To the editor:
The Main Street of Historic Old Town Nashville may soon lose another significant early supportive structure. On May 15 in a meeting, 6 to 7 p.m. in the Nashville Town Hall, the Development Review Commission will hear a request by owners for demolition of the Calvin House, located at 169 E. Main St.
Built sometime between 1872 and 1882 by John Dennis Calvin, the original frame dwelling, two stories high, despite several one-story recent additions to the front and the rear, is clearly visible and could be restored after removing the additions. It has been sitting empty, left to the elements, wind and weather: “demolition by neglect.”
Next to the Calvin House is the McGrayel House that was moved here from across the street. This area was then occupied by farms, including the 1870 County Poor Asylum farm a short distance to the east. The main building of the former poor farm is now the school administration building, 357 E. Main St.
The Historic Brown County Courthouse District and the Historical Society Pioneer Village Museum are located on the corner of West Main and South Van Buren streets in the very heart of Nashville. The district is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, so designated by the National Park Service. The historic courthouse district displays and recalls Brown County’s past in three preserved buildings. Constructed in 1879, the Old Log Jail is Indiana’s only extant hewn-log jail still standing at its original location.
If you follow Main Street going east from the courthouse, you will pass the former Farmer’s Trust Bank at 66 E. Main St. (1906) and the Dr. Ray Tilton-Nashville Post Office (c. 1910) at 68 E. Main St. Located near the second town cemetery, with many headstones and monuments of historic and artistic interest, is the Brown County Art Galley. In 1926, eight artists came together to form the Brown County Art Gallery Association. The land on which the gallery stands was given to the association by Adolph Shulz. It has a fantastic permanent collection with exemplary works by most of the early artists. The gallery also hosts the Glen Cooper Henshaw Collection.
There are still a few preserved artist studios nearby on Locust Lane. As you walk north on Locust Lane from Main Street, the courthouse town square will be on your left, and to your right, at 25 Locust Lane, is the Dr. Ray Tilton/Bessire House. Following Locust Lane you will pass the Old Log Jail and community building. Past the Brown County Public Library you will get to the historic Will Vawter House and Studio, (c 1915), the L.O. Griffith House and Studio, (c 1930) and the Adolph and Alberta Shultz House and Studio.
Going west on Main Street, across the street from the Nashville House on the corner of West Main and South Van Buren streets, is the former Frank Taggart Drug Store/Miller’s Drug Store (1873), also listed on the National Register. A plaque to that fact can be found on the Van Buren Street side of the building. The two-story white frame building is now a popular eatery, known as the Hobnob Corner Restaurant, and still captures the old Brown County drug store atmosphere. Past the Hob Nob there is the three-story, red-brick Village Green Building (1910), located at 61 W. Main St., which was originally occupied by the Nashville Masonic and Knights of Pythias lodges. It now houses many stores and artists’ shops.
The four corners at Main and Jefferson streets are of importance. On the southeast corner is the old Town Pump/well, and across the street on the west corner of Main and Jefferson streets is the Nashville Methodist Church which has been reconstructed. At 24 N. Jefferson St. is the Frank Taggart House, (c. 1875-80) and across the street at 23 N. Jefferson St. is the Jimmy Tilton/Dr. Frank Tilton House (c. 1875).
Old Town Nashville, nestled in the hills of Brown County, Indiana, known as “The Art Colony of the Midwest,” was lovingly dubbed “Peaceful Valley” by the early artists. Its streetscapes and buildings have been sketched, painted and photographed by generations of artists. You find their works in our art galleries and on the walls of many places around the state. Sightseers, shoppers, art enthusiasts, enjoy a walk on Old Town Nashville’s Main Street any time of the year.
Ruth Reichmann, Brown County
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