1848     Paris Dunning became the ninth governor of Indiana when James Whitcomb resigned the office to go to the United States Senate.  Dunning is the only person in state history to hold the offices of governor, lieutenant governor, state senator, president pro-tempore of the senate, and state representative.

1861     John Wilkes Booth opened a six-day engagement at the Metropolitan Theater in Indianapolis.  Called the “celebrated tragedian,” he played six roles in a Shakespeare festival that included Macbeth, Hamlet, and Richard III.  Considered the first professional theater in the city, the Metropolitan stood on the northeast corner of Washington and Tennessee (now Capitol) Streets.

1927     The Walker Theater opened in Indianapolis.  Designed by the architectural firm of Rubush and Hunter, the building had a pipe organ, ballroom, and offices for the Madam C. J. Walker Cosmetics Company.  A fine example of African Art Deco, the theater is on the National Register of Historic Places and serves as a cultural center for the city.

1930      The Purdue University Research Foundation was established.  It was the invention of David E. Ross, who was from Brookston.  He had become interested in machinery when he visited the engine room while on a steamboat ride.  He graduated from Purdue in 1893 as a mechanical engineer.  Ross and Josiah K. Lilly each gave $25,000 in starter money to the foundation.

1957     Singer Bobby Helms from Martinsville ended a highly successful year in his career with the release of “Jingle Bell Rock.” The song became an instant hit, along with “My Special Angel,” another big song for Helms in a year he also appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show.

1977     Starting in the final three days of December, Indiana weather turned dramatically cold.   Temperatures would stay below freezing for over 880 hours or 35 days.  During this time, a historic blizzard paralyzed the state in January of 1978.

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Pictured:  The Snow Village Courthouse modeled after the Gibson County Courthouse in Princeton, Indiana.

Indiana Statehouse Tour Office

Indiana Department of Administration

Visitors are welcome at the Indiana Statehouse Monday through Saturday.  For more information, please contact the tour office.

Note:  The Indiana Statehouse will be closed Friday, December 23 through Monday, December 26 and Saturday, December 31 through Monday, January 2.

(317) 233-5293
captours@idoa.in.gov

     From The Indianapolis News on December 25, 1922:

     A beautiful Christmas for all steam and electric railroads radiating from Indianapolis was reported by officials of the lines today. The weekend traffic, in fact, the volume for all of the Christmas shopping season, has been far greater than any previous year in the history of local steam and railway traffic.  Although hourly schedules were preserved, each train was enlarged from one to three and four cars and every train, going or coming, was filled to capacity. It was said that no estimate could be made as to the number of Christmas travelers passing through Union Station in the last several days.