Hayden Historical Museum sets summer hours

Hayden Historical Museum summer hours will be in effect until after Labor Day. The museum will be open on Sunday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and Wednesday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Civic groups, clubs, Sunday School classes, and other organizations and families are welcome to arrange tours of the Hayden Museum facilities. A room is available for groups wishing to hold a meeting as part of the visit.

The museum display area features several different exhibits to showcase the heritage of Hayden and Spencer Township. Some of them include the Farm Heads Gallery section, a pre-1900 bedroom, a 1939 kitchen, and a 1965 living room.

There’s also a mid-1950s classroom, a tribute to community veterans, an exhibit to honor Hayden’s eight professional baseball players, and a section of the museum is dedicated to the former governor of Indiana and Hayden native, Edgar D. Whitcomb.

Along with the museum exhibit for the governor, a monument was erected in the side yard of his house, which adjoins the museum property. The dedication of this marker took place in 2014 and highlights Mr. Whitcomb’s life and career as a World War II veteran, politician and world sailor.

The museum’s largest exhibit is the former Sinclair gas station. It was first constructed in Hayden after U.S. Highway 50 was established in 1926. The building was transferred to museum ownership in 2001 and restored to look as it did in 1947.

A separate building named “A Place Called Yesterday” is a museum for pre-electric home entertainment. Several instruments and music parlor players, as well as a nearly complete collection of LIFE magazines, are on display for the enjoyment of visitors.