley County Map. This Holton Covered Bridge, also known as the Otter Creek Covered Bridge, crosses Otter Creek in Ripley County. This single span Howe Truss structure has a length of 112 feet, or 120 feet including the 4-foot overhang at each end, with a portal clearance 15 feet 6 inches wide by 12 feet 6 inches high. Built in 1884 by Thomas A. Hardman, the road bypassed this structure in 1996. Holton Covered Bridge is listed in the 1989 "World Guide to Covered Bridges," published by The National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges, Inc., as #14-69-02 ... In the February 1941 "Indiana History Bulletin" Robert B. Yule and Richard C. Smith assigned the designation "ep" to this Covered Timber Bridge located in Section 4, Township 7 North, and Range 10 East, 1-1/2 miles northwest of Holton. Contact the Ripley County Tourism Bureau for more information 812-689-7431.
Milan Miracle and Museum
Location:
201 W. Carr St., Milan (Ripley County), Indiana 47031
Installed
2022 Indiana Historical Bureau and Milan '54 Hoosiers Museum
ID#:
69.2022.1
Text
Side One
Hoosier Hysteria reached its pinnacle in 1954, when the Milan High School boys basketball team defeated then four-time state champion Muncie Central, a school ten times its size, for the state title. Building off a successful season the previous year, Milan used a stall offense, winning 32-30 when Bobby Plump sank a shot with seconds to go to clinch the championship.
Side Two
An estimated 40,000 people flocked to the small town of Milan after the title game to celebrate the Cinderella team. Milan’s story inspired the 1986 movie Hoosiers, filmed throughout Indiana. After years of debate, in 1998, the IHSAA divided the single-class tournament into four classes based on enrollment, ending the chance of another underdog story of this magnitude.
Brief History by the Author
March 20, 1954 - Milan Miracle - Wins State Basketball Championship
Capping of a series of strong basketball teams over a number of years, tiny Milan, Indiana defeated basketball giant Muncie Central in a true Hoosier Barn Burner with a last second, top of the key shot. Milan had defeated Muncie Central 32 - 30.
Strong Teams
Sports writers have written reams about the Milan Miracle of 1954 and the on court heroics have inspired a major Hollywood movie starring Gene Hackman. The Milan Miracle, was not the anomoly suggested in the movie. Milan had a history of strong basketball teams and a tradition of beating teams from bigger schools. They had to, they were one of the smallest teams in the Ripley County Sectional and the second strongest team in the Ripley County Sectional in the early 1950's. Neighboring Batesville had advanced to the final game of the Semi-State in 1951 and Milan had gotten to the State Championship in 1953, losing in the semi-final contest. The 1954 team contained all the 1953 players, plus the previous year's experience in the state championships. Muncie Central was a basketball powerhouse, having won four state championships, the last one in 1952. Thus, when Bobby Plump lined up and took that shot from the top of the key, the swish of the net can still be heard decades later.
Milan ’54 Hoosiers Basketball Museum
Description: Wed-Sat 10am-4pm, Sun noon-4pm, Mon-Tues by appointment only
The story known around the world, the famous small-town basketball team from Milan won the State Championship in 1954, inspiring the movie "Hoosiers"
Milan ’54 Hoosiers Basketball Museum
201 W. Carr St.
Milan IN 47031
Phone: (812) 654-2772
The Busching Covered Bridge
Built in 1885, the Busching Covered Bridge is located just off US 50 on the entrance road to Versailles State Park. The Busching Covered Bridge crosses Laughery Creek just below the dam for Versailles Lake within the park. The Busching Covered Bridge is within the boundaries of Versailles State Park, but is the property of Ripley County. It is active and open to both automobile and pedestrian.
Versailles State Park
Versailles State Park, located east of Versailles Indiana on US Route 50 is Indiana’s second largest state park. It includes 5905 acres, the 230-acre Versailles Lake, a public swimming pool and one of the finest campgrounds in the Indiana State Park system. The northern area of the park features an extensive Mountain Bike trail system. Horse trails occupy the southern reaches. Wonderful hiking trails, fishing and boating are in between. Events at the park include the Bluegrass Festival the first weekend in October, a magnificent 4th of July fireworks show and a Halloween even in late October.
Osgood Historical Museum
Founded on August 19, 2004 via a grant from the Gilmore and Golda Reynold's Foundation, the Osgood Historical Museum offers visitors a window into the fascinating history Osgood, Indiana.
This delightful small museum has achieved the goal of its mission:
"To foster a deeper appreciation of the town of Osgood. To encourage the collection and preservation of Osgood's History."
