Get Outdoors in Madison County Indiana!

Is there ever a better time to enjoy the beauty of the great out of doors than fall? It is beautiful all over the Midwest, but particularly in Indiana’s Madison County. My friend Annie Jansen and I were hosted by the Anderson Madison County Visitor’s Bureau. While there, we enjoyed the fun fall festivals Pendleton Fall Creek Heritage Fair Pendleton Fall Festival and the Andersontown Powwow.

Start thinking ahead to mark your calendars now for next year’s events! It is never too early to mark your calendar!

Pendleton Fall Creek Heritage Fair & Pendleton Fall Festival

After some leisurely shopping in the charming downtown of Pendleton, Maureen “Mo” Lambert, and Brenna Sealy, of the Anderson Madison County Visitor’s Bureau directed us to the fair and festival. “There are over 200 vendors,” Mo shared. She added, “There is a Christmas event as well.”

The Pendleton Fall Creek Heritage Fair is hosted by the Friends of Falls Park the fair is held the Friday & Saturday after Labor Day. Located in the beautiful Falls Park, we enjoyed the scenery and the featured arts, crafts, antiques, food, music and family friendly activities. The Pendleton Fall Festival also had a variety of vendors, artisans and a scarecrow contest and more!

We enjoyed acting like kids in the fun environment!

Part of the enjoyment of this event is the beautiful setting like the falls.

Kudos to the residents of Pendleton because according to a placard Falls Park had a glorious past, then fell on hard times. “After decades as a milling center and stone quarry, the area around the falls was, by 1918 an eyesore. Pendleton hardware store owner and town board member B.F. Phipps felt the area should be more than a town dump.”

They cleaned up the area and turned it into a park. The stone quarry was cleaned, a dam built, and a pool was created. Falls Park opened in 1920.

We enjoyed walking through the vendors, and I even found a necklace I couldn’t pass up!

Since I am Traveling Adventures of a Farm Girl, I couldn’t resist when we found a tractor show!

Antique tractors and a bit of history in Madison County

At the end of the festival there was a nice collection of antique tractors.

I spoke with the Jay McAllister and his father Austin owners of a 1958 John Deere 520. “I’ve had it for about 10 years,” he said he purchased the tractor from a friend’s estate. From Pendleton, they were set up with a group of individuals that have come year after year.

A bit of history Alan New shared. He owned a 1925 Model T Ford and an Indiana tractor. Anderson, Indiana is famous for the Indiana tractor. Alan added, “The Lambert car company made a tractor called the Trundaar. I have one of those. There was also a Bull tractor. They were made here for a while.”

More information was in Gas Engine Magazine., The Trundaar tractor was made in 1918 in Anderson, Indiana. It was made by the J. W. Lambert Buckeye Manufacturing Co. How cool to learn new information!

The Pendleton Historical Museum

Annie and I ran out of time at the festival to visit the Pendleton, Historical Museum. So, we returned the next day to check out the quilt show and museum. The museum is housed in the former old Falls Park pool bathhouse. Inside we saw beautiful quilts, and even briefly met a master quilter!

In the museum, I noted some of the cool agricultural aspects as well. There was cider press, and wooden grain bin. This was fascinating. It was formed from a sycamore log.

The center was burned out. Then it was scraped down. A sign states this was a common means of storing grain during the pioneer days. There was a cool hay rope hook used to stack hay. Farming tools were mixed in with household items and even a very unique wooden bicycle from Germany.

 

The Anderson Powwow & Indian Market

The Andersontown Powwow in Alexandria, Indiana was two days of family fun, showcasing Native American Culture. Mo Lambert shared, “This event brings tribes together in a gathering of dance, music, food and living history. It is a powerful celebration of Native American culture, heritage and community.”

Annie had been once before, but this was my first time at a Powwow. It was great fun, and insightful. The dancing really captured my attention. Patrick Willie from Orem, Utah, a Navajo, was the featured dancer. “I did the men’s Fancy Feather Dance, it’s known as a warriors dance. It is a lot more upbeat, and our outfits are a lot more colorful.”

He said that this dance has evolved and got more contemporary over the years. “It has a lot of high energy and fancy footwork,” Patrick added. “It is very good exercise and requires a lot of practice.”

One interesting thing that Patrick shared is that he was in Alexandria a day early providing educational workshops. This event offered educational opportunities for all, along with intertribal gathering. They had Bird’s of Prey, flute playing, and Jim Sawgrass offered woodland Indian history.

The Native American art was beautiful.

For the first time, Annie and I tried fry bread. Yum!

A bit of history in Madison County!

Downtown Anderson is full of murals, and statues. Our favorite was the Grace’s. It is of a beautiful ballet dancer mix!

Our last day in Madison County, we headed to Mounds State Park. There we took a morning walk. The park features 10 unique earthworks built by prehistoric Indians. Called the Adena-Hopewell people, the largest earthwork, is the Great Mound. It was believed to have been constructed around 160 B.C. They think the mounds were used as gathering places for religious ceremonies. They could view astronomical alignments there.

While closed when we were there, you can visit the nature center as well as the Bronnenberg House. The Bronneberg family settled here, built the house and preserved the mounds.

They also built an amusement park which operated from 1897 to 1929! Surrounded by forest, they cleared trees for the park. There was even an interurban train. It delivered passengers to and from. When it closed, the land was donated to the Madison County Historical Society. They passed it on to the Indiana Department of Conservation.

Today, the park is a peaceful place. You can camp, hike, or stroll.

Visiting Madison County Indiana

You can find an array of one of a kind things to do in Madison County! There are great dining, lodging and shopping options as well. But along with all of that, there is a wide variety of things to do outdoors. Head to Madison County Indiana and enjoy the beautiful fall weather, take in a festival, visit a park or museum, or just sit downtown and enjoy the outdoor art. There is something for every fitness level, and interest.

Let me know what treasures you have found in this eastern Indiana county!