Morgan Twp. Driving Tour (St. Charles and Scipio)

Sometime in the past several years, I came across a nicely-produced little booklet offering a self-guided driving tour of historic Morgan Township, created by the Morgan Township Historical Society. I've long wanted to do this, so this past Friday I twisted the lovely Robin's arm and we headed out for dinner and a driving tour for our date night.

We drove through the tiny towns of Auburn (once known as Skinnersburg and Roberts Corner) and Isis (previously called Gandertown, Mount Auburn, Houck, and Selkirk) on our way to tiny St. Charles, where the above schoolhouse was built in 1892 (it has since also housed an I.O.O.F. Lodge, a library, and post office). St. Charles has also been called Stewart's Corner and Ragsdill's Crossroads at various times.

Right next to the schoolhouse in bustling downtown St. Charles is the Methodist Church. The cemetery next to the church was laid out in 1814 and the Methodist Society was formed in 1819. The current church structure was built in 1886.

Further down the road, just this side of the Ohio/Indiana border is the town known as Scipio on the Indiana side and Philanthropy on the Ohio side. A Union Church was established in 1860 by four different denominations. The present Baptist church was built in 1885. The cemetery next to it was laid out in 1868.

Near the church is the Beard Home, a brick house built in 1852 by James Beard, Jr. The log cabin it replaced had been the residence of William D. Jones, the first Philanthropy postmaster, from 1832-1836.

From there, we set out for the Governor Bebb Preserve and Pioneer Village, which I will relate in tomorrow's post.