CARMEL — Carmel has become Indiana's city of the future with its dramatic population growth in the past 50 years, but even Carmel had to start somewhere.
The Carmel Clay History Museum recently opened along the Monon Trail in Carmel's Arts and Design District. The three-story building contains hundreds of archives which tells the city's story of growth along the railroad line.
"Carmel didn't just pop up like Disney World," said Debbie Gangstad of the Carmel Clay History Museum. "We've had some people in the Palladium area who say, 'This looks like Disney World.'"
The museum features artifacts such as the city's first post office box, several old city flags, and a display featuring the works of local artist Franklin Booth. It's most illuminating object is a neon Monon sign which once welcomed travelers at Indianapolis' Monon station.
"This man said, 'I've got a Monon sign that you might want for your museum,'" Gangstad recalled. "I said, 'Sure, send it on down because we'd love to have it, and I'll pay the postage.' He goes, 'You need to get a truck.'"
The museum is free to everyone. Longtime Carmel resident Jeff Worrell stopped in with his child and grandchildren on Wednesday.
"We've been here since 1988 and love our town," Worrell said. "We now have a place to bring them like the museum here. We went over to the Fire Buffs museum. There's so much to do and it is just a joy to live here."
Carmel is estimated to have more than 100,000 residents, but Gangstad hopes the museum helps people remember when it had a few hundred people.
"I think it was Winston Churchill who said, 'The farther you look back gives you the way to know where you're going next,'" Gangstad said. "We need to mind our history."
