Fort Wayne, IN

September 3 and 10, 2017

Johnny Appleseed Grave

Johnny Appleseed (born John Chapman) died in Fort Wayne and may be buried at a location we visited.  At the very least, his life is honored here.

Chapman traveled through Pennsylvania, Ontario, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, planting apple nurseries.  By planting nurseries he was improving the land and establishing land claims.  He sold apple trees from the nurseries and so spread apples through the area.  As Chapman traveled, he shared the teachings of Edward Swedenborg of the New Church.  Chapman probably planted a variety of apple called Rambo, the fruit of which was used for making cider.  We saw one Rambo apple tree in another Fort Wayne location.

Headwaters Festival Park

A public-private partnership acquired and developed the 33 acres in this flood-prone area.

The trees are showing hints of red.

The statue pictured above honors Little Turtle (Michikinikwa) who lived in the Fort Wayne area.  He was a Miami war leader who initially fought to half westward expansion.  He subsequently concluded that fighting could not stop incursions into the land of his and other tribes and he encouraged negotiation.  He met our first three presidents and was respected as a peacemaker.

View from the park of the Lincoln Tower on the left and the Allen County courthouse on the right.  We visited both later in the afternoon.

Be a Tourist in Your Own Hometown!

Fort Wayne was having a promotion to encourage residents to get to know its attractions.  We adopted Fort Wayne for the afternoon and enjoyed our visits to three of the 17 sites before closing.

The Old Fort

This is a recreation of an 1815 garrison.  Things got a little confusing when some folks in costume wandered in from a nearby Renaissance fair, but we enjoyed several demonstrations including pouring pewter spoons, making fire with flint and steel, handling arms, parching corn, and firing a musket.  We got pictures of the demonstrations in bold.

Allen County Courthouse

Normally cameras and phones are not allowed in this working courthouse.  Because it was “Tourist Day”, those rules were relaxed.  Lucky for us!

This beaux-arts building was completed in 1902 at a cost of $817, 554.  Restoration a hundred years later cost $8,600,000.  From our perspective, it was SO worth it!

Rotunda

Four murals, each 25 X 45 feet, grace the upper area of the rotunda:  Law and Order, War, Despotism and Joy and Peace.

Hallways leading from the rotunda

Detailed door

Ceilings

The building is elaborately decorated with scagliola, architectural elements that resemble inlays in marble and semi-precious stones.  In this case, columns and walls were made to look like marble.

Circuit Court

Superior Courtroom 1

Superior Courtroom 2

Superior Courtroom 3

The Lincoln Tower

The Lincoln Tower is a 22-story Art Deco building completed in 1930.  It was Indiana’s tallest building until 1962 and Fort Wayne’s tallest building until 1970.  Its structure is fashioned after the Empire State Building, at about 1/5 the size.

The lobby is two stories high with a ceiling that depicts the signs of the zodiac.  The flame design and rays terminating with hands refer to the radiating energy of the sun.

Murals at either end of the lobby complete the design.  Opposite the entry is “The Reception of Energy”, a female figure surrounded by the natural resources of nature:  Agriculture and Stock, Fisheries, Mining, and Water Power.  The two sculptures represent Spring and Summer.

At the opposite end of the room is “The Diffusion of Energy”, represented by a male figure accompanied by Commerce, Science, Labor, Justice, Music, Education, and Architecture..  The sculptures represent Fall and Winter.

We thought the columns in the picture below looked like ribs.  The wrought iron railings feature Indiana industries.