Architectural Heritage: All Listings 

The Depot transforms the great moments of a past era of Monon history into a reality to be remembered and enjoyed by countless visitors — those who remember they were once kids, and those who have the spark of adventure and intrigue that says they still are. The Depot Museum contains antique furniture from railroad stations, including the original waiting room benches from the Salem station that was torn down in 1982. Also, there are displays of railroad equipment and tools, signs, advertisements, signals and lanterns. A worker’s motor car and a station’s baggage wagon are on display. The Depot’s basement contains an HO scale model railroad that dep ...

Alfred Shrum built this Second Empire house on Hackberry Street in Salem. Three generations of the Shrum family, whose professional work is found in buildings in Washington D.C. as well as San Francisco, helped lend to Salem the atmosphere of a larger more sophisticated town. Owner of a brick yard, the scion of the family, Alfred Shrum came to Salem from Virginia. He had worked as a mason on construction of the east wing of the White House. Through the years, Alfred worked on the Sinclair Woolen Mill, the Washington County Courthouse, the Lyon Block, the streets and sidewalks of Salem. Guy, his son, was involved in construction in San Francisco aft ...

Campbellsburg grew around a grist mill established by John T.C. Wilkins in 1859. Additional mills followed, and by the town’s incorporation in 1875, Campbellsburg’s bustling downtown included commercial buildings, three hotels, three churches, a railroad depot, a bank, and a school. Wilkins built a modest home on Sycamore Street at the entrance to town in 1858. His son, William, later occupied the house and in the late 1890s undertook a major renovation, expanding its footprint and adding embellishments, including horseshoe-shaped stained-glass windows and elaborate spindled porch work – all adapted from pattern books published by George Barber, a T ...

Campbellsburg grew around a grist mill established by John T.C. Wilkins in 1859. Additional mills followed, and by the town’s incorporation in 1875, Campbellsburg’s bustling downtown included commercial buildings, three hotels, three churches, a railroad depot, a bank, and a school. This home was established from the designs of George Barber, a Tennessee architect whose designs filled mail-order catalogs in the in the 1890s. Known for his exuberant Queen Anne-style houses, Barber’s plans regularly featured turrets, balconies, porches, projecting windows, arches, and gingerbread trim. Today this group of four surviving houses constitutes a rare co ...

The Salem Post Office is significant as part of the federal program which built new central and branch post offices throughout the United States. Constructed in 1935, it preceded the formation of the W.P.A.

First Baptist Church is a historic Baptist church located in Salem. The church was built in 1900, and is a Richardsonian Romanesque style brick and stone church. It has a central gabled nave and a three-story corner tower with a pyramidal roof. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. It is also a contributing property in the Salem Downtown Historic District which was designated in 1997.

Campbellsburg grew around a grist mill established by John T.C. Wilkins in 1859. Additional mills followed, and by the town’s incorporation in 1875, Campbellsburg’s bustling downtown included commercial buildings, three hotels, three churches, a railroad depot, a bank, and a school. This home was established from the designs of George Barber, a Tennessee architect whose designs filled mail-order catalogs in the in the 1890s. Known for his exuberant Queen Anne-style houses, Barber’s plans regularly featured turrets, balconies, porches, projecting windows, arches, and gingerbread trim. Today this group of four surviving houses constitutes a rare co ...

Campbellsburg grew around a grist mill established by John T.C. Wilkins in 1859. Additional mills followed, and by the town’s incorporation in 1875, Campbellsburg’s bustling downtown included commercial buildings, three hotels, three churches, a railroad depot, a bank, and a school. Wilkins built a modest home on Sycamore Street at the entrance to town in 1858. His son, William, later occupied the house and in the late 1890s undertook a major renovation, expanding its footprint and adding embellishments, including horseshoe-shaped stained-glass windows and elaborate spindled porch work – all adapted from pattern books published by George Barber, a T ...

The Salem Downtown Historic District is a national historic district located at Salem, Washington County, Indiana. The original plat of the town, founded in 1814, is within the district. Downtown architectural styles are Italianate, Gothic Revival, Classical Revival, Late Victorian, Early Republic, and Late 19th/20th Century Revivals. The Italianate style is the most common building style extant on the square. Salem's continuing sense of downtown pride and industry is evident in an article printed in the Democratic Sun in 1896: "The store buildings are mostly constructed of brick, some of them being fitted up elaborately and at great expense, A ...

The rockfaced Oolitic limestone used on the facade of the current Washington County Courthouse was locally quarried and cut, one mile southwest of town. In the nineteenth century, this was the first and only working quarry in the county, originally opened by Emmanuel Zink and James Needham in 1866. Rock quarried here was originally called "Salem limestone" before being renamed oolitic. The newels and columns incorporated in the courthouse design are all unique efforts of individual stone carvers.

Salem Presbyterian Church was organized in 1817 by Rev. Samuel Shannon of Kentucky. The structure, located on North High near Walnut, was dedicated in 1841, and was the first church built by the congregation. The church is a simple red brick structure with a slender steeple, it is one of the earliest churches in Salem and is constructed of handmade brick and limestone.

Marston was the first cousin to General George Rogers Clark. He settled in this home in Salem. He served with General (future president) Harrison in the Battle of Tippecanoe, and achived the rank of General. He was the Head of Indian Affairs in Indiana after his military career ended. He assisted in platting out the town of Salem. He was also elected to the Indiana House of Representatives.

Located at 206 South High in Salem is one of three houses built in the Second Empire style by Colonel Redfield, the others the Elliott Home on Market and the Shrum home on Hackberry. Although the residence appears to be constructed of coursed limestone, it is actually yellow poplar with a tromp d'oeil finish. The property was owned by the Persise family, who were early involved with the Persise Hotel (c. 1860) and Sinclair Woolen Mills, and later the Bank of Salem, and construction of the West Baden Hotel. The house was constructed in 1882, and its immediate environment contains many preserved nineteenth century site elements. The High Street f ...

This structure was built in 1881, and is a Second Empire style brick and stone building. It consists of a 2+1⁄2-story residence with a mansard roof with a 1+1⁄2-story rear jail addition. An office addition was added to the jail in 1974. The structure was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. It is included in the Salem Downtown Historic District. The sheriffs residence stands in front of the jail structure on South Main and is one of three French Second Empire residential structures in town and is one of the few designed by an architect, Joseph Balsley. The local contractors were Alfred Shrum and H.H. Routh, both of whom are i ...

In 1828 the Methodist Church built their first sanctuary at High and Market Streets. The first floor brick walls of this structure still remain although it was largely destroyed by a fire in 1901. In 1893 a new Romanesque church was built at 200 East Market which was demolished in 1962 in order to build the present structure. Although the church is not architecturally significant, it is notable for the contribution of its prominent members the DePauw family, whose endowment established DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana.

Crown Hill Cemetery is the largest cemetery in Washington County. Crown Hill was established in 1824. Crown Hill Cemetery is located on the southwest edge of the City of Salem. Like all cemeteries, Crown Hill's many monuments and markers reflect the history of this historic community. As an historical aside, many of the stone markers in the original section reflect lives that were lost during the Cholera epidemic of 1833. This part of the cemetery also contains many beautifully engraved tombstones made of Hindostan whetstone. The Hindostan whetstone – sometimes called the Hindostan Oilstone or Orange Stone – was mined from southern Indiana durin ...