Revisiting Delphi

[Jim Wolfe]

After hearing a few folks at work telling me of the updates to the Hoosier Heartland Highway,I decided to swing by Delphi on my way to work Wednesday/4/10/2012. I knew the highway would have to cross the old Monon somewhere, just not sure where. I was not thrilled with what I found.

As we had discussed in the past, there is a bridge halfway between the High bridge and the St, Rd, 25 overpass.I have refered to it as the Milroy crossing. This is also the site of the Milroy Statues as we talked about over the years. My 2nd. photo is standing on the bridge looking North East towards the crossover of the Norfolk Southern. In the photo you can also now see the spur track to the Anderson's. The photo of the Milroy bridge is looking South West. The flags on the site indicate that the Milroy bridge and statue site will be removed. I am in hopes that when the trees are cleared on the West side of the bridge, I can get there in time to take my final shots before everything is gone.

[Tom Kepshire]

Jim

A while back some lady from Delphi contacted me and asked if you were serious about the Milroy Sculptures and wanted contact information. Did they ever contact you? That indicates they all, or some still exist. I was just curious if you had spoken with them.

[Ken Weller]

I sure hope that the guys building the new heartland highway there
know about the Milroy sculptures, and don't dig thru or otherwise ruin them!

[Tom Kepshire]

The lady from Carroll County who contacted me for Jim Wolfe's contact information made it sound like they have been removed. No, she did not come out and directly say that, but there was an indication they were protected, and for sale.

[George Lortz]

Several years ago, some Monon Society members went looking for the Milroy sculptures (BOGging), but had no luck at all.  I think it was concluded at that time that they were either hopelessly buried or had been removed.

George L.

[Tom Kepshire]

And, I believe they were also looking in the wrong location, but they really did not know that at the time. Jim Wolfe did a ton of BOG and research and found where they once were at. Based on his research, any claims that these sculptures could be seen from the passing trains, could not have been true.

[George Lortz]

Is it a fact that the "Milroy sculptures" have been removed or were destroyed?

George L.

[Tom Kepshire]

As a fact, I can't say. I have been told by people associated with the Carroll County Historical Society that some were moved prior to work on the right of way that may have obliterated some of them. There was also a phone call by a woman trying to contact Jim Wolfe to see if he was still interested in them. Circumstantial evidence at best, but it makes me believe that some may still exist. Since I have not seen them, I can't say for a fact they exist or not.

[Jim Wolfe]

Tom

I did have contact with the people from delphi concerning the statues. They really had no information of the statues carved in the wall. They do seem to posess some of the statues that Harry Milroy had from around the house. I informed them that I was interested in seeing the ones that were on the Monon ROW and they have not responded back since. Keep in mind the carvings in the wall would have been very difficult to remove and preserve. After finding the location, I had concluded that a passing train from either direction would have had to stop and let passengers off to view the carvings. In a nutshell, the carvings were almost directly under the track.

We have to remember that Harry Milroy passed on in 1936. So there is nothing newer then that date. The eyewitness sources I have did place me in front of the location of the wall carvings. The terrain matched the picture like the one you have posted. If you all notice the white colored stones in the photo, you will see that those stones have fallen down from the ROW from up above.
The wire supports in the photo would have had to be attached to something above, I am guessing railroad ties.

I am going to try to get back there this week to see if anything has changed. I have friends that drive by there everyday and they are keeping me updated.

Will update when anything new happens.

Jim

After visiting the site last week and looking at the boundry flags, some of the statue site may be spared as it is the very outer edge of the Highway ROW. It sure looks to me like the bridge will go though.

[George Lortz]

Jim,

From your description, it sounds like the carvings were in the side of the roadbed and that's why you state they could not be seen by anyone actually seated in a train.

It looks like the carvings are in a block of limestone or some other rock that could be chiseled.  Are there any sites along the readbed that might have been elevated high enough to expose this much rock?

George L.