Landmarks & the Powers Church

Downtown Angola, Indiana at twilight

Historic buildings have the ability to inspire, cause us to remember, teach us about our past, and even give life to communities. My wife and I traveled to the northeast part of the state.....Angola area, to Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana's north regional annual meeting. We made a few stops in the progressive dinner schedule. The first was Powers Church, then to Pokagon State Park for BBQ in one of their stellar CCC structures...and back downtown to the Masonic Lodge on the historic city square. Angola's city square/circle monument seems to be a mini version of Indianapolis, and is probably the finest downtown square in the whole state.




But let me tell you about the Powers Church. It was built in 1876, eight miles east of Angola and was used by several congregations over the years. The setting against the cemetery is picture-perfect and the building is in a remarkable state of preservation, down to the original oil lamp holders. In 1976 descendants of the family who constructed the church decided they wanted to save the structure and began a preservation effort of ambitious proportions......right down to meticulously hand-painting wall paper to match the original which was cleaned, repaired and touched-up. The efforts have paid off....the building was listed on the National Register in 1983 and is in use for summer Sunday evening services. Hat's off to the Powers family.

For more information about Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana visit http://www.historiclandmarks.org/