The Culture and History of Yorktown
and Mt. Pleasant Township, Indiana
The history of Mt. Pleasant Township and Yorktown, Indiana is a reflection of the world at large. Ours is a history reaching back over 2,000 years to the first known indigenous people who gathered here.
Before the town was established, ours was a wild land! We were part of the old “Northwest Territory”, a place for the adventurous and daring.
This website, supported by the Yorktown Indiana Historical Alliance and its volunteers, will help tell the story of the courageous and industrious people who settled the land in and around Yorktown, Indiana. It will help us understand those who influenced local history in profound or notorious ways. It is our hope that we can explain the events that built the proud, tight-knit community we are today.
Learning from each other, sharing and recording our own histories will build an involved, enjoyable online community for those who enjoy history. We hope you will join us!
Did you know that just east of Yorktown there is a native American mound built in the early Woodland period that can still be seen on Google earth? Did you know that Yorktown once had a resort with a 73-room hotel and was once a tourist destination? Did you know that Yorktown was once home to “Lake Delaware” formed by damming Buck Creek? It was large enough for a paddle-wheel boat. Or did you know that Yorktown once had a landing strip or an electric streetcar that took residents to Indianapolis and beyond?
Learn more about Yorktown’s fascinating place in history.
We are building a robust database of local history on our web site. We also have helpful links to on-line resources and information to learn more about our local history and genealogy. History books relevant to our area, our own research, and biographies about the early people who settled in the area can also be found on our website. We will be constantly updating the site with posts of interest regarding our history. We will continue to research and publish. We invite you to also contribute your knowledge and memories.
Our goal is to educate and inspire. Wander through two rooms of collections in our 100-year-old building. Guests can look through Yorktown High School yearbook collections from current yearbooks back to 1925. We have family histories on file–you can email us for a list. We prize the church directories and pictures that help researchers find information available in no other place. Photos of every kind can be found here: street scenes, clubs, sports (including Junior Athletic Association), businesses, scouts, school, churches, parades, reunions…ask one of our volunteers to show you where you can find them.
Our space can be rented for meetings or booked for tours for groups for all ages. We love to show off our local culture and lore.
Now more than ever your generous support of the Yorktown/Mt. Pleasant Historical Alliance and Museum makes an significant impact to preserve our local history. Through your gifts, the Museum can remain an important partner in teaching and learning for our local students and our neighbors.
We are here to be a place of discovery—next year as the virus winds down—we look forward to hosting you. For now, look at the resources we have compiled for online engagement and research. We have books, maps, biographies, history, photos…we are researching and adding more each day. We have compiled a comprehensive list of resources for history and genealogy research. There is much work ahead of us from all of those who came before us.
Please consider a gift or a membership today. Every contribution is a direct investment in our future success. Your donation is tax deductible.
It is our goal to collect information and resources about our local history and enter it these into our data base.
IMPORTANT: Some of the information and data on our website won’t be visible unless a search is made.
Please find out how to search for best results.