Heritage and Culture

If you want to know about Daviess County heritage and culture, it’s good to begin at the Daviess County Visitors Bureau, housed in a historic train depot that reflects the county’s dynamic heritage as a rail center.

Visit Daviess

DAVIESS COUNTY VISITORS BUREAU

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A copy of a January 26, 1966 photograph of passengers disembarking from Train 2 at the railroad depot in Washington, Indiana. The only person identified in the photo is E. L. Widdows, the train conductor, on the far right. Looking Back: Passenger at the railroad depot. Photo Provided by the Daviess County Museum.

In fact, you can see our heritage and culture in the architecture all across the county—in the graceful lines of St. Peter’s Church, built by one of the oldest Catholic dioceses in Indiana; in the stately presence of the Washington Carnegie Library, built at the turn of the 20th century; in the spare mortise-and-peg construction of the Gasthof Amish Village, where meticulously made crafts and quilts, the handiwork of skills passed from generation to generation, can be admired and collected.

Heritage Culture

St. Peter’s

One of Indiana's oldest Catholic parishes, organized in a log cabin in 1818

Washington Carnegie Library

Built at the turn of the 20th century

Gasthof Amish Village

The experience of authentic Amish hospitality and culture.

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You can feel it in the efforts of community volunteers working to preserve and rehabilitate the structures of Curran House and Celtic Hall, formerly St. Patrick’s Church, now part of the Corning Irish Heritage Center. You can hear it in the strains of Celtic music that fill the air at the center’s annual Irish picnic or in the cheers at games of the Chuck Harmon Little League, named in honor of the Daviess County native and trailblazer, the first African American to play for the Cincinnati Reds. You can taste it in melt-in-your-mouth Amish baked goods, in hearty taco de lenguas, in frosty cold root beers and footlong coneys.

CORNING IRISH HERITAGE CENTER.

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OLD SETTLER’S FESTIVAL

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Daviess County is a deeply and dynamically American county, which is to say a melting pot of cultures— Amish, Irish, Hispanic, Haitian. The county was formed in 1818 and many of its early citizens were German and Irish immigrants; today the county continues to welcome immigrants, even as it preserves its heritage in the historic architecture of 13 properties and districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places and in traditions like the Old Settler’s Festival, one of the oldest festivals in Indiana.

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When the Old Settler’s Festival debuted 135 years ago, the horse and buggy was the primary means of transportation; today the horse and buggy still has a place on our roads, fine horses are still prized, and abundant crops are our pride. We’ve taken care of the land and preserved it in naturally appealing recreational choices.

Celebrating Heritage
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We invite you to see, feel, and savor all of our heritage and cultures. Daviess County, in all its delicious diversity, is here for you.

Indiana Landmarks logo. Click to visit their website Indiana Barn Foundation logo. Click to visit their website Daviess County Historical Society & Museum logo. Click to visit their website

Indiana Landmarks logo Indiana Barn Foundation logo Daviess County Historical Society & Museum logo


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