Focused on the Future

A $60,000 loan from Indiana Landmarks’ Efroymson Family Endangered Places Fund allowed Cambridge City Main Street (CCMS) to buy a neglected early building on the historic National Road. CCMS plans to restore the 1847 Federal-style building to productive use in a town enjoying a revitalization surge.

The building at 12 West Main sits at the eastern gateway to downtown, adjacent to the Vinton House — a long-standing symbol of the preservation-minded town. The Vinton House, established as a hotel in 1847 at the intersection of the Whitewater Canal and the National Road, signaled Cambridge City as a transportation hub. Preservationists worked to save the Vinton House in the 1980s, when it was converted to an antique mall.

Today, antiques have become a dominant offering in Cambridge City, with nearly a dozen shops.

Read more about Cambridge City’s visitor appeal.

Focused on its downtown enhancement mission, Cambridge City Main Street targeted 12 West Main in 2014 as its first project, raising more than $15,000 to hire artist Pamela Bliss to paint the Lincoln Funeral Train mural on the building’s east wall. In addition to Indiana Landmarks’ loan for acquisition, we provided CCMS with a $10,000 grant for repairs – including replacing dangerously rotted floors – before marketing the building to a buyer with a plan for its reuse.

The building will be sold with protective covenants, which guarantee the exterior of the building will retain its historic character.

CCMS is raising additional funds for the rehabilitation project. To learn more, contact JP Hall, Director of Indiana Landmarks’ Eastern Regional Office and President of Cambridge City Main Street, 317-822-7937, jphall@indianalandmarks.org.