Contact: David Branneman Executive Director Lawrence County Tourism Commission 1-800-798-0769 limestonecountry@frontier.com LAWRENCE COUNTY, INDIANA An unexpected destination found in the heart of Southern Indiana rolling hills, offering recreational landscapes, a rich heritage, and unique experiences. • Located 1-1/2 hours south of Indianapolis and 2-1/2 hours west of Cincinnati. • The two largest cities in Lawrence County are Bedford, the county seat, and Mitchell, the home of Spring Mill State Park. • Called “Limestone Country” because of the county’s rich limestone quarrying and carving heritage. The limestone industry first began in the area in 1827, grew quickly, and thrives today. The Empire State Building and the Pentagon were built using Bedford Limestone. • Lawrence County is the hometown of several astronauts. Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom was born and raised in Mitchell. Charles D. Walker was born and raised in Bedford. Kenneth D. Bowersox grew up in Bedford. Would you like to see a video of Limestone Country? Click here to see WEIU's Heartland Highways Show 707, Limestone Country in Bedford, Indiana. Click on Heartland Highways Series 7, then on the 3rd frame under the viewer to see this episode. ..................................................................................................................... FAVORITE ATTRACTIONS Spring Mill State Park (Mitchell, IN) One of the most popular and unique of all the Indiana state parks because of the variety of activities found there. Opened in 1939, the 1,319 acre Spring Mill State Park is located three miles east of Mitchell, Indiana on Highway 60. Many of the park’s features were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. Located near the front gate, the Grissom Memorial honors astronaut Virgil “Gus” Grissom who was a Mitchell native. Here visitors can see a short film about Grissom and view the Molly Brown space capsule, his space suit and other memorabilia. The park is located in Indiana karst country which is characterized by caves, sinkholes and huge limestone deposits. At least five caves are at the park. Staff conducts underground boat tours at Twin Caves where visitors can expect to see bats, blind crayfish and endangered Northern blind cave fish. Weather permitting, Donaldson Cave can be explored by foot. Spring Mill Inn has 74 guest rooms, an indoor swimming pool and a dining room. The campground includes 187 sites with electricity and 36 primitive sites. In season, there’s a camp store and indoor restrooms with showers. A pioneer village features a blacksmith shop, historic grist mill, leather shop, tavern, distillery and gardens. During frequent special programs, costumed interpreters portray pioneer life in the 1860s. The Hamer Cemetery has modern burial sites as well as graves dating to the mid-1800s. Seven hiking trails total eight miles. Trails range from an easy one-quarter mile walk to a rugged 2 ½ mile hike with 100+ steps. Seasonal activities include horse rides, an Olympic size outdoor swimming pool, fishing, picnic areas including covered pavilions and a nature center that frequently schedules special programs. Bluespring Caverns (Bedford, IN) A guided underground boat ride through a silent and intricate limestone cavern system. • Known as the longest known subterranean river in the United States. • 100 feet below the surface. • Typically 52° in the cavern. • After a heavy rain in the early 1940's, a large pond on the George Colglazier farm disappeared and revealed the cavern entrance which is used today. • Youth groups can spend the night inside Bluespring Caverns. Above-surface activities include prospecting for gems, fossils and arrowheads using the gemstone sluice. • Open Saturdays and Sundays, April 5 – May 25. Open daily May 26 – October 31. Carousel Winery (Bedford, IN) Member of the Indiana Uplands Wine Trail • Handcrafted wines with owner-grown grapes • White Dove white wine won 2005 double gold medal from Tasters Guild International • Opened in 2003 • Tasting room, picnic tables, and gift shop • Free tastings available Persimmon Festival (September 20-25, 2010 in Mitchell, IN) Lawrence County’s largest community event, celebrating the unique local fruit. • Held annually for the last 61 years • Persimmon is a fruit that is grown locally • Persimmon pudding contest is one of the favorite events at the festival • Persimmon pudding is a baked pudding dessert that resembles pumpkin pie filling and is created with the fruit’s pulp. Persimmons Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Ericales Family: Ebenaceae Genus: Diospyros Persimmons are light yellow-orange to dark red-orange in color. They are about the size of a plum and can be spherical, acorn shaped or pumpkin shaped. They have a thin skin with a fibrous, mushy pulp. Its unique taste is similar to pumpkin. They are generally not eaten raw because they contain high levels of soluble bitter tasting tannins before they soften. The bitterness of the tannins can be reduced by ripening the fruit in light for several days. Persimmons are most often used in persimmon pudding, a baked dessert with a taste similar to pumpkin pie filling but with the texture of gingerbread. It is usually served