The TRAVELER'S JOURNAL, August third, browsing in Brown County.

Back in 1806, after peace treaties pacified the local natives, Kentucky settlers, among them the parents of Abe Lincoln, flooded across the Ohio River into the rolling hills of south central Indiana. Hacking homesteads from the forest, they fostered a self-sufficient heritage of hard work, practical craft and neighborly, home-cooked hospitality. Those traditions still hold sway in bucolic Brown County.

Indiana Highway 135 is a "scenic route" if there ever was one. The two-lane ribbon meanders among the hills of Hoosier State Forest into the town of Nashville, Brown County's political and geographic center. Along the way, the road passes a panorama of archetypal, rural midwest images: prim farmhouses stand on sweeping lawns; wild roses climb sway-backed barns; butterflies swirl on emerald pastures. Brown County has more log cabins than stoplights; more covered bridges than billboards. Its hills are alive with artists and artisans.

Home to several of the midwest's largest and oldest art colonies, Nashville is packed with galleries and shops selling handcrafted items. The local playhouse is Indiana's oldest summer theater. This year's presentation is "One for the Pot."

Nashville's Historical Museum is a village-like arrangement of vintage buildings, with everything in apple- pie order. While the marketing of Brown County's rural traditions sometimes approaches terminal cuteness, its citizens are the genuine article, good folks who still put themselves out to make a visitor feel at home.

FMI For info contact the Brown County Convention and Visitors Bureau: 800-753-3255 or www.browncounty.com

Back to July 2003 Main

Look through the list of fascinating places and off-beat features we’ve covered. Search text versions of past episodes and articles in our archives.