The Old Marion County Courthouse- Related to Crown Hill?

East entrance to Crown Hill designed by beloved Indy architect, Adolph Scherrer

Yes, that's right, folks. Connections abound here, and what fun it is to figure them all out.

I had the distinct privilege of being entertained by a spry 88 year old Indy historian named Dorothy Linke last night. No script, and with the energy of a 15-year-old, she recanted story after story, biography after biography and brought parts of Crown Hill's history alive without the assistance of props or her own sight. I was awed. Her many stories reminded me of one that I had been meaning to post here about the connection between the glorious former Marion County Court House and the sprawling and majestic Crown Hill Cemetery. Take a close look at the center tower--there were 8 statues that overlooked the courthouse property (below the clocks). When the future came knocking (literally) these sculptures were one of the few things spared. I am informed that four of them now reside in Holliday Park, one in a man's front yard (!)in California, and the final three stand within Crown Hill Park Cemetery. How apropos that a few pieces of that grand dame that was the Marion County courthouse be chiseled off and brought for final rest at this beautiful cemetery. If this had been standard practice (laying to rest pieces of all the other murdered Indianapolis architecture at Crown Hill), there wouldn't be much of their 555 acres left.
I was skeptical when I first learned of the Courthouse-Crown Hill connection a few years ago. Engrossed in the microfilm machine in a tiny back room at the interim library, a couple of teenage girls breezed in giggling and out of breath to peruse the endless rows of microfilm. I asked if I might help them find something and they relayed their hasty arrival from Crown Hill to that very room--they wanted to learn about the old Marion County Courthouse, so smitten were they with the statues they had just seen at the cemetery. Lesson learned--and sometimes from the most unexpected of sources.
I got this picture at IHPC- showing the carnage before the final destruction. What a stark contrast. How this happened boggles my mind. I feel extra ashamed since my great-grandfather was one of the cement workers on that hulking monster in the background. I can't see this picture without having the air knocked out of me. You?