of Trustees. In 1887, the marshall’ s duties were stated to include the confinement of“ swine found running at large upon the street, alley, Public Square or commons”. They were to be placed“ in some safe and suitable enclosure within the corporate limits”. Just two years later, the issue of free-ranging swine in the Public Square was once again addressed in the official minutes.
The town pump became a gathering site for neighbors. Unsupervised by parents, children played marbles in the dirt while men produced checker boards and challenged each other to games. Documents record that in 1911 a special assessment for sidewalks was made to adjacent property owners; and in 1913 an ordinance was adopted to borrow money to refit the wells of the Public Square, which provided a water supply for use in case of fire.
Looking back through the records, Ordinance No. 62, Section I was passed in 1915 and states: Be it ordained by the Board of Trustees of the Incorporated town of Nashville, Ind., that the Public Square in said town be and is hereby converted into a public park; all of the improvement thereof and care thereof to be under the care, direction and control of the Board of Trustees.
With the designation as a public park, an ordinance passed two years later prohibiting animals from being hitched within the Public Square due to the damage caused to the young trees. In 1921, the public well was cleaned and the pumps repaired.
Many photos in the Lilly Library and Brown County Historical Society Archives show the Town Square as the site of huge events: parades with reviewing bleachers erected street side and full of spectators; art festivals with tents and booths with tables laden with crafts and produce grown close to home; local children bundled up and grinning in the snow-covered square, with snowballs in hand and ready to pelt each other. Golden remembrances of a time cherished by Hoosier tourists and county neighbors include special sites like the Dillinger Museum, the Serpentarium, and the Alice Weaver House. Children could dash about within a block and be astounded by curiosities found nowhere else.
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