Take a road trip through Lawrence County and check out these four historic markers
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For more than 200 years, Lawrence County has been forging its own history.
Since the county's establishment in 1818, three men who have called Bedford and Mitchell home have flown space and limestone from its quarries have helped build America.
The state of Indiana has recognized Lawrence County's history by dedicating four state-recognized historic markers.
For nearly 80 years, the Indiana Historical Bureau's Historical Marker Program has recognized areas of significance throughout the state.
Four markers have been dedicated in Lawrence County in honor of the Indiana (Oolitic) Limestone Quarries, Gus Grissom, Bedford's courthouse square historic district and Dunn Memorial Hospital.
Indiana (Oolitic) Limestone Quarries
It's no secret that Lawrence County is known for its limestone.
After all, the city of Bedford is known as the "Limestone Capital of the World."
Pieces of Lawrence County can be found throughout the nation as it helped build some of the highest skyscrapers and federal buildings throughout the country.
Some of the limestone to build the Empire State Building and Pentagon came from Lawrence County.
It's no wonder why a historic marker dedicated to the limestone quarries in the region was dedicated in Oolitic in 1966.
The marker honors the "Largest building stone quarries in the world, in continuous operations since the 1830s."
"These quarries have produced stone for many of the world's largest and finest memorials, buildings and bridges," the marker goes on to note.
The limestone marker was installed by the Indiana Sesquicentennial Commission in 1966 in front of Oolitic Town Hall along Main Street between Lafayette and Hoosier avenues.
Virgil I. 'Gus' Grissom marker
Virgil I. "Gus' Grissom was born on April 3, 1926 in Mitchell.
A 1944 graduate of Mitchell High School, Grissom's love for aviation started in Lawrence County.
After serving in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II and the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War, Grissom was selected as one of NASA's first seven astronauts — commonly referred to as the Mercury Seven.
On July 21, 1961, at the age of 35, Grissom became the second American in space when he flew on the Mercury-Redstone 4 mission on the Liberty Bell 7 capsule.
Grissom died as a result of an accident during the Apollo I mission on Jan. 27, 1967.
The marker dedicated to Grissom is located at the Virgil I. Grissom Memorial Airport outside Bedford.
Bedford Courthouse Square Historic District
Like many county seats throughout Indiana, the Lawrence County Courthouse in Bedford is located near the center of the city.
According to the marker commemorating located in downtown Bedford, the "Courthouse square, part of original 1825 plat, surrounded by nineteenth and early twentieth century commercial building in various architectural styles."
The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995 and marker was dedicated by the state in 1998.
The marker was installed by the Indiana Historical Bureau and Historic Preservation Committee of Bedford Revitalization, Inc., and can be found on I Street between 15th and 16th streets east of the Lawrence County Courthouse.
Dunn Memorial Hospital marker
What is now known as Ascension St. Vincent Dunn Hospital in Bedford has roots as far back as 1903.
On July 15, 1903, the Lawrence County Hospital Associated came into existence to help establish a hospital in Bedford.
That first hospital opened in 1904.
The current hospital, formerly known as Dunn Memorial Hospital, was opened in the early 1940s and is named after Moses Fell Dunn.
In 2010, Dunn Memorial Hospital became part of the St. Vincent Health organization.
On Friday, Ascension announced it would close the hospital because, as the company noted, ”other providers with a larger presence in the region are better positioned to efficiently serve the residents of Bedford and neighboring communities.”
The marker was installed in 2005 by the Indiana Historical Bureau and Dunn Memorial Hospital and can be found at 1600 23st., Bedford.
This article originally appeared on The Times-Mail: Take a tour of Lawrence County, Indiana, historic markers
