Hello List, Recently, there had been some discussion on this list about Elkinsville, the Brown County town that was flooded when Lake Monroe was created. Our local paper, The Herald Times, ran a story today about the town. I have pasted it to this message. If you want to see the school picture from the 1940s that was with the article, go to www.HoosierTimes.com and scroll down to the story. After a short time, the story will be removed but can be found in their archives. Enjoy. Lois Arthur in Indiana [email protected] 'Town That Was' remembered Former residents of Elkinsville, who were displaced by Lake Monroe, to gather and reminisce By Jackie Finch, Herald-Times Staff Writer ELKINSVILLE - When folks gather under the canopy of Browning Mountain this weekend for their annual reunion, they plan to celebrate the memory of "The Town That Was." They also hope to preserve those memories in a book, titled Elkinsville, Indiana "The Town That Was." Orders for the limited edition book will be available at the reunion, Bob Cross said. "We're going to take the book to the publisher on Oct. 15 and we need to know how many to order," he said. "It has taken a couple of years to put it all together." According to traditional reports, the village was founded around 1817 by William Elkins. "It was a wonderful place to grow up," Cross said. "I wouldn't trade that part of my life for anything." In 1963, Cross left Elkinsville to see the world with the U.S. Navy. Dreams of his Hoosier home kept Cross going when things got rough on the USS Charles F. Adams, the guided missile destroyer where Cross served. When he returned to the Brown County hills he was shocked. "When I came out of the Navy," he said, "everything was gone." His plans to buy some property and raise a family in his hometown were gone. "I think that's why I hold it so dear," he said. "I never got to say goodbye." The rural community disappeared in 1963 to make room for Lake Monroe. Government land buyers purchased the homes of 19 families, leaving only a few houses. The land was needed as a flood plain, and all farms up to 560 feet above sea level were affected. The church, two one-room school houses, blacksmith shop, mechanic's garage, general store, old family homesteads - all were torn down and the town's nearly 100 residents were scattered. Families that moved out, Cross said, were Bohall, Bowman, Bruce, Crider, Deckard, Ferguson, Followell, Graham, Hanner, Lucas, Lutes, Miller, Parks, Robertson, Sipes, Stogdill and Wilkerson. Within a period of three months, nearly everything that had been Elkinsville had become a memory. But once every year, people who used to call Elkinsville home return to what's left and get caught up on what's new. They gather in the back yard of Bill Miller. A resident since 1967, Miller began offering his home 13 years ago for the annual get-together. His property is near the site of the town, just above lake level. Living in the old Elkinsville was peaceful, residents say, and life seemed to revolve around the family, church and school. Back then, Elkinsville families didn't make it to town much more than once a week. But a peddler in a big old bus would make his rounds. Inside the vehicle were foodstuffs, clothing, kitchen items, small tools and candy. Youngsters spent long summer days swimming in the creek, fishing, hunting for mushrooms and playing hide and seek. They worked hard, too - hoeing gardens, cutting grass, mowing hay, gathering eggs, cleaning house and stacking firewood for the coming winter. When the creeks swelled with spring and summer rains, the folks of Elkinsville sometimes couldn't get out of their country homes - or sometimes, they couldn't get in. To help hold onto those memories, old Elkinsville residents have a newsletter that comes out every couple months. Last year, they also erected a nearly 5-foot-tall marker to honor those families whose homes were taken for Lake Monroe. The monument is constructed of Indiana limestone and native Brown County fieldstone. "Our reunion seems to get bigger every year," said B. J. Blankenfeld. "We have well over 200 every time and have new people coming every year." The reunion will start at 10 a.m. Sunday with a pitch-in lunch served at 12:30 p.m. Visitors are asked to bring lawn chairs, picnic baskets and picture albums. They also are asked to plan on ordering the Elkinsville book. "It's a really nice hardback book with 591 pages of pictures, stories and recipes," Blankenfeld said. "It has old-time recipes like my Mom's sorghum cookies." The books costs $45, plus $5 if the book has to be mailed. "It tells the stories of 90 individual families," she said. With no hometown to go to, the project helps keep former residents in touch with their roots, Cross said. "The town doesn't exist any more, but the people do, and that's what's important," he says. "Life didn't move at such a ferocious pace back then in Elkinsville, and I've looked back on those years many a time." Being able to keep in touch with "The Town That Was" has given him a secure base in a hectic world, Cross said. "It has given me hope for my life when I reflect back on it," he said. "It's important to remember Elkinsville then, now and in the future." For more information about the book or reunion, call Blankenfeld at 331-6108. Reporter Jackie Finch can be reached by phone at 331-4369, or by e-mail at [email protected]