Mission Statement: The "Historic Muncie: Preserving Middletown's Neighborhoods" chronicles the history of Muncie, Indiana, through an interactive online museum detailing the historic districts of the town. This site serves as a research and educational resource for students, professors, citizens, tourists, and the general public. This website draws on pictures, video, and narrative to guide readers through the historic districts and architectural past of Muncie. While functioning primarily as a portal to the past, this site also aims to display the continuing struggle of preserving these historic areas within a town straining toward change.
About: "Historic Muncie: Preserving Middletown's Neighborhoods" is an immersive learning opportunity involving Ball State University students. Funded by a Provost Initiative Grant, the project is partnered with multiple community institutions:
On Campus Partners:
Support and Funding:
Historic Muncie: Preserving Middletown's Neighborhoods was made
possible from a generous gift from Hamer and Phyllis Shafer. The
project was funded through the Shafer Fellows: Hamer and Phyllis
Shafer Fellows Program in 2011 and 2012.
In 2012, the project was also supported by Ball State's Building Better Communities Fellowship Program.
Muncie, Indiana is a city that evolved from an early agricultural community on the White River to the location of one of the most technologically expanding and innovative colleges, Ball State University. However, the town cannot be defined by just the university, as Muncie also has a rich history of industry and culture available for display. This history is preserved by the citizens of Muncie as well as the cultural institutions invested in seeing the city thrive.
These citizens and cultural institutions recognize the historical significance present in the older neighborhoods spread around the city. Historical districts are formed from these neighborhoods to preserve the aspects the civilians hold dear. A street no longer becomes just another street, but instead an important piece of history. All together, the districts form a complete mosaic of the past and present of a culture.
The purpose of this website is to create a more complete perspective of Muncie. The project utilizes teams of Ball State University students to produce documentaries and essays highlighting each of the historical districts of the city. The focus of these documentaries lies in the architectural styles of buildings and their contributions to the city. These are not just random blocks of a town; significant architectural and cultural factors have been observed that led to their historical status. Some buildings provide rare examples of architectural styles representative of eras throughout history, while others were home to the celebrities of industry. These homes and buildings provide a window into the past of Muncie, and highlighting these remarkable contributions to the public will help us all to gather a greater understanding of the city we inhabit.
Meet the Team: