Home: Welcome

OPENING HOURS

April - November

Wednesday - Friday 1 - 4 PM

2nd & 4th Saturdays 11 AM - 4 PM

Last tour of the day typically starts no later than 3:15 PM. Closed holidays and holiday weekends. Do you need a different time for your tour? Call or email us today to see if we can schedule a special tour for your group!

Check out our Facebook Page for the most current information on our hours!

In 1865, on this day in history, the abolition of slavery was ratified into law with the signing of the 13th amendment. Henry S Lane was a staunch supporter of the amendment.

See here a pictorial representation of the 13th amendment signees - Lane is two up and two over from President Abraham Lincoln, who was able to see the amendment signed, on January 31st, but would not live to see it ratified.

❄️☃️ What a beautiful night for Christmas at Lane Place! Thank you to everyone who braved the cold and snow and came out to celebrate the holiday season with us!

Join us tomorrow from 4-6 PM for Christmas at Lane Place! Let’s kick off the holiday season together! 🎉🎄☃️✨

We hope to see you at tomorrow’s Trunk-or-Treat! Bring your family, friends and neighbors!

Last year we had a great turnout (see pictures!) we hope to have even more trick-or-treaters this year! 👻

🎃MCHS Trunk-or-Treat, 3-5 pm at Lane Place!🎃

Our 2nd Annual MCHS Trunk-or-Treat is just 4 days away!!! We are excited to be able to provide this free family friendly event for our community, many thanks goes to Wabash College, our top event sponsor! We hope you’ll come have a spooky good time with us!
🎃 👻

Come have a spooktacular time at our 2nd annual trunk-or-treat, October 26th from 3-5 PM!

A great inaugural year for our Berry Blast! Pictured are three of our winners from the youth and teen category. We look forward to more catapult competitors next year!! 🍓

Balancing our desire for a beautiful arboretum alongside a safe arboretum is usually an easy path to walk. Yesterday and today we had planned on having three trees removed for safety reasons. During that process we concluded that we had to unfortunately remove two additional trees. We strive to keep every tree in our arboretum but sometimes it’s just time to let them go.

A huge thank you for the efficient, safe, controlled removals of these trees by Homestead Tree Experts! Here are some pictures and videos of the awesome work they’ve done here at Lane Place. For those concerned about the loss of the trees, last month we planted two new trees and have plans to plant more in the future!

Thank you to everyone who participated in our Lane Place Grounds Day this past Saturday! We accomplished a lot in our south garden and had an exciting discovery along the way.

Last fall we found a large stone buried in the garden bed. The ground was fairly dry at the time and we didn’t pursue digging the stone out after realizing it was much bigger than we had first realized. We marked the area and wondered what that stone might be and carried on.

Fast forward to last Saturday, the marker had been moved and we ended up trying to dig a hole exactly where that stone was. After realizing what we’d struck we moved over a bit only to once again strike a hard object. Surprisingly, there was another stone! Strange, but we persevered - very much wanting to simply transplant a few plants. However, we then found a third and finally a fourth stone!

Naturally, we all felt very much like Indiana Jones and were determined to not only uncover the stones but to dig them out as well! After a group effort all four stones were successfully extracted.

The stones are a decent size, at roughly 13 in x 13 in x 6 in and weigh possibly upwards of 80 lbs each. Once all the transplanting was done we decided to incorporate the stones into the garden. We’re speculating that these could be foundation stones for an outhouse that might have been originally in the garden area, but that’s all our musing will remain - speculation.

While we still have more work to do, we hope our visitors enjoy the hard work we’ve put into the garden! If you have any ideas on what these stones might be, we’d love to hear them!

When you work for a small museum you often end up being responsible for a wide variety of duties. Today we got to relocate a baby raccoon who has been alone at the front steps for a couple days. Huge thanks to Critter Corner for taking in little Henrietta!

(Originally we decided to call our resident baby raccoon Henry, then discovered it was actually a Henrietta! Sorry Joanna, next time we find a baby animal we’ll name it after you!)

