Bicentennial Information | hamiltoncoinhs

2023 Hamilton County Bicentennial

January - December, 2023 · 9 Townships · Hamilton County, Indiana

Kathy Williams, Co-Chair

Kent Ward, Co-Chair

David Heighway, Hamilton County Historian, ex-officio

Ron Stone, Adams Township

Deborah Gangstad, Clay Township

Rick Fain, Delaware Township

Suzanna Hobson, Fall Creek Township

Nicole Duncan, Jackson Township

Dottie Young, Noblesville Township

Danielle Tolan, Washington Township

Diane Nevitt, Wayne Township

Jamie Rulon, White River Township

Jessica Petty, Bicentennial Coordinator

The Bicentennial celebration was created with these guiding principles in mind:

We plan to celebrate … all 200 years of Hamilton County history (and beyond) in a complete, accurate way.

We will reflect … on our past, celebrate our present, and build towards the future to make Hamilton County a better place for all people to live.

We aim to represent … many different perspectives and raise all voices in celebration, not just the most visible ones.

We strive to collaborate … and advocate for community through programming, publications, and promotion of our Bicentennial themes.

Celebrating Hamilton County, Indiana: 200 Years of Change

Our book is available for purchase on Amazon, the publisher’s website, and several locations throughout Hamilton County.
We have sold (at least) 695 books out of a 1,000 book print run - so get them while you can!

Budget:

We distributed $58,000 in grants to 29 organizations and representatives from all nine townships for almost 50 programs.
We paid the Bicentennial Coordinator, three communications contract workers, a photographer and videographer, and three content developers.
Our merchandise provider MarketPro allowed us to only pay for merchandise that did not sell before the end of 2023

Communications:

Our website, hamcoturns200.com, included a biweekly blog, a monthly email newsletter, and served as the clearinghouse for public information on the Bicentennial.
In addition to advertising online and in print publications, this team sent press releases, designed and developed merchandise with local partner MarketPro, designed a print calendar, created special video promotions for social media, as well as designed several aspects of the book.

Traveling Exhibit:

Funded by the Hamilton County Community Foundation, it covered all 5 themes and traveled over 35 weeks to almost 30 locations throughout the county, including schools, libraries, businesses, etc. It will continue to be used by the Hamilton County Historical Society.

Event Management:

This team planned our opening ceremony in January of 2023, as well as our closing event, the Bicentennial Bash in December.
The opening, at The Palladium in Carmel, had around 600 attendees and the Bash at Ivy Tech in Noblesville had around 360. Both showcased the entire county.
Our grant-funded programs had a total of approximately 15,250 attendees.

High School Ambassador Program:

Funded by County Commissioners individually, 11 students from almost every high school in the county attended programs led by community leaders as well as Bicentennial events. They engaged in approximately 60 hours of activities.

Transportation Marker Program:

In development as a legacy project, the Hamilton County Historical Society will take the foundation of this idea and bring it to fruition. Lost transportation routes like canals, stagecoach stops, interurban stops, etc, will be memorialized with permanent signage.

Photographer/Videographer:

We contracted with Daniel Grose Photography and Adam Grubb Media to create a permanent record of the Bicentennial.