Indiana Historic Preservation: State Awards $1.2M in Grants

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources has announced the distribution of $1.2 million in preservation grants to twelve projects across the state. The funding aims to protect local history, ranging from structural repairs to archaeological studies. A primary focus of this cycle is the preservation of the Alice Dean, a Union naval vessel that sank in the Ohio River during the Civil War.

The conflict surrounding the ship dates to July 1863. Three days after the Battle of Gettysburg, a small postal boat traveling between Kentucky and Indiana sent a distress signal. The Alice Dean responded to the call. However, the distress signal was a trap set by Confederate forces under General John Hunt Morgan. Morgan's troops captured the boat and used both vessels to ferry soldiers from Kentucky into Indiana, launching an offensive that would become known as Morgan's Raid.

The raid moved through Corydon, Salem, and Vienna before concluding in Ohio with Morgan's defeat and capture. Before the raiders entered Indiana, they burned the Alice Dean. The vessel sank to the riverbed and has remained there for more than 150 years. Parts of the wreck still straddle the border between Indiana and Kentucky despite long-standing recovery efforts.

Charles Beeker, director of Indiana University's Center of Underwater Science, is leading the effort to study the site. He seeks to gather data that will allow the wreck to function as a living museum. Beeker views the site as part of the maritime landscape and underwater cultural heritage. "They don't make many more historic shipwrecks," Beeker said.

The DNR's Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology will provide $656,000 of the total funding. Matching funds from the federal government will bring the total project value to more than $1.2 million. Other grants in this batch will finance masonry repairs in South Bend, Cannelton, Terre Haute, and Plymouth. Additional funds will support a study in New Harmony and a request for federal recognition of a site in Fort Wayne.

The department is currently accepting public comments on all twelve awarded projects. The comment period will remain open until the end of the calendar year. Interested parties can review the details of the funded initiatives in the department's published documentation.