in squares with a dollop of whipped cream. Other uses include cookies, candy and ice cream. Persimmons grow abundantly in Lawrence County. Persimmon pulp is readily available from local residents and farmers’ markets during the fall months. Two cups of persimmon pulp, which is enough for one standard baking pan of persimmon pudding, sells for about $5. Lawrence County Persimmon Festival Persimmon Pudding Recipe Ingredients : 2 cups persimmon pulp 2 cups sugar 3 eggs 1 1/2 cups buttermilk 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 1/2 cups flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 stick butter, melted 1/4 cup milk Mix pulp,sugar, and eggs, then add buttermilk with soda stirred in. Sift flour, salt, cinnamon and baking powder and add mixture. Then add butter, milk and vanilla. Pour mixture into 9-by-13 inch pan sprayed with Pam. Bake at 325 for 45mintues to an hour. Virgil I. Grissom- Lawrence County's Hometown Hero Virgil Ivan (Gus) Grissom was born in Mitchell, Indiana on April 3, 1926. After graduating from Mitchell High School in 1944 he enlisted in the Army Air Corps. Following his initial military service he enrolled at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, where he received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 1950. After graduation he became a pilot in the U. S. Air Force and earned the rank of Lt. Colonel. In 1959 he was chosen by NASA to become one of America’s first seven astronauts. (The other six were Scott Carpenter, John Glenn, Gordon Cooper, Walter Schirra, Alan Shepard and Donald Slayton.) In 1979 the exploits of these astronauts were documented in The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe. The movie version of this book was released in 1983. Grissom became the second American in space when he launched a 15 minute suborbital flight in the Mercury capsule Liberty Bell 7 on July 21, 1961. (Alan Shepard became the first man in space when he launched a similar flight on May 5, 1961.) Grissom named his capsule Molly Brown after the passenger who survived the sinking of the Titanic. NASA was not amused and from then on commanders have been officially forbidden to name their capsules. Grissom was the Command Pilot of Mercury - Redstone 4 in 1961 and Gemini 3 in 1965. He died on January 27, 1967, when a flash fire swept his space capsule during a simulation of an upcoming AS-204 Apollo launching where he was scheduled to be command pilot. The U. S. space program’s first casualties also included astronauts Edward White and Roger Chaffee. Grissom was survived by his wife, Betty, and their two sons, Scott, age 57 and Mark, age 54. His widow now lives in Houston as does son Captain Scott Grissom, a pilot for Fed EX. Mark lives in Mustang, Oklahoma where he works as an air traffic controller. Hometown tributes to Grissom include the Grissom Memorial at Spring Mill State Park. Here visitors can see a short film about Grissom and view the Molly Brown, a space suit and other memorabilia. A 44-foot, 28-ton limestone statue of the Redstone Rocket & the Liberty Bell 7 capsule stands on the lawn of Mitchell’s City Hall. The monument was designed by local stone artisan D. Jack Busch. Charles D. Walker Charles D. Walker was born in Bedford, Indiana on August 29, 1948. He graduated from Bedford High School in 1966 and in 1971 received a BS degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. While never an employee of NASA, he was directly involved in payload preparation and on-pad processing support activities for NASA while employed as a Chief Test Engineer and Payload Specialist for McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Company. He was responsible for training astronaut crews in 1982 and 1983. He accompanied McDonnel Douglas equipment into space and was also the subject of medical experiments in space. Walker traveled 8.2 million miles and spent more than 20 days in space. After a distinguished career in the aerospace industry, he retired from Boeing Company in 2006.He and his wife Susan now live in Annadale, Maryland. Kenneth D. Bowersox U. S. Navy Captain (retired) Kenneth D. Bowersox was born November 14, 1956 in Portsmouth, Virginia, but considers Bedford, Indiana his hometown. After becoming an Eagle Scout, he graduated from Bedford High School in 1974. He received a BS degree in aerospace engineering from the U. S. Naval Academy in 1978 and a MS degree in mechanical engineering from Columbia University in 1989. Bowersox made his first space flight in 1992 aboard the space shuttle Columbia where he conducted physics experiments for two weeks. In 1993 he was part of the Endeavor crew that repaired the Hubble telescope. On November 23, 2002 Bowersox, who is fluent in Russian, took over command of the International Space Station. He was still at this post when the Columbia disaster occurred on February 1, 2003 and the United States temporarily cancelled all space missions. Bowersox returned to earth aboard a Russian space capsule on May 3, 2003. He retired from the U. S. Navy in 2006. He and his wife Annie now live in Houston, Texas. For Travel Information: www.limestonecountry.com Phone: 800-798-0769 Lawrence County Visitors Center 533 W. Main Street in Downtown Historic Mitchell, Indiana