#Crawfordsvilleindiana #laneplace #historichomes #wildliferescue #babyraccoon

We met a cool visitor today while taking a stroll around Lane Place. We love having a wide array of visitors, snow people included! ⛄️ We reopen in March to scheduled tours, call today to set up your tour! (Snowman may or may not still be here)

#uniquelymoco #laneplace #montgomerycountyindiana #historichome #snow #snowman #visit

Join us next Saturday, the 30th, for our annual Christmas at Lane Place! Enjoy seeing our historic home decorated for the holidays! 🎄

#laneplace #crawfordsvilleindiana #montgomerycountyindiana #uniquelymoco #historichomes #christmas #christmasactivities

Happy Halloween! 🎃 We had a fabulous turn out for our first trunk or treat this past Sunday! We look forward to this becoming a yearly tradition! If you weren’t able to make it this year, be sure to come next year!

A huge thank you to our sponsors Wabash College, Tri-County Bank & Trust, Hoosier Heartland State Bank, Kiwanis Club of Crawfordsville, The Hemmerlein Family and Premier Sign Group! 💛

We are excited to have @wabashcollege as one of our top sponsors for the MCHS Trunk or Treat! Our event is just days away, we hope you’ll come have a spooky good time with us!
🎃 👻

We are excited to have @tricountybank as one of our top sponsors for the MCHS Trunk or Treat! Mark your calendars, our spook-tacular event is just one week away!
🎃 👻

Cancelation Notice: Tonight’s evening tour is canceled due to unforeseen circumstances. We still plan to hold next Friday’s Evening Tour. If you have any questions please contact our office at 765-362-3416. We apologize for the inconvenience!

Visit us October 27th from 3-5 PM for our first Trunk or Treat at Lane Place!

Come visit us this week and enjoy our gorgeous garden, magnificent trees and beautiful historic home! Can you tell we love this place?! Come find out why!

Open Wednesday - Friday 1-4 PM, Saturday 11 AM - 4 PM

#uniquelymoco #crawfordsvilleindiana #historichomes #historichouse #garden #laneplace #indiana #historical #historicalsociety #HistoricalSociety #flowers #historichousemuseum

The ramp at Lane Place is completed! We are excited to have a safe pathway and ramp for guests with mobility limitations! While we are unable to be wheelchair accessible (due to level changes and doorway widths), this will go a long way towards welcoming many new guests to our historic home! Many thanks to @montgomerycocommunityfdn for helping this project become a reality and to @davidson_greenhouse_nursery for the beautiful work that was done! Next up is to work on our landscaping in the garden, so keep an eye out for some gorgeous color in our garden this spring and summer! #historichouse #uniquelymoco #crawfordsville #laneplace #accessibility

We are so excited to finally be installing a ramp here at our historic home, Lane Place! While we are unable to make our home wheelchair accessible, we will now have a way to welcome guests into our home who have physical limitations that make stairs difficult. We’ve been collecting donations for a ramp for several years and with the help from a @montgomerycocommunityfdn grant we were finally able to move forward on this project! We’ll post pictures of the completed ramp next week! Thank you @davidson_greenhouse_nursery to the great start your crew has made, you have always been a great partner to our landscape aspirations! 💙

A HUGE thank you to our members and donors, whose generosity helps us keep the MCHS moving forward and open every year! We are a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and do not receive any federal or local tax money to assist with our operation. We exist due to our amazing members and donors!

So, on Giving Tuesday we want to pause and tell you how appreciated your support is to us here at the MCHS. Because of you, we are able to open Lane Place's doors to the public and to hundreds of school children every year. We provide free school tours to Indiana students, maintain Lane Place and the Speed Cabin (an Underground Railroad site), and work on many other historical projects throughout the year. So, thank you to all of you who have supported our mission!

To those who may wish to become a member or donor, you can do so through our website, www.lane-mchs.org, or call our office at 765-362-3416 for more information!

Come visit us this Saturday from 4-6 PM for our Christmas at Lane Place! Enjoy family friendly crafts, music, and an evening tour of Lane Place! Admission is free, come join us before Crawfordsville’s Downtown Party Night!
🕯️🎄🎶

Wondering how to spend this beautiful day? Check out our local Linden Depot Museum’s Midwest Railroad Fair! Find our tent and learn about the Indiana, Bloomington, and Western Railroad! The event ends at 4 today, so finish up lunch and head on over!

