Jackson County Visitor Center Source: Jackson County Visitor Center / Facebook Jackson County Visitor Center In July the pool hosts the invitational Seymour Splash swim meet, which has been going for more than 30 years and features some of the top swimmers in the region.Īlso on hand are two lighted baseball/softball fields, a skate park, basketball courts, horseshoe pits, a playground, ADA-accessible bathrooms, picnic areas and a shelter with electricity. In summer the main draw is the Shields Park Pool, an Olympic-sized facility with a water slide, kiddie pool and diving well. On the northeast side of downtown, Shields Park is the oldest park in the city, opened in 1852 and named for Seymour’s founder, Meedy Shields (1804-1866). Shields Park Source: Benoit Daoust / shutterstock Pool The museum features parts from these Axis aircraft recovered during archeological digs.ħ. The site is now Freeman Municipal Airport, and in a pair of old airfield buildings is a captivating museum devoted to this WWII history.Īt the end of the war German, Japanese and Italian aircraft were brought to this base to be analyzed before being dismantled and buried. It was here that members of the African American 477th Bombardment Group challenged the unlawful exclusion of black people from the officers’ club, leading to the desegregation of the armed forces in 1948. Established in 1942 and closed in 1948 has an important place in the history of Civil Rights. Freeman Army Airfield Museum Source: Freeman Army Airfield Museum / Facebook Freeman Army Airfield Museumįreeman Army Airfield was a WWII training school for twin-engine pilots, just south of Seymour. On the night of December 11, all three were lynched by a mob of 65 hooded men who had overwhelmed the jail and threatened the sheriff. In 1868, leaders Frank, William and Simeon Reno were captured by the authorities and moved to the Floyd County Jail in New Albany. On two separate occasions, a total of six members of the Reno Gang were lynched at a location just west of Seymour, now known as Hangman’s Crossing. Their violent crimes inspired copycats for decades, and also provoked outrage, leading to vigilante gangs hunting them down, along with the Pinkertons and federal authorities. The 11-strong wreaked havoc across the Midwest in the years immediately after the Civil War, and committed the first three peacetime train robberies in United States history, all taking place in Seymour. Just under a mile north of downtown is the Historic City Cemetery where you’ll find the resting place of Frank, William and Simeon Reno, from the infamous Reno Gang. Reno Gang Graves Source: Kathy Butcher Johnson / Facebook Reno Gang Graves Since then, there have been lots of welcome changes, from murals to a pocket park, an ever-growing farmers’ market, story walks, restored historic storefronts, benches, bike racks and all kinds of exciting events.ĥ. Many of these improvements can be laid at the door of Seymour Main Street, an organization founded in the 2000s with the task of rejuvenating downtown. If you like to shop local, this is a great place to do it, especially as the downtown area has attracted some 25 new businesses in the last five years or so.
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Next to the railroad crossroads, Seymour’s central business district is full of life, hosting no fewer than 65 events each year. Downtown Seymour Source: Nyttend / Wikimedia | Public domain Downtown Seymour
The artist still has close ties with the town, and founded a vibrant public arts center on his own property. Seymour is the birthplace of heartland rocker John Mellencamp, and permeates his most famous work.
Trains and railroading are part of Seymour’s lore, and it was here in the 1860s that the Reno Gang pulled off the first three peacetime train robberies in the country’s history.
In the 1840s, the north-south Jeffersonville, Madison and Indianapolis Railroad connected Indianapolis with the Ohio River.Ī little later, Seymour’s founder, Meedy Shields encouraged railroad surveyor John Seymour to build the Ohio and Mississippi Railway through here, naming the city in his honor. In South Central Indiana, Seymour is a city that grew up in the mid-19th century at the crossing of two railroads.
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