A Secret Society?

Many people may not know what the Freemasons are, but they aren't necessarily a secret either. The masonic lodge building here in Terre Haute is about 90 years old. This building was actually built to be fireproof because just before it was built in 1915, there were many fires that destroyed many buildings. Today there are about 2,000 members of the fraternity.

There isn't as many members as there used to be though. More recently, Freemasons have gotten more attention after the releases of, "The Da Vinci Code" and "National Treasure". To join the fraternity, there are a few requirements that have to be met; must be a man of good morals, depending on where you live at least 18 years old or in some cases 21, have a belief in a Supreme Being, ability to support themself and their family, and the most important one is to join on thier own free will.

I have three members of my family that are part of the Freemasons, and even though I know people that are in it, I still do not know what they really do or talk about. The Freemasons are a big part of our history that at times is still a mystery.

Indiana Theater

A place that I thought was quite interesting, that I havent had a chance to go to, is the Indiana Theater here in Terre Haute, In. I remember driving by it one day and was amazed that there was a theater that looked like it did and you don't see very many theaters like that around here. I looked to see what the price was to go watch a movie and was surpirsed to see that you can enjoy a movie for only $4.00. You definitely can't go watch a movie for that at a regular movie theater.

The theater can seat 1,600 people, and the screen that the movies are played on is the second largest in Indiana. The screen can also be lifted up for people to do live performances. I think that this is a great thing to have in Terre Haute, and a great place for families to go to have fun. This again is another part of the history that is only a few blocks away from us.

Clabber Girl

One building that I have been in that many people probably don't really know much about is Clabber Girl.

In 1892, this building pictured to the right, known as the Hulman & Company building, Clabber Girl, was built in Terre Haute, IN, and still stands today. Starting in the grocery business, Hulman & Co later expanded into baking powder, which during this time period was made with a mixture of baked fireplace ash and sour milk, known as "clabber." Herman Hulman perfected a baking powder mixture, and came up with the name, "Clabber Girl."

It stayed open until 1995, then closed, sitting empty for a few years, until they decided that they wanted this to be someplace for the community to come and see the history that is right here in Terre Haute, IN.

It is now a museum, country store, and bake shop for people to come by and see Indiana's history; including other Indiana-based history on display. It was interesting walking through and seeing parts of history that is sitting right in front of us.