Morgan Garvey, a North Dearborn Elementary fifth-grader, plays a thief as her class tour a Civil War encampment Friday. (Michael Snyder photos) | ZOOM |

        LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. — In 200 years, this Ohio River town has gone from the soggiest floors to the “loosest slots in Indiana.” Floods, gambling and tumult haven't diluted Lawrenceburg's zeal for life on the Ohio. In fact, the town's bicentennial — with the first big event this weekend — has triggered a rebirth of community pride in the growth hub of southeastern Indiana.

        “It has always been a gritty, feisty little town, prone to flooding,” said Allan Cornelius, a restoration contractor and curator of the Lawrenceburg Bicentennial Museum. “It always had a lot of pretentions. For years, it vied with Madison and other towns. But soon Lawrenceburg settled into its niche. It knew it wasn't going to compete with Cincinnati.”

        To celebrate the bicentennial this weekend, more than 200 members of the 32nd Indiana Volunteer Infantry and other groups will encamp on the Dearborn County Courthouse lawn on the west end of High Street. The Society of Northwest Longhunters will display old military equipment. The program will end at 3 p.m. Sunday.

INFORMATION

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        The town's fortunes have ebbed and flowed with the river. The flood of February 1832 brought 3 feet of water to High Street and damaged many buildings. Unflappable townspeople conducted business from rafts.

        Major floods struck again in 1882, 1883 and 1884. A handwritten note at the museum tells of a woman fleeing the 1913 flood, clutching a baby in one hand and a Christmas tree in the other. In 1937, nearly the whole town was under water.

Allan Cornelius, curator of the town's bicentennial museum, looks over items made in Lawrenceburg. | ZOOM |

        “People lived with the flooding,” Mr. Cornelius said. “They knew it was the price they paid for living on the "superhighway' — the river.”

        The river takes away — and gives. Lawrenceburg is the home of the world's most popular gambling boat, Argosy Casino, which paid $91.6 million in state and local taxes last year, according to the Indiana Gaming Commission.

        Money has given Lawrenceburg more options, but it's still a rebounding river town that's excited to be alive.

        “I haven't seen people this happy in a long time,” said Marie Edwards, co-chair of the Lawrenceburg Bicentennial Committee. “They're pulling together.”

        She expects more than 120,000 people to attend various events, including concerts, plays, riverboat cruises, car shows and the Vietnam Veterans Moving Wall exhibit. The population of Lawrenceburg is around 4,000.

HIGHLIGHTS

Fall 1802: Lawrenceburg's first doctor, Jabez Percival, builds a double log cabin, the community's first house. Court is conducted inside.   1804: The first jail opens on the courthouse square.   March 13, 1826: First courthouse burns, during a flood.   1836: Whitewater Canal is built, from Lawrenceburg to Cambridge City.   July 13, 1863: Several soldiers killed by accident in the “Battle of Hardinsburgh,” when Union troops mistakenly fire on one another, thinking they are the Confederate Morgan's Raiders.   1868: Lawrenceburg Gas Works organized.   1900: First traction car arrives in Lawrenceburg. Service is available from Aurora to Cincinnati.   1937: Ohio River flood covers the city.   1937: Lawrenceburg High School built.   May 29, 1941: Lawrenceburg Roller Mills destroyed by fire.   1948: Ground broken on Indiana Michigan Power Plant.   1996: Argosy Casino opens.

        “One lady said it looks like a little army of ants is going into downtown Lawrenceburg,” she said. “They're painting buildings on High Street and preparing a park at High and Walnut streets that will open with the bicentennial. Not far from there, on the levee, they'll put up a memorial to the common man.”

        Made by Cincinnati's Verdin Co., the bronze sculpture will feature a 12-foot clock and arch, with 7- to-9-foot figures of a firefighter, police officer and an emergency medical technician. The other side will feature figures from the armed services.

        “We're supposed to bring the whole thing down the river on a barge, and dedicate on it Sept. 28. Even if it's not ready by then, we'll dedicate it anyway,” Ms. Edwards said.

        Coming down the river is a familiar occurrence. In April 1802, Lawrenceburg's settlers — Capt. Samuel C. Vance, who served under Gen. George Washington; James Hamilton; and Benjamin Chambers — arrived and platted 196 lots. The captain named the new town in honor of his wife's maiden name.

        From 1812 to 1830, the seat of Dearborn County became the area's major settlement. By 1850, Lawrenceburg's population reached 2,651 and, by 1860, 4,654. A stage line ran to Indianapolis. Lawrenceburg became a river market and the Whitewater Valley Railway opened in 1869.

        “Lawrenceburg was pretty self-contained and had a lot of factories that made furniture, bicycles, saws and pianos,” Mr. Cornelius said. “William Squibb & Co. made Rock Castle Pure Rye liquor. I live in his big house in Greendale, not far away. About 1900, the town had 4,000 people, about the same as it has now.”

        But periodic flooding hampered growth, and by 1910 the population had declined to 3,930. The museum, in a newly rehabilitated neighborhood at 29 E. High St., displays several mud-encrusted flood items, including a rolling pin. “Some people ask why we keep them,” Mr. Cornelius said. “I think they really speak of what the town has gone through.”

        Today, modern safeguards mean that floods come less frequently and severely. Old brick architecture, the subject of a controversy here several years ago, has survived along High Street.

        A whole block, including the historic Jesse Hunt House, will be preserved. Earlier, some buildings in the area had been targeted for demolition.

        “We're trying to save the character of High Street,” said Kris Krider, a former local resident and an urban planner who was involved in the fight.

        With help from Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, 14 buildings will be restored and given a new life — some of them just in time for the bicentennial.

        “We have a community partnership to renovate two of the buildings,” said Ronald J. Zmyslo, the foundation's director of restoration services. “It's quite a project. People seem enthusiastic and eager to get going.”

        Just in time for the town's birthday, the Lawrenceburg Main Street Association has started a painting and fix-up program that has attracted 41 applicants so far this year. By December, 90 are expected to apply. Last year, the group approved 17 business grants for making improvements. Ten were completed. Seven more projects will be finished this spring.

        “We really needed a project to get everybody off the dime,” said John K. Roberts, project director of the Lawrenceburg Main Street Association. “The bicentennial did it by reaching beyond politics and personalities in a small town.

        “The program is having a powerful impact on the area. This community is going through a profound change. The bicentennial is a marvelous thing for the community because it has united us.”

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