Original articles from the Crawford County Democrat:

Crawford County Democrat. March 22, 1974

Historical Society To Be Organized For County

There will be an organizational meeting for a Crawford County Historical Society on April 1, 1974 at 7 p.m. in the Riley Room at the Overlook Restaurant. Guest speaker will be attorney Arville L. Funk of Corydon. A historian and author, Funk will speak on Crawford County history. Proposed areas of interest and activity for the club are: early settlement, pioneer life, early occupations, trade, commerce, manufacturing and travel, development of towns and roads,keelboat, flatboat and steamboat days, government and education, legends, identifying historical buildings and sites, and, collecting old documents and photographs of Crawford County. Arranging the meeting are Mr. & Mrs. William Booth Jr., Mr. & Mrs. Richard Eastridge, Mrs. Christine Lowe, and Mr. & Mrs. Jack Stephenson. Anyone interested in Crawford County history is encouraged to attend, the committee in charge said.

Crawford County Democrat, April 5,1974

The groundwork for a Crawford County Historical Society was laid Monday night at a spirited meeting of 35 persons at the Overlook Restaurant at Leavenworth. Guest speakers from the Harrison County Historical Society briefed the gathering on sources of information, acquisition of documents and other assets, and the need for dedication to the idea. Speakers were Arville L. Funk, publisher of several historical volumes; Frederick P. Griffin, Harrison County Historian, and Ralph Wiseman, president of the Harrison County Historical Society. Following a discussion led by Elaine Stephenson, Richard Eastridge, and William Booth Jr., the group voted to delegate a steering committee composed of Mr. & Mrs. Jack Stephenson, Mr. & Mrs. Richard and Priscilla Eastridge, Mr. & Mrs. William Booth, Christine Lowe, and Mike Esarey to draft a constitution and by-laws, and prepare a slate of officers to be presented at the May 13 meeting at the cafeteria of the Leavenworth High School. Dues were set at $1 per year, and all members subscribing 90 days of the first organizational meeting will be recorded as charter members. Mrs. William Booth Jr. is serving as temporary secretary-treasurer.

Crawford County Democrat, May 17, 1974

The second meeting of the Crawford County Historical Society was held May 18 in the Leavenworth school cafeteria. To date, there are 79 paid members. Ralph Wiseman of Corydon presented the program with his historic slides from his collection.  By-laws were adopted for the Society. A nominating committee was named, and officers will be elected at the next meeting on June 10 in the Leavenworth School cafeteria.  Crawford County Democrat, July 19, 1974  Historical Society Names First Officers

Crawford County Democrat, July 19,1974

Historical Society Names First Officers

Officers of the Crawford County Historical Society have been elected for the coming year, and a number of working functions aimed at the formation and preparation of a useful historical group have been proposed. At a meeting on July 8 at the courthouse in English, Michael Esarey of Leavenworth was named president; H.O. Jones of Marengo was chosen vice-president; and Mrs. William (Gloria) Booth of Milltown was elected secretary-treasurer. Four directors were named to serve with the officers. Chosen from the county’s commissioner districts were William Booth, representing District 1; Richard Eastridge, representing District 2; Mrs. Chauncy Parr, representing District 3, and Mrs. Jack Stephenson, chosen at-large. Committees were established in membership, program, research and publication, and preservation and documentation. The membership committee will be delegated to interest as many persons as possible from all parts of the county in the county’s history and the society, and to keep and maintain records of membership. Membership dues are a nominal $1 annually. It will be the duty of the program committee to plan and conduct the regular meetings of the society.

The current logo of the CCHGS:

The society’s logo was chosen by member’s votes in 2004. It was designed by Becky Hammond Stetter, Editor of the society’s newsletter The Crawford Countian. She explains her thoughts, “I asked myself the question “what means the most to me in our county?” It was more than our landmarks of Hemlock Cliffs, Marengo Cave, Horseshoe Bend, old Patoka River or modern Patoka Lake, and Blue River. After much thought, my answer was clear — it’s simply our beautiful rolling hills covered with our varieties of trees that I dearly love. The logo’s outline shape is to symbolize an arched doorway “to welcome you home to your Crawford County roots”, or could be a window “to look into your past”. The color blue also reflects Indiana’s state flag.”  

The county seal:

The official sesquicentennial seal of Crawford County and adopted June 11, 1966 at a Sesquicentennial (Indiana) kickoff dinner at Leavenworth. Designed by Earl A. Denbo, of near English, the seal was selected from entries in a contest. The winning entry set out clearly the admission of Indiana to the United States through the use of 19 stars (Indiana was the nineteenth state), the boundaries of the county through a map of the area, and the original forest land inhabited by the Indians through reference to Crawford County through a map of the area, and the original forest land inhabited by the Indians through reference to Crawford County as a “chief hunting ground.” In making the selection, the Sesquicentennial Committee said that “the original seal is an excellent, colorful work, and as per rules of the contest, it can be reproduced in printing.

Crawford County Democrat article, July 2, 1976.