Why Hoosier?

Why are we Hoosiers? What a strange word. And so many stories. 

Hoosier started out as Hooshers. The joke was people in Indiana would receive a knock at the door and yell "hoos here?"

It was also said that after a bar fight an ear was found on the floor and someone yelled "Who's ear?"

The first known mention of the word Hoosier was in 1827 in a letter. I don't know who wrote it or who it was sent to but this is the quote - "There is a yankee trick for you - done up by a Hoosier"

Some think Hoosier means "hearty, courageous group". I kind of like that one!

The following seems to make the most sense in where the name came from 

Jacob Piatt Dunn(an Indiana Historian) claimed that "hoo" comes from the Saxon language and means a cliff, ridge or hill. He believed the "sier" comes from shire which means hill country, mountain region.

It is said that people in Southern Indiana were first called Hoosiers and that it spread to the rest of the state. What it boils down to is Hoosier could be another name for Hillbilly or redneck. I am a hillbilly at heart so that works for me!

Jacob Piatt Dunn Jr also traced the word "hoozer" to the Cumberland dialect of England. This makes sense because Immigrants from Cumberland England settled in the Southern Mountains (Cumberland Mountains, Cumberland Gap etc). Their descendants then settled Southern Indiana bringing the word that became "Hoosier" with them.

It looks like we may never know for certain why or how it started but it is here to stay.

What is Walking Small Town Indiana

What is Walking Small Town Indiana?

2 lifelong friends from a small town(North Liberty) with a goal of visiting EVERY small town in Indiana. We go to these towns and I literally walk around town taking pictures. We share the pictures and info about the area.

We love the charm and slow pace of small towns. If you do too, "come catch your breath with us" at Walking Small Town Indiana. www.facebook.com/walkingsmalltownindiana

More Posts

We are hoping to start keeping up with the blog more. Our Facebook page is established and growing! I try to post pictures daily. We will try to start writing posts about festivals and attractions we have visited.

Angie, my co-adventurer has been talking about writing some posts also. She has some interesting things to write about.

One of our goals is to visit every small town in Indiana. This is going to take time and money considering we live in the Northern middle part of the state! Each time we go on an adventure we try to get to 1-2 new counties!

Something new that I have just started is an online store with items featuring my pictures. I have many 2016 Calendars to choose from along with a few other items. If you would like to check them out you can visit
http://www.createphotocalendars.com/Shop/walkingsmalltownindiana

If you would like to visit my website for scenic landscapes for sale you can visit
http://shellyplatz.moonfruit.com
Right now it is small but will be working on making it bigger.

To see the many albums of pictures that we have posted you can go to
https://www.facebook.com/walkingsmalltownindiana/photos_stream?tab=photos_albums

Please stay tuned as we hope to grow Walking Small Town Indiana! I am trying to work my way out of home daycare and into full time photography in the future. The more time I get for photography, the more pictures I can share with all of you!

I have made a new website that has some of my pictures for sale. Right now I am just starting out so I don't have a lot on there. I am hoping to add more at a later date. If you want to check out my site it's at   http://shellyplatz.moonfruit.com If you live near me and want to place an order and are willing to pick up, I can waive the shipping fee....just contact me first. Thanks!

Also, if you have not seen it yet, visit us on facebook www.facebook.com/walkingsmalltownindiana I will be posting pictures there but keeping this for writing about new places we visit.

Hello everyone! It's been a long time. Things are always super busy and hectic for me. I haven't had time to keep posting like I wanted to. I am hoping to change that and spend a lot more time on my photography and visiting small town Indiana.

I have created a Facebook page to go along with this blog. I hope the two together will get the word out there about the interesting things small towns have.

The Facebook page will have some of my older pictures for now but eventually I will have newer stuff to post. I have a lot of pictures I need to get web ready, just haven't had the time to work on them.

For those that don't know, I am self-employed in child care and work a 55 hour week. I also have parents who are getting up there in age and an aunt that I try to visit and spend time with. So, with all I have going on, it's hard to find a time to get out there.

My friend Angie and I call it a "peace day" when we finally find time to meet up and just enjoy the slow pace of a small town, the fresh smell of country air and the beautiful old buildings we find along the backroads.

I hope you all enjoy our adventures as well! Please "like" us on facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/walkingsmalltownindiana

And as always..if you know of a small town we should visit let us know!

New Carlisle

New Carlisle is a small town located in St. Joseph County on US 20 between South Bend and Michigan City. It has a population of about 1800. Not far away is Hudson Lake and Rolling Prairie.

New Carlisle is a very nice, clean small town with several businesses. It is a very pretty town. New Carlisle is also home to the famous house from "PRANCER".

The house is now turned into a bed and breakfast with a museum. It is called Inn at the Old Republic. This shows you a bit of the house and its history http://www.innatoldrepublic.net/ , it's very beautiful there. I did take some pictures.

We wandered around the downtown, enjoying music playing and the smells and beautiful colors of fall. There's a Wells Fargo Bank, a dentist office, some shops, a hardware, a coffee shop, and a hair salon.

There's a place called Miller's Home Cafe which offers a smorgasboard. It's a very tasty place! They also have a place which serves Austrian Food. I have not had the chance to visit there yet. It's called Moser's Austrian Cafe. Yes - New Carlisle calls most of their restaurants - Cafe.

In the summer they have "hometown days" and a town wide yard sale. In the fall there is a Heritage Fair where people are dressed like the old days and show how to do tatting, chair weaving etc.

It's worth the trip to visit!

To enjoy more pictures of New Carlisle click my link! It should come through as a slideshow!

http://s94.photobucket.com/user/shellyplatz/slideshow/Walking%20Small%20Town%20Indiana/New%20Carlilse

Long long winter

Hello my loyal followers (all 2 of you)!

 I am sure you have anxiously been awaiting the snow to melt so I could bring you more Walking Small Town Indiana. Well, the time has come! We are out walking the small towns once again! You can look forward to new pictures and descriptions of some of Indiana's smallest towns. I may throw in a bigger "city" here and there as well. Don't worry, what is a bigger "city" to me is still considered "small town" to most people.

I am always looking for more small towns to visit - especially if there is a festival or town wide yard sale going on! Please send in your suggestions. Currently, I can only go as far as I can drive in a day and be back home that night so it has to be nearby. Even little towns that are no more than one building are fine to suggest. The smaller the better!

Generally what we do is pick out a small town to visit and then make a big circle(or square as it may be) to other small towns that aren't too far away. That's if it's really small! The "bigger" small towns do take longer and we could end up spending the whole day there, especially if there are businesses we can check out!

Stay tuned for New Carlisle. Pictures and post coming soon. We look forward to taking you on many adventures with us this year!