Gnaw Bone Trading Post
~ story and photo by Bob Gustin
Selling antiques comes naturally for Jeff Tracy. Growing up in Seymour, antiques were the family business and his father had a booth in the Gypsy Moon flea market on Indiana 46 at Gnaw Bone.
When Jeff was ready to leave his job as general manager of an auto dealership in Seymour, he gravitated to the Gnaw Bone area and wound up buying 58 acres across from the Gypsy Moon. The property he bought was once a large flea market and the resting ground for old farm implements. The implements were removed, buildings remodeled, and It became Gnaw Bone Creek Trading Post.“ It was like I bought a piece of my childhood,” he said. Jeff and his wife, Patty, set out to transform the property. The main building has become a general store with pizza and other food for sale, and a small antique mall. Other structures remain flea market stalls, along
34 Our Brown County • Sept./ Oct. 2018
Patty and Jeff Tracy. with a“ picker’ s alley” offering supplies for do-it-yourselfers and other items. The store is open every day. Flea markets are open Friday through Sunday.
The general store has a nostalgic feel to it, with Coca-Cola memorabilia, glass jars full of candy and a variety of old and new items for sale. Pizza is baked on site, and Jeff said pizza delivery may be offered in the future. Outside the store, scattered antiques feature rusty old trucks, part of an old motorcycle, a bicycle on the roof and road signs. A pile of geodes for sale greets visitors in one part of the yard.
Patty, former manager of a pizza restaurant in Seymour, said more than 60 vendors are now open in the flea market portion.
About 12 acres are now in use, but the Tracys have many more plans for the property.
With help from a local rock and mineral club, panning for gold on the creek that cuts through the property is on the agenda, after small amounts of gold were found there. Jeff said the gold-panning demonstrations will be free, and participants can keep any gold they find, up to $ 1,000 worth.
This fall, the Tracys plan to have primitive campsites available, along with primitive cabins for rent.
Future planned phases include offering“ tree houses” for rent, and eventually constructing two miniature golf courses. Both Jeff and Patty said the complex is being planned with an
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