Gilmore and Golda Reynolds' Foundation
Gilmore Reynolds (1899 -1990)
Farm boy and high school dropout, Gilmore migrated to Cincinnati Ohio to work in a car dealership. He returned to Osgood to become a business partner in an Osgood car dealership.
Golda Reynolds (1900 - 1998)
After completing high school, Gilda attended college at nearby Hanover College, earning a teaching degree. She got a job teaching at Osgood elementary. Young Gilmore noted her as she walked past his car dealership and began courting her in 1922.
Marriage and Fortune
The two eloped in 1928 and began a sixty-two year marriage, moving into the home that Gilmore's father had built on Buckeye Street (US 421). Gilmore and Golda began a productive business partnership in which they started several small businesses over the years. In 1946, they formed the Reynolds Gas Company. Golda worked as bookkeeper, Gilmore managed the business. They also studied the stock market and invested their money wisely. Together, the couple amassed a fortune that reached 23 million dollars upon their deaths. When Golda died in 1998, she bequeathed their entire fortune to the town of Osgood, via the Gilmore and Golda Reynolds’s Foundation. The Foundation has allowed Osgood to embark on a program of renovation that has remade the tiny town.
Osgood Historical Museum
The museum includes hundreds of items from Osgood's past. Included in the well-presented museum are Osgood's 1886 fire engine, a 1911 Maxwell car, and the King Steam Car. Osgood resident Henry P. King designed and built this car. Mr. King owned the Osgood Machine and Foundry Shop and made most of the metal parts. He had the Huber Buggy Company in Cincinnati build the body and ship it to Osgood. Mr. King had the car running by 1898 and registered it with the State of Indiana in 1904. The car survived several owners and a brush with a salvage company. Paul Sholle purchased the car and restored it in 1984. The museum also contains many other interesting artifacts, documents and photographs depicting the town's history.
128 South Buckeye Street
Osgood, IN 47037-1302
(812) 689-1876
Damm Theatre
The first movie theater in Osgood, the Columbia, opened prior to 1914 in the location of the current building the Damm theater occupies. Louis Damm migrated into Osgood in 1902 to open a bakery. Damm opened a competing theater in October 1914 next to his bakery across the street from the Columbia. The first movie in this new theater was the silent flick, Big Jim of the Sierras. The owners of the Columbia, Richard Beer and Gottlieb Herman, sold the Columbia to Damm in 1922. He moved his theater to the Columbia and opened it as the Damm Theater on February 22, 1922. In addtion to showing first run movies, the building had a dance hall on the second floor. It also functioned as a community theatre with live performances vaudevillian skits and short reels. The Damm, with a seating capacity of 400, was the largest auditorium in Ripley County and held about thirty percent of Osgood's population. Damm expanded movie nights from the one night per week previously to five nights, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. The theater's capacity and flexibility allowed it to compete with theaters in larger towns.
During the silent film days, a piano-console Wurlitzer player organ was installed. In the depression, the organ was reposessed by the area Wurlitzer agent J. W.Whitlock of Rising Sun, Indiana. The Damm Theatre dance hall also contained a Wurlitzer orchestrion for dance music.
The theater was run by the Damm family until 1989 when Viola Damm passed on. Other than the removal of the organ, in 1989, the Damm Theatre was magnificently intact right down to the crushed red velvet and electrified gas lamps on the walls. Viola Damm was a delightful lady who made the best popcorn east of the Mississippi! She was highly apologetic about filling the piano pit with concrete:
In June 2008, the fourth stage of renovation was completed with the lighting of the marquee.
The Damm officially reopened on December 29, 2008 and is now open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday screening recent films. The theater is equipped for the hearing impaired.
Louis Damm
Louis immigrated to the United States in 1868 at age fifteen. He lived with relatives in Cincinatti, working in a bakery at $1.00 per day. By 1903 he had saved enough money to move to Osgood, Indiana, where he opened his own bakery. He opened his modern movie theater in 1914 next door to his bakery across the street from the Columbia.
117 N. Buckeye Street
Osgood, IN 47037
812.689.DAMM
Ertel Cellars Winery
Ertel Cellars Winery is a family owned winery south of Batesville, Indiana just off of State Road 129.
The Winery
The Ertles planted the vineyard in 1999 and opened the winery in 2006. They grow seven varieties of grapes, including Marechal Foch, Vidal Blanc, Vignoles, Traminette, Steuben, Catawba and Chambourcin. The winery features a tasting bar, lounge, restaurant and wine market.
The upscale restaurant at located in Ertel Cellars Winery offers a spectacular ambiance and delicious food! You may enjoy your dining experience in the large indoor dining area, or outdoors amongst the great scenery of the vineyards.
For current hours and reservations, contact:
3794 E County Road 1100 N
Batesville, IN 47006
(812) 933-1500
© 2023 Paul Wonning