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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
First Families
While governments are not known for their humor, sometimes their actions can be pretty funny. For example, when the Indiana General Assembly met in Corydon for its Sixth Session in December 1821 to conduct the serious business of enacting laws for the state, a bill creating Marion County passed and … Read More
100 Years Ago: Jan. 23-Feb. 3
From The Indianapolis Star, Friday, February 3, 1922: The new Christamore Settlement House will be built in Haughville following yesterday’s decision by the College Settlement Association’s board authorizing the purchase of lots at Tremont Avenue and West Michigan Street. The $50,000 (2020: $786,121) building, designed by architect Lee Burns, will … Read More
100 Years Ago: Jan. 21-27
From The Indianapolis News, Friday, January 27, 1922: A nine-hole golf course will be laid out on the former Dissette estate, north of Irvington, following a decision made yesterday by the board of park commissioners. A committee of Irvington golfers asked that a golf course be established on the Dissette … Read More
100 Years Ago: Jan. 14-20
From The Indianapolis Times, Tuesday, January 17, 1922: Sixty destitute men, with families from six to nine persons, went to work cleaning streets and sewers today as a step toward relieving the city’s unemployment situation. These are the first of 200 men who will be put to work as needed … Read More
100 Years Ago: Jan. 7-13
From The Indianapolis Star, Thursday, January 12, 1922: “I’m for the underdog,” Mayor Lew Shank declared in announcing a plan to put cots in the old county workhouse building, Twenty-first St. and Northwestern Ave., to provide overnight lodging for the needy and “broke.” Speaking to representatives of the Indianapolis Church … Read More