The Courtyard

Bound by Laughery Creek on the north and Grant’s Creek on the south, Ohio County is the smallest county in the United States.

Mr. John James plotted Rising Sun in 1814. By 1816, Methodists and Presbyterians were making Rising Sun a regular stop in their travels.

The earliest Masonic Lodge meetings held in the state of Indiana were in Rising Sun.

The invention of the first steel bladed plow occurred in 1830 by the Clore Plow Company of Rising Sun.  A Museum is now housed on the former manufacturing property.

Shadrack Hathaway arrived in 1817 and built the Courtyard building in 1827.  It was a general store at the time. All of the row houses were completed by 1840 and they became part of the underground railroad system during the Civil War.

Rising Sun is home to the oldest courthouse in continuous use in the state of Indiana. It was built in 1845 with funds raised entirely from donations.

A local builder and mill owner, J.W. Talbott was the great grandfather of Senator Robert Dole.

The 19th Century melodrama, “Blue Jeans”, by playwright Joseph Arthur was set in Rising Sun. It has been seen in repertory theatres throughout the United States.

The first two electric chairs were invented in Rising Sun.

The auto-harp, a coin-operated music player was invented and built by J.W. Whitlock in Rising Sun.

The Laughery Club was the early spring training camp for the Cincinnati Reds baseball team.