Survey find A unique Spanish Mission style church in Francesville caught our surveyor’s eye during work in Pulaski County. Constructed in 1951, the Saint Francis Solano Catholic Church stands out in Indiana as an unusual example of an architectural style more commonly identified with the American Southwest. The stylistic choice was not whimsical: Saint Francis Solano was born in Andalusia, a community in southern Spain, and the parish chose to honor the saint in architecture as well as name.   Historic Landmarks Foundation documented the church during our inventory of historic sites and structures in Pulaski County, now available for purchase. For more information about the survey, contact Suzanne Stanis, at Historic Landmarks Foundation, 800-450-4534, stanis@historiclandmarks.org.

Information is power, and the information gathered by the Indiana Historic Sites and Structures Inventory is a powerful tool for saving, revitalizing, and preserving Hoosier heritage.

 

Federal law requires each state to complete such an inventory. In Indiana, the Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology (DHPA) is responsible for the inventory, also called the survey program. Since 1978, Historic Landmarks Foundation has partnered with the DHPA by conducting the survey on a county-by-county basis.

 

The projects are funded in part by grants from the U.S. Department of Interior, National Park Service’s Historic Preservation Fund program, administered by the DHPA.

 

Each county’s survey results are captured in an illustrated report. The reports list all inventoried structures, and include brief histories of cities and towns, plus photographs and maps. Historic Landmarks is currently surveying Parke, Tipton and Union counties, with reports scheduled for publication in 2010.

 

Check to see if your county has been surveyed and find out more about purchasing survey reports.

 

For more information about the Indiana Historic Sites and Structures Inventory, contact Historic Landmarks’ survey coordinator at 800-450-4534, 317-639-4534 or stanis@historiclandmarks.org. You may find answers in our list of frequently asked questions about the architectural survey program.