NEWS
Servaas Award winners raise awareness of local heritage
Groups in Fountain County and Union City earn kudos for outstanding preservation achievement from Indiana Landmarks.
Three Cheers
Saving historic landmarks can be a daunting challenge, especially in small towns where financial resources and manpower may be limited. For their perseverance in protecting and raising awareness of local heritage, Indiana Landmarks recognizes two groups in the largely rural communities of Fountain County and Union City with our 2025 Sandi Servaas Memorial Awards.
In 2019, a contractor assessing the 1854 Cades Mill Covered Bridge in Fountain County discovered a broken chord putting the entire span at risk of collapse. Members of Fountain County Art Council’s historical committee saw saving the pedestrian bridge—one of the county’s three remaining covered bridges and the state’s oldest in its original location—as an imperative but knew finding the money for rehabilitation would be a tall order.
Fountain County Art Council’s impressive work to save the 1854 Cades Mill Covered Bridge is just one example of its longtime commitment to protecting local landmarks. PHOTO: Courtesy Fountain County Art Council
Fortunately, Fountain County Art Council has a strong track record to draw on. Formed in the 1990s to encourage appreciation of art and heritage, the group rallied in 2001 to save the 1842 Fountain County Clerk’s Building in Covington from demolition, raising money to buy the landmark before rehabilitating it as a local history museum. In 2018, the group stepped in again to save county heritage by securing $227,000 in donations and matching grants to clean, repair, and reseal 2,500 square feet of WPA-era murals in the Fountain County Courthouse.
To rescue Cades Mill Covered Bridge, the art council faced its largest fundraising challenge to date. The group partnered with the Western Indiana Community Foundation to set up a fund for repairs and sent out letters seeking support. The campaign attracted statewide attention when Indiana Landmarks added the threatened bridge to its 10 Most Endangered list in 2022 and gave a grant to help develop rehabilitation plans. The art council persisted through pandemic-related labor and materials shortages and unexpected termite damage to raise $575,000 over five years, including $175,000 from Fountain County, with a final “Buy a Beam” campaign pushing the project over the finish line. Members of the art council, community partners, and other supporters celebrated the bridge’s completed restoration at a rededication in June 2025.
“There were times we thought, ‘Are we going to get through this?’ But we prayed and prayed, and the money came,” says art council member Carol Freese. “We haven’t asked for recognition; we just did what we felt was important for us and our community. Knowing it is appreciated makes us feel it has been worthwhile.”
Members of the Union City Junior Historical Society worked with the Union City Preservation Society to raise money for a statue commemorating Indiana Governor Isaac Gray. PHOTO: Courtesy Union City Junior Historical Society
At Union City Jr-Sr High School in eastern Indiana, “Workforce Wednesdays” offers students in grades 7-12 the opportunity to get out of the classroom and participate in community projects. Looking for a way to benefit the town (pop. 3,477) and make history come alive for his students, history teacher Kyler Purdin partnered with the Union City Preservation Society to form the Union City Junior Historical Society in 2022.
High schoolers began by setting up a GoFundMe campaign and organizing a student vs. teacher basketball tourney to raise money for a statue commemorating local statesman Indiana Governor Isaac Gray. They helped sort archival documents, assisted in mailings, and were trained to lead downtown architectural tours.
Roughly 60 students have participated in the junior society since its formation, with a core group of 15-20 students driving its efforts. The students are currently creating a Veterans Memorial Wall in the school gym to recognize Union City graduates who are veterans. Raising money for signage through another online campaign and a community competition to pitch their idea, students collected veterans’ names and began interviewing them to collect oral histories. In 2024, they organized a Veterans Day program for the community.
“These students went above and beyond with this initiative by being brave enough to call someone they didn’t know and ask them to share their history,” notes Purdin. “With this Veterans Wall, these students realized they were part of something very important. They took pride in it and the idea of making things better in their community.”
As winners of the Servaas Memorial Awards, the Union City Junior Historical Society received $1,000 in the youth-serving category, and Fountain County Art Council received $2,000 in the organizational category. Both groups received the late Evansville artist John McNaughton’s original sculpture, “No Doors to Lock Out the Past,” at Indiana Landmarks’ Annual Meeting in September.
This article first appeared in the September/October 2025 issue of Indiana Preservation, Indiana Landmarks’ member magazine.
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