Indiana
BIGFOOT CENTER
~ story and photos by Bob Gustin
Leroy and Nancy Nail could talk about Bigfoot for hours.
That’ s partly why they opened the Indiana Bigfoot Center in Nashville in mid-May.
“ Brown County is the center of Bigfoot country” in Indiana, Leroy said.“ If you go in any direction, there’ s activity.” Hotspots include Yellowwood State Forest, Lake Monroe, the Story area, and Hoosier National Forest.
So, it made sense to them to open the center in Nashville.
Legends, myths, and folklore throughout the years tell of large, wild, human-like creatures living in far-flung parts of the world. They’ ve been known by various names, including Sasquatch, the Abominable Snowman, Yeti, Skunk Ape, Bushman, Treeman, Wildman, and others. Some are thought to be dangerous, some benevolent, others neither good nor bad.
Most in the mainstream scientific community consider them to be hoaxes, misidentifications, or mythical.
That doesn’ t bother Leroy, who got interested in Bigfoot years ago, and in 2014 took over leadership of the Indiana Bigfoot Research Organization. The group holds an annual Indiana Bigfoot Conference, the third one of which will be held in Nashville in September. He said he is used to being made fun of over
Leroy and Nancy Nail, owners of the Indiana Bigfoot Center.
22 Our Brown County July / August 2026