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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: July 3-9
From The Indianapolis Star, Sunday, July 4, 1920: The Indiana State Chamber of Commerce will host a state housing conference this week to discuss the need of between 50,000 and 75,000 homes at the present time to house workers. The state chamber has designed a “community housing unit” as part … Read More
Mole Hill or Mountain?
In Marion County, “there are many gentle slopes and small elevations in and around [Indianapolis], but nothing that deserves the name of hill, except Crown Hill…and one or two smaller protuberances a mile or two south.” While this observation in the state geologist’s report gave the official topography of the … Read More
100 Years Ago: June 26-July 2
From The Indianapolis Times, Monday, June 28, 1920: Yesterday the soldiers of the McCook Field baseball team were flown from Dayton, OH to play the Speedway Aviation Repair Depot team completing the first airship trip ever made with baseballers as the cargo. Lt. Harris, piloting a twelve passenger Martin bomber, … Read More
100 Years Ago This Week: June 19-25
From The Indianapolis Star, Wednesday, June 23, 1920: Brothers Louis Haag and Julius Haag, Haag Drug Co proprietors, were found guilty yesterday by a jury in Federal court on twenty-eight counts of violating the Reed Amendment, transporting whisky from a “wet” to a “dry” state, and one count of conspiracy … Read More
100 Years Ago: June 12-18
From The Indianapolis Star, Thursday, June 17, 1920: The Kiwanis Club building fund for a hut on the Boy Scout reservation near Ft. Benjamin Harrison has been increased to $3,500 (2019: $45,409). The original plan of building a “bunk house” consisting of a large living room with a fireplace across … Read More