#uniquelymoco #crawfordsville #linden #lindendepotmuseum #railroad

We are loving these pops of color!! #garden #laneplace #uniquelymoco #flowers #historichomes

We are incredibly thankful that in spite of the widespread tree debris on our grounds, all of our buildings are safe! While our garden was safe during yesterday’s storm, the rest of our grounds were not. Thankfully, we will probably only need to remove one tree. Many of our other trees sacrificed large limbs to the high winds.

Flowers blooming, tomatos turning red, fresh mulch spread about - these are just a few of our favorite things we’re seeing around Lane Place and the Speed Cabin! Have you been by to see all the changes on our grounds?

A huge thank you goes to Davidson Greenhouse & Nursery, Inc. for the many plant and (copious amounts of) mulch donations as well as the incredible job they did on our west entrance!

Another giant thank you to Paula Cloncs-Furr and Dennis Furr for the countless hours they have put into our garden and landscaping! Our south garden, as well as the landscaping around the house and cabin have greatly benefited from the time and thoughtful care Paula & Dennis have given them this year. Thank you!!

If you haven’t been by in a while, do yourself a favor and come check out all that we’ve done outside! We still have a ways to go, but what we have done is absolutely beautiful!

Want to see more landscape changes happen at Lane Place? Give today to help us reach our fundraising goals! Check out our website for ways to donate!

Our grounds will soon be home to the Strawberry Festival (June 9-11), but throughout the year we have historic house tours, events and many people who come here for photos during all kinds of special events (prom, weddings, family photos, birthday shoots, and more)! Help us preserve Lane Place and continue beautifying and caring for our grounds by donating today!

#uniquelymoco #crawfordsvilleindiana #laneplace #historichousemuseum #garden #beautiful

Please excuse the photo dump of our GORGEOUS grounds. Come enjoy Lane Place’s beautiful fall colors before they fade away! 🍂

#laneplace #uniquelymoco #historichousemuseum #crawfordsvilleindiana #fall #leaves

“From Bronner’s Worlds Largest Christmas Store at Frankenmuth (Little Bavaria),MI, to the Soo Locks at Sault Ste. Marie across the St. Mary’s River from Canada, the latest MCHS trip was loads of fun and educational! Come join us on our next adventure!”

- Terri Fyffe, MCHS Board Secretary and traveler

Photo credits to Steve Frees and Terri Fyffe

April showers ☔️ bring May flowers 💐 - so glad we’ve had a number of flowers around Lane Place not wait for May!

Come take a tour of our historic home and enjoy our beautiful green space!

#uniquelymoco #laneplace #historichousemuseum #crawfordsvilleindiana #flowers #tulips #garden #spring

We’re excited to announce that we’ve been awarded a Programming and Capacity-Building
Grant of $10,000 from @INHumanities with funds from the American Rescue Plan. These funds
will allow us to continue supporting our community’s COVID-19 recovery efforts through the MCHS COVID-19 Oral History Project. Look for more information on this project in the coming year!

What a gorgeous day at Lane Place! Enjoy the sun, walk under the beautiful Tulip & Sycamore trees and come knock at our front door. We would love to walk you through a little of our history.

#laneplace #uniquelymoco #historichousemuseum #crawfordsvilleindiana #trees #beautifuldestination #nofilter

Can you guess what this item is? 🤔

Share your guess! 💡

#mchslaneplace #uniquelymoco #crawfordsvilleindiana #historichousemuseum #whatisthat

Textures of Lane Place: Any guesses on what this week’s item is?

Comment below with your guess!

#historichousemuseum #antique #uniquelymoco #crawfordsvilleindiana #mchslaneplace #whatisit #texture

This is our first: Textures of Lane Place! Can you tell us what this item is and where to find it?

Think you know what it is? Comment below! Don’t know what it is, come visit us for a tour today!

Look for a new post every Friday!

#historichousemuseum #antiques #uniquelymoco #crawfordsvilleindiana #mchslaneplace #whatisthat #texture

What a difference a month makes! Our garden has really bloomed in the past few weeks. Full of beautiful blooms and lovely little pollinators 🌸🐝

#laneplace #uniquelymoco #crawfordsvilleindiana #historichomes #garden #victoriangarden #flowers #summer

Come visit us this Thursday and Friday from 1-4 PM to see local Pamela Gash, a Civil War reenactor, who will work on crafting skills from the time!

