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Indiana Bicentennial Celebration 2016
Johnson County
Q&A with County Coordinators Dana Monson and Krista Linke
What do you consider the key accomplishment(s) of your county’s Bicentennial celebration?
- Bringing together all 8 municipalities to celebrate the event.
What Legacy Project do you most like to tell people about, and why?
- Capture Johnson County, because it is a collection from residents who otherwise do not get involved in supporting the county.
Describe a highlight or most memorable moment related to your county's Bicentennial celebration.
- The torch coming in to town and seeing all the people there to greet it.
How/where are you preserving information and artifacts related to your county's celebration?
- Tthe Johnson County Museum of History.
Total number of volunteers who participated.
- 50.
Estimated total attendance.
- 800.
Estimated dollar amount spent.
- $5,000.
Johnson County Legacy Projects
- Bicentennial Torch History Celebration
- Blossom Hallow Nature Preserve - Bicentennial Nature Trust
- Capture Johnson County
- Cardinal Nest Houses
- Explore Johnson County Trails
- Gov. Roger D. Branigin Archives Celebration Convocation
- Hiking in Johnson County
- Hills of Gold Conservation Area - Bicentennial Nature Trust
- Indiana Bicentennial Quilt Challenge
- Johnson County Giant Map & Timeline
- Kelsay Farms - Dairy Farm History Project
- Lamb Lake – Bicentennial Nature Trust
- The Charm, the Harm and the Daring of Dillinger
- Trafalgar Library Prairie Path & Story Walk
Johnson County Facts
Johnson County was formed in 1823. It was named for John Johnson, a judge of the Indiana Supreme Court.
Johnson County is home to Franklin College, which was founded in 1834. In 1842, the college began admitting women, becoming the first coeducational institution in Indiana and the seventh in the nation. Franklin College maintains a voluntary association with the American Baptist Churches USA.
Franklin College is a residential four-year undergraduate liberal arts institution with a scenic, wooded campus located 20 minutes south of downtown Indianapolis. The college prepares men and women for challenging careers and fulfilling lives through the liberal arts, offering its approximately 1,000 students 36 majors, 39 minors and 11 pre-professional programs.
Franklin, Johnson County, is home of the first Ritters Frozen Custard, which became a national brand.
The Artcraft Theatre was opened on November 1, 1922 as a vaudeville house, seating 879. The theatre later began showing movies. The Artcraft Theatre holds one of the first “air conditioners”; cool water from a well in the basement would be pumped past a large fan that would extract the cold from the water and blow it through the theatre – it once was known as a “swamp cooler.”
The Artcarft Theatre was remodeled in 1948, to the plans of architect Alden Meranda. Franklin Heritage bought the theatre in April 2004 and is working to restore this Art Deco style theatre back to its original glory.
County Seat: Franklin
Year Organized: 1822
Square Miles: 320.43
