GIS of Nature Spot
Source: Monroe County's eGIS. Taken by Claire VanLandingham, 2010.
Map of Bloomingotn in 1856
Source: Monroe County Recorder. Picture taken by Claire VanLandingham, 2010.
This is the atlas where the previous image was aquired.
Source: Monroe County Recorder. Picture taken by Claire VanLandingham, 2010.
My nature spot, the part of the arboretum with the pond, has an interesting history. In earlier journal entries, I have talked about the recent history since the University has owned the property. To summarize: The Women's Memorial Hall and Memorial Stadium were built in this spot in 1925. In 1971 Memorial Stadium was renamed Tenth Street Stadium; the stadium was demolished in 1982, when the Arboretum was constructed.
On the GIS picture (from Monroe County), you can see all the different parcels of land, indicated by the red lines. It can be assumed from the small red rectangles on the left side that there used to be private residences set up like a neighborhood just adjacent to the arboretum. According to the 1922-23 Bloomington City Directory, these residences still existed into the early 1900s, long after the University had acquired the land. The red lines also show that my portion of the arboretum used to be two separate parcels of land, owned by different people. The side adjacent to the Wells Library was the site of the first IUB chapter house of Phi Delta Theta fraternity (Phi Delta Theta, 2010). The brothers purchased this house in 1913 from Madeline Wylie who owned it at the time. However, the house was known as the "Old Harry Axtell farm". This indicates that this land may have been used for agriculture, or at least for herding cattle or other animals.
The other half of the property was deeded to the University in the year 1858 from the State of Indiana. Whether this land was given to the University so they could expand or whether it was bought from the state is unknown. (Or at least I couldn’t find it). According to a Bloomington township map from 1856, this land was owned by G.G. Dunn. You can see this map in the picture. Upon further research, I learned that George Grundy Dunn was a lawyer who originally worked in Bedford, Indiana. He then served as a Senator for the Whig party in the Thirtieth Congress (1847-1849) and then served as a state senator until 1852 when he resigned. He later served in the Thirty-fourth Congress (1855-1857) as an Oppositionist. He died in 1857, 6 months after his term was over. This explains why the property was sold to the university in 1858; the former owner had just died.
From other sources I have read that George G. Dunn willed many things to the University. He owned much of the land that is now considered campus. The only part he did not will to IU was the small Dunn Cemetery, or as he called it, “God’s acre” (Carey, Charles, 2006). This cemetery remains private property of the Dunn family, and only people descendant from their family are allowed to be interred there. Hoagy Carmichael petitioned to be buried in the Dunn cemetery but was turned down because he is not related to the Dunns.
An article from the early 1900s claims that 100 acres between E. 10th street to E. 3rd street were purchased by the Dunn family and used as their farm. It also says that the area where the HPER is now was land used by the Dunns for grazing cattle. Though the specific use of my nature spot was not mentioned in this article, it can be inferred that it was used as some sort of farming land.
Works Cited:
Carey, Charles. 2006. Dunn Cemetery.
Monroe County. 2010. Monroe County, Indiana, eGIS. http://gis.co.monroe.in.us/egis/#.
Monroe County History Center. 2010. http://www.monroehistory.org/.
Monroe County Recorder. 2010. http://www.co.monroe.in.us/tsd/Government/TaxProperty/Recorder.aspx.
Phi Delta Theta. 2010. Chapter History.
Wikipedia. 2010. George G. Dunn.
Source: Monroe County's eGIS. Taken by Claire VanLandingham, 2010.
Map of Bloomingotn in 1856
Source: Monroe County Recorder. Picture taken by Claire VanLandingham, 2010.
This is the atlas where the previous image was aquired.
Source: Monroe County Recorder. Picture taken by Claire VanLandingham, 2010.
My nature spot, the part of the arboretum with the pond, has an interesting history. In earlier journal entries, I have talked about the recent history since the University has owned the property. To summarize: The Women's Memorial Hall and Memorial Stadium were built in this spot in 1925. In 1971 Memorial Stadium was renamed Tenth Street Stadium; the stadium was demolished in 1982, when the Arboretum was constructed.
On the GIS picture (from Monroe County), you can see all the different parcels of land, indicated by the red lines. It can be assumed from the small red rectangles on the left side that there used to be private residences set up like a neighborhood just adjacent to the arboretum. According to the 1922-23 Bloomington City Directory, these residences still existed into the early 1900s, long after the University had acquired the land. The red lines also show that my portion of the arboretum used to be two separate parcels of land, owned by different people. The side adjacent to the Wells Library was the site of the first IUB chapter house of Phi Delta Theta fraternity (Phi Delta Theta, 2010). The brothers purchased this house in 1913 from Madeline Wylie who owned it at the time. However, the house was known as the "Old Harry Axtell farm". This indicates that this land may have been used for agriculture, or at least for herding cattle or other animals.
The other half of the property was deeded to the University in the year 1858 from the State of Indiana. Whether this land was given to the University so they could expand or whether it was bought from the state is unknown. (Or at least I couldn’t find it). According to a Bloomington township map from 1856, this land was owned by G.G. Dunn. You can see this map in the picture. Upon further research, I learned that George Grundy Dunn was a lawyer who originally worked in Bedford, Indiana. He then served as a Senator for the Whig party in the Thirtieth Congress (1847-1849) and then served as a state senator until 1852 when he resigned. He later served in the Thirty-fourth Congress (1855-1857) as an Oppositionist. He died in 1857, 6 months after his term was over. This explains why the property was sold to the university in 1858; the former owner had just died.
From other sources I have read that George G. Dunn willed many things to the University. He owned much of the land that is now considered campus. The only part he did not will to IU was the small Dunn Cemetery, or as he called it, “God’s acre” (Carey, Charles, 2006). This cemetery remains private property of the Dunn family, and only people descendant from their family are allowed to be interred there. Hoagy Carmichael petitioned to be buried in the Dunn cemetery but was turned down because he is not related to the Dunns.
An article from the early 1900s claims that 100 acres between E. 10th street to E. 3rd street were purchased by the Dunn family and used as their farm. It also says that the area where the HPER is now was land used by the Dunns for grazing cattle. Though the specific use of my nature spot was not mentioned in this article, it can be inferred that it was used as some sort of farming land.
Works Cited:
Carey, Charles. 2006. Dunn Cemetery.
Monroe County. 2010. Monroe County, Indiana, eGIS. http://gis.co.monroe.in.us/egis/#.
Monroe County Recorder. 2010. http://www.co.monroe.in.us/tsd/Government/TaxProperty/Recorder.aspx.