#laneplace #uniquelymoco #crawfordsvilleindiana #reenactment #livedemo #civilwar

Come check out our tent at the #strawberryfestival here in #crawfordsvilleindiana!! 🍓

Our garden is ready for all your #strawberryfestival selfies!

#uniquelymoco #laneplace #historichousemuseum #crawfordsvilleindiana #flowers #garden #selfieready

Doesn’t our garden look spiffy?! It’s all thanks to our local Flower Lovers Garden Club and @davidson_greenhouse_nursery!! What a blessing to receive their generous donations of hard work, plants and mulch 💚🌼🌿

#uniquelymoco #laneplace #historichousemuseum #crawfordsvilleindiana #springishere #flowers #gardening

Happy Arbor Day! Thank you to @crawfordsvillemainstreet for the beautiful additions to our arboretum! Today we planted a Valley Forge Elm and an American Hornbeam.

The Hornbeam was dedicated to Don Bickel. We were honored to have one of his sons present today for the dedication. While the new Elm replaces our old Elm that was recently removed due to disease.

#uniquelymoco #crawfordsvilleindiana #laneplace #historicalsociety #arboretum #greenspace #arborday

What an unusual April day here at Lane Place! ❄️🌷

#mchs #uniquelymoco #laneplace #historichomes #aprilsnow #snow #spring #flowers #springsnow #crazyweather #crawfordsvillein #crawfordsvilleindiana #museum

Our final extra shelf was delivered today and our office space has never looked better! A huge thank you to @reclaimed_by_grace_designs for our giant gorgeous shelving unit and to the @montgomerycocommunityfdn for the grant money for safe and beautiful shelving! This has made such a difference in how our research material and organizational documents are organized 💛

#laneplace #mchs #uniquelymoco #mccf #handcrafted #local #blessed #organized #historichome #historicalsociety

This beautiful staircase was thoroughly swept today in preparation of opening in March.

After Christmas decor it was covered in remnants of fake snow. After over an hour and a half of careful work it looks grand! However, I’m glad we only do a sweep like this once a year!

#laneplace #mchs #uniquelymoco #historichomes #victorian #stairs #crawfordsvilleindiana #indiana #whenyouworkatamuseum

We had a visitor here at Lane Place today⛄️😊

#laneplace #uniquelymoco #crawfordsvilleindiana #snow #snowman #historichomes #museum

A beautiful snowfall around Crawfordsville ❄️☃️🌨

#uniquelymoco #laneplace #crawfordsvilleindiana #carnegie #masonictemple #lewwallacestudy #smalltownamerica #snow #winter #historichouses #museum #oldbuildings

Christmas has come to Lane Place! When you close at the beginning of December (last open day is Dec. 5th) and you’ve been closed most of the year - what do you do? Pull out the Christmas decor, of course🎄🎄🎄So sorry, Thanksgiving, just drop the turkey off at the front door, we’ve got some carols to sing 🎶

#laneplace #uniquelymoco #historichousemuseum #crawfordsvilleindiana #christmasvibes #christmasdecor #skipthanksgiving

Imagine this, at one point in time the trees were so thick you could barely see Lane Place from the street 🍂

#laneplace #uniquelymoco #historichousemuseum #crawfordsvilleindiana #fall #windy

It may not feel like fall today but it’s starting to look a lot like fall at Lane Place! ☀️🍁🍂

#laneplace #uniquelymoco #historichousemuseum #crawfordsvilleindiana #fall #leaves

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Our Story

The MCHS is located at historic Lane Place in Crawfordsville, IN. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the home of Sen. Henry S. and Joanna Lane features original furnishings, Civil War artifacts, and more! Also on our grounds is the Speed Cabin, a stop on the Underground Railroad.

We provide educational opportunities for all ages to learn about the local and national importance of Montgomery County. Visit us today!

Want to learn more about what the MCHS has to offer? Check out our videos on YouTube!

Upcoming Events

Check out our Facebook Page for the most current information on our hours!

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Want to learn more about what the MCHS has to offer? Check out our videos on YouTube!

Upcoming Events

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