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Indiana Bicentennial Celebration 2016
Ripley County
Q&A with County Coordinator Katherine Taul
What do you consider the key accomplishment(s) of your county's Bicentennial celebration?
- Pulling people and organizations together in all of the communities where the torch passed to celebrate their torchbearers.
What Legacy Project do you most like to tell people about, and why?
- The Ripley Monument, which was created to honor the man our county was named after, Eleazer Wheelock Ripley, an 1812 War hero. Local Lions Clubs, historical societies, and other organizations donated funds to make the project possible.
Describe a highlight or most memorable moment related to your county's Bicentennial celebration.
- For me, being the first motorcycle rider carrying a torch in the Torch Relay, for Ripley County. Others would have probably seen the Torch coming through their communities as a highlight, or being recognized at the dinner we had the night of the relay for all those who were nominated.
How/where are you preserving information and artifacts related to your county's celebration?
- The torch will displayed in a unique holder, created by Weberding's Carving Shop in Batesville, just inside the Ripley County Courthouse Annex, along with a plaque with all the torchbearers' names. We will work on archiving the rest, probably with the Ripley County Historical Society.
Do you have a website and/or social media presence?
- www.ripleycountytourism.com
Total number of volunteers who participated.
- 42+ those in their communities.
Estimated total attendance.
- 3,000 the day of the torch relay.
Estimated dollar amount raised.
- $3,000
Estimated dollar amount spent.
- $3,000
Ripley County Legacy Projects
- Art in Nature
- Art in the Park
- Batesville's 43rd Annual Music and Arts Festival
- Batesville Annual Community Tree Lighting
- Batesville Bash 2016 – Kicking off the Indiana Bicentennial
- Batesville Celebrating Indiana’s 200th
- Celebrating General Ripley
- Daily – “Did You Know?”
- ETC’s 2016 Phone Directory
- Milan Indiana World War II Honor Roll Monument
- One Book, One County
- SE Indiana F.A.R.M. Club’s Antique Machinery Show
- Sunman Fire & Wine Festival
- Sunman, Indiana – A Walk Through Time
- Take the River
- The Paintings of Milan’s “Grandma Whitlatch” – Alice Carey Whitlatch
- Vélo in the Ville
- Versailles Pumpkin Show Celebrates Indiana
Photos from Ripley County Bicentennial Events / Activities
Ripley County Bicentennial Committee
- Janice Wilson
- Jerry Wilson
- Duane Drockelman
- Owen Menchhofer
- Debi Black
- Pauline Reale
- Bob Voegele
- Carolyn Dieckmann
- Shirley Bocock
- Warren Bruns
- Bill Flannery
- Bill Gloyd
- Sarah Lamping
- Carla Hacker
- Cheryl Welch
- Chris Gergen
- Amy Streator
- Debbie Blank
- Gary Johnson
- Hannah Carlock
- Matthew Chastain
- Melissa Burton
- Natalie Gilpin
- Sandra Gloyd
- Sharon Disney
- Steve Todd
- Susan Ray
- Terry Messerschmmidt
- Alan Schords
- Annie Dean
- Carl Taul
- Chuck Heck
- Darren Engleking
- David Dreyer
- Deanna DeMotte
- Diana Johnson
- Jessica Engleking
- Karen Kestler
- Mike Kruse
- Noelle Saydlyk
- Soh Fong
Ripley County
Ripley County was formed in 1816. It was named for Gen. Eleazer Wheelock Ripley, an officer in the War of 1812, who was mainly remembered for the Battle of Lundy’s Lane and the Siege of Fort Erie, in 1814.
About the courthouse: Thomas Pattison was the architect and the building was completed in 1861.
A bit of Hoosier lore is celebrated in Ripley County — home to Milan ’54 Hoosiers Museum. It celebrates the legacy of 1954 basketball champs who inspired the movie “Hoosiers” — part of what gives Hoosier Hysteria its momentum and brings basketball fans from near and far to experience a piece of it.
Visitors from all over the world come to Ripley County’s National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association held in Friendship.
It is widely held that this county is the location of the fictional town of Orson, the fictional location of the series The Middle.
Versailles State Park in Ripley County is Indiana’s second-largest state park. The park has fabulous mountain bike trails, as well as horse trails. This park area has deep history rooted in both the Civil War and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Versailles State Park dedicated a CCC commemorative statue in 2010.
During the Civil War, Morgan’s Raiders made their way through the area that is now the park. The town of Versailles was briefly under Confederate control.
Numerous fossils tell the story of an ancient sea that covered the region.
County Seat: Versailles
Year Organized: 1816
Square Miles: 446.43
