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Author Biography
Steven R. Barnett is Executive Director at the Irvington Historical Society.
Steve Barnett was raised in Irvington. Steve attended School #57, Howe High School (’63), and received a degree from Purdue University (’70). He served in the Indiana National Guard. After a brief hiatus from Irvington, Steve returned to his home town in 1977 with his wife Sue so their three children could grow up in a family friendly environment.
Steve had the good fortune of working with U. S. Representative Andy Jacobs, Jr. and U. S. Representative Julia Carson in the Indianapolis Congressional District Office helping constituents.
After his retirement, Steve became the executive director of the Irvington Historical Society and curator of the Bona Thompson Memorial Center until 2025. Steve was commissioned a Kentucky Colonel by Gov. Wallace G. Wilkinson for service to veterans, and he was appointed a Sagamore of the Wabash by Gov. Joseph Kernan for service to Indiana. In 2016, Steve was named Marion County Historian.
Steven R. Barnett’s Story Archive
100 Years Ago: Sept. 16-22
From The Indianapolis News, Saturday, September 16, 1922: Indianapolis colored citizens have formed an organization for the advancement of civic, social, and political conditions of the city’s colored people. Known as the Better Indianapolis League, the organization resulted from a general feeling among the colored people that they should have … Read More
100 Years Ago: Sept. 9-15
From The Indianapolis Times, Wednesday, September 13, 1922: “Miss Indianapolis,” Thelma Blossom, “the most beautiful girl in America” was welcomed home today by hundreds of people who crowded the plaza at Union Station. The Atlantic City Pageant winner was presented with a big bunch of red roses as she was … Read More
100 Years Ago: Sept. 2-8
From The Indianapolis Star, Wednesday, September 6, 1922: The Indiana Indorsers of Photoplays met yesterday and the picture committee reported it viewed 120 motion pictures last month, indorsing forty. Blood and Sand, In Her Gilded Cage, and Monte Cristo received special mention and are being shown downtown this week. A … Read More
The Old Inn
Today’s weary highway traveler has a choice of at least a couple or more lodgings near the off ramp. However, that was not the case for weary travelers on the National Road in the age of the stagecoach. From the early days when the National Road crossed Warren Township on … Read More
100 Years Ago: Aug. 26-Sept. 1
From The Indianapolis Star, Wednesday, August 30, 1922: As a strategic point in the Mid-West in event of a nation-wide railroad strike that interrupts the mail, the United States Post Office is making Indianapolis a distribution center for a large number of postal trucks. Over three hundred three-quarter ton army … Read More