Bedford and Oolitic Indiana

Thank you for your comments on my last blog.  I was tired but I was also sick.  I woke up yesterday and my glasses wouldn’t fit.  I did put them on but after thirty minutes when I took them off I had an imprint.  I looked bad and probably scared a few small children.  I took two non drowsy allergy pills and took off down the road.  The swelling went down but my headache remained.  It was an interesting and cruddy day.  I don’t want to get ahead of myself so lets say I saw things and I was happy to be back on the road. 

September 13 and 14 found us in Bedford and Oolitic Indiana.  Bedford is known as the limestone capital of the world, and is surrounded by limestone quarries.  Bedford is known as the limestone capital of the world, and is surrounded by limestone quarries.  A common name for the light gray Indiana limestone quarried in south central Indiana is "Bedford limestone", or "Bedford Oolitic limestone". Much of the limestone used in the construction of various Washington, D.C. monuments was quarried in the Bedford area.

The cemetery in Bedford was wonderful with old stones and statuaries.  I was told to stop there and I am so glad I did.  The most poignant stone was about a WW I veteran who was injured by “shell shrapnel” in 1918 and remained in the hospital until his death in 1940.   His stone listed all of his battles and I was struck by how much he saw at such a young age.  I also found a Stonecutter’s Table stone.  The cemetery was very well tended and it was a a lot of fun exploring it.

We walked down Main Street and visited the Courthouse, which was beautiful.  Then we took off for Oolitic.  The courthouse in Bedford had a very tall statue with beautiful carvings at the base of the statue.  On each side of the statue was statues of eagles.  Behind the main statue was two cannons.  In the Oolitic Indiana town hall they had a statue of Joe Palooka – Defender of Democracy!!!  For those that are too young to remember Joe Palooka – google it.  Poor Joe look a little anorexic and his cheek looked damaged but it is so cool. 

Enjoy the pictures.  I will post more of my adventures tomorrow.

Click here for Bedford Indiana Cemetery pictures.

Click here for Bedford Indiana Pictures.

Click here for Oolitic Indiana Pictures.