usa: indiana: moscow, marion, and fairmount

In previous posts I'm pretty sure I've mentioned some of the 'international' city names in Indiana. While looking at a map I found another one, Moscow. Since I currently live in Moscow, Russia, I figured I should see what Moscow, Indiana is like.

Wikipedia tells me Moscow, Indiana goes all the way back to 1832, which is amazing. The town is so small it doesn't even have a post office. There was one originally, but it closed more than 100 years ago.

Moscow, Indiana is now an unincorporated community, there are less than 100 people in town. I can't find exact numbers, but that seems about right. Looking at the map shows just a few cross streets. I think I saw a stop sign? I wonder where kids go to school, if there are any kids in town.

The drive from Bloomington to Moscow was ridiculous, as Moscow is very very rural. The distance by road is almost 90 miles, going on a lot of county roads. It took me around 90 minutes!

After Moscow I headed north, toward the city of Marion. The reason for visiting Marion came from a Lonely Planet author who is originally from Marion. In an Instagram post he mentioned that James Dean was born in Marion, and grew up in nearby Fairmount, so I decided to do a tour de Dean. When I found out James Davis was also born in Marion and grew up in Fairmount I decided to change my day tour name to 'tour de James.'

Fun fact: Marion is where Julia Roberts married Lyle Lovett in 1993. They chose Marion in which to get married because one of the bus drivers for Lovett's band went to church there.

Marion, Indiana is in Grant County, with a resident count of just under 30,000. The city is named for Francis Marion, an army general during the American Revolutionary War. Some fighting took place in the area during the war, but the city wasn't established until 1831. The city is now mostly industrial, producing products like paper plates.

It wasn't hard to find the exact spot James Dean was born, as there is a marker right next to a park platz. Dean was born in an apartment building that no longer exists, but the town doesn't want you to forget.

By the time I saw this marker, it was after noon and I'd driven for over three hours already. I was hungry, since I hadn't eaten breakfast, so I looked to find a diner for lunch. The first two I found were closed (even though they were listed as open on the map, argh,) but the third option saved me. Good food, cheap food, good service. What's not to love about a small town diner?

After eating I found a city park, and the walking trail that has been developed through the park. It was a nice walk, mostly along a river. Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of shade along the trail, so I didn't walk as far or as fast I would've in better weather.

After my walk I went back to my car, and drove 12 miles south to Fairmount, Indiana. Fairmount currently has less than 3000 residents, and seems to be mostly a bedroom community for Marion.

The area Fairmount was settled around the same time as Marion, in the 1830s. The people who founded it were completely different though, they were Quakers coming from North Carolina. The city itself was platted in 1850, and officially incorporated in 1870.

James Dean lived in Fairmount in the 1940s, with his aunt and uncle, and graduated from Fairmount High School in 1949. The high school no longer exists, it was torn down in 2015. 

I have no idea who thought it was a good idea to tear down the school, but the stage on which Dean performed was saved from destruction.

My first sight in town was actually from the end of his life: the cemetery in which he is buried. It wasn't hard to find the gravestone, I was surprised it wasn't very big. There are a few flowers, and other items left from fans, but in the grand scheme of things, you wouldn't know a famous actor was buried there.

After the cemetery, I drove just slightly north, to the farm where Dean grew up. It is still owned by the family, which allows you to pull into the driveway and take a photo of the farmhouse.

From there it was a quick drive back to the center of Fairmount, to visit the James Dean Gallery. It's basically a private collection of anything and everything related to the actor. In front of the building was a lifesize statue of the guy, wearing a red jacket and jeans.

I paid my entrance fee of a couple dollars while asking the owner how the place came to be. He said he moved from New Jersey to Fairmount to open the place!

On display were James Dean photos, souvenirs, records, etc... There were quite a few international items, though Dean was American, he was internationally known. My favourite item was a small case with a basketball trophy, and a photo of Dean from his high school basketball days. High school basketball is life in Indiana.

From there I walked a couple blocks to a small park, with a bust of Dean in the middle. Not very exciting, to be honest. After that I went back to my car and looked more closely at the Grant County tourist information brochure I'd gotten at the Gallery. There were sights listed, and more importantly, there were food spots listed.

I decided to add one more sight to my day: a covered bridge. I love covered bridges, even though they all look pretty similar. This one was near the sight of a former mill, just outside the town of Matthews. Very pretty, and I liked the information/history sign at one end of the bridge.

The bridge was a measly eight miles from dinner. Well, not dinner, just dessert. Ivanhoes is a diner best known for its long list of sundae options. I went for the one in the picture in the brochure: a strawberry shortcake sundae. They give you a choice of whipped cream or ice cream or both on top of the shortcake. I chose both, but when I go back, I'll just get the ice cream. It was a big serving, and beautiful in the way of food porn.

Just outside the diner was a Garfield statue. Looking more closely at the Grant County brochure, I found out it was just one of many Garfield statues. Apparently there is a 'trail' of Garfield statues around the county! I need to come back to see the rest of them :)

I'm glad I had the sundae, as it took me nearly 3 hours to get back to Bloomington. Driving around Indianapolis in the evening is not fun, especially when there are wrecks and road construction to deal with.