Fort Wayne Old City Hall Building
Encyclopedia
The Fort Wayne Old City Hall Building in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana
operates as a museum known as The History Center, and serves as headquarters for the Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society since 1980. The sandstone
building was built in 1893. It served as a functioning city hall for Fort Wayne until 1971 when local officials moved to the City-County Building.
The History Center has collected 23,000 artifacts in permanent displays dedicated to the region's history, dating from the Ice Age
to the 18th-century to the 20th century.
The Society also maintains the Chief Jean Baptiste de Richardville House
.
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in the US state of Indiana and the county seat of Allen County. The population was 253,691 at the 2010 Census making it the 74th largest city in the United States and the second largest in Indiana...
operates as a museum known as The History Center, and serves as headquarters for the Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society since 1980. The sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
building was built in 1893. It served as a functioning city hall for Fort Wayne until 1971 when local officials moved to the City-County Building.
The History Center has collected 23,000 artifacts in permanent displays dedicated to the region's history, dating from the Ice Age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
to the 18th-century to the 20th century.
The Society also maintains the Chief Jean Baptiste de Richardville House
Richardville House
The Chief Jean Baptiste de Richardville House was built near Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1827. Subsidized by the U.S. federal government through the 1826 Treaty of Mississinwas, it is believed to be only one of three treaty houses built east of the Mississippi River.-History:Chief Richardville, the...
.
Exhibits
- Earliest Inhabitants, tools, weapons, a mastodonMastodonMastodons were large tusked mammal species of the extinct genus Mammut which inhabited Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and Central America from the Oligocene through Pleistocene, 33.9 mya to 11,000 years ago. The American mastodon is the most recent and best known species of the group...
’s broken rib bone and large tooth are displayed. - Miami Indian History, images of PacannePacannePacanne was a leading Miami chief during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Son of The Turtle , he was the brother of Tacumwah, who was the mother of Chief Jean Baptiste Richardville. Their family owned and controlled the Long Portage, an 8 mile strip of land between the Maumee and Wabash...
, Little Turtle, and Jean Baptiste de Richardville displayed, along with collections on the Miami Indian capital, KekiongaKekiongaKekionga, also known as Kiskakon or Pacan's Village, was the capital of the Miami tribe at the confluence of the Saint Joseph, Saint Marys and Maumee rivers on the western edge of the Great Black Swamp...
. Miami chief Little Turtle's items displayed include his watch and sword presented to him by President George WashingtonGeorge WashingtonGeorge Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
. Exhibit also includes a model of a typical eighteenth-century Miami village. - Anthony Wayne, exhibits the birth of Fort Wayne with General "Mad" Anthony WayneAnthony WayneAnthony Wayne was a United States Army general and statesman. Wayne adopted a military career at the outset of the American Revolutionary War, where his military exploits and fiery personality quickly earned him a promotion to the rank of brigadier general and the sobriquet of Mad Anthony.-Early...
's ordering of a fort to be built at the three rivers, October 22, 1794. - An Emerging City, includes a model of and parts of the Wabash-Erie Canal, attributed to turning the city into a boom-town in the 1800s.
- Industry, includes a recreation of a blacksmith shop, as well as noting Fort Wayne resident Silvanus F. Bowser, creator of the self-measuring gas pump.
- Made in Allen County, features the common products that were once developed in the area at the turn of the century; items include boxes of cigars, Bursley’s Coffee, Mar-velo’s water softener and a soap saver, Seald Sweet juicer, Lady Wayne Chocolates, Seyfert’s potato chips, and Crystal Bottling Works soda pop.