Southern Indiana Business Report
FERDINAND – The United States of America is celebrating its creation 250 years ago as an independent nation. Several communities in the Radius Indiana region are planning events throughout the year.
The Dubois County Historical Society will observe the nation’s 250th birthday by hosting “Dubois 2026: A Revolutionary Rendezvous, Circa 1776” at the Ferdinand State Forest April 10-12.
This three-day event will offer an opportunity for young and old to step back in time and explore the era of the American Revolution through demonstrations, historical interpretation, and interactive experiences.
There is no charge for admission to the event, nor to the State Forest. It’s the society’s gift to Hoosiers, along with the sponsors and granters who made this event possible.
If you go
- Battlefield re-enactors will present tactical and weapons demonstrations so visitors can see what warfare was like when muskets, flintlocks and bayonets were the weapons of choice.
- When not skirmishing the soldiers will share stories on what it was like to fight for this country’s independence from oppression.
- A First Nation group of Native Americans will also be on hand. While most Native communities tried to remain neutral in the fighting between the Crown and its colonists, as the war continued many of them had to make difficult decisions about how and when to support one side or the other.
- Meet an undertaker, a jerky maker and a man cooking moonshine in a still.
- Then check out the blacksmiths, stone carvers, shingle makers, log hewers, rail splitters, metalsmiths (pewter and brass), coppersmith and tinsmith.
- See how the women frail wheat while the men use a bucksaw to cut firewood. Learn how the corn was shelled and the burr mill works.
- Get up close and personal with piglets and sheep, and see how they were sheared, then watch as the wool is spun into yarn, after which you can catch a weaver creating fabric.
- Kids can learn to cornhusk dolls, paint wooden toys, engage in other creative watercolor activities and play games that children enjoyed 250 years ago.
- Visit a pioneer encampment and learn about the tools early settlers would have used to create brand new communities in the wilderness.
- Interpretive naturalists will describe what it was like to live in a technical-free world.
- Music from the Merry Hearts.
- Ferdinand American Legion Auxiliary will serve sweet rolls and Boy Scout Troop 186 will offer burgers and hotdogs. Vendors will also be on hand.
Hours are Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, April 12, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. (all times are listed in Eastern).
Schools from throughout Dubois County will attend Friday, but visitors are welcome as well.
The encampment will be located on the east end of the main road through the Ferdinand State Forest. The Forest itself is located at the conclusion of State Road 264 (the Ferdinand Forest Road) where it connects with CR 600 E.
Financial support for the event included grants from Dubois County Community Foundation and Visit Dubois County.
Financial sponsors include Jasper Engines, Uebelhor Motors, Universal Design Associates, Farbest Foods, Seufert Construction and German American Bank, with Prairie Farms contributing ice cream treats for the students.
The Vincennes Rendezvous committee has been invaluable in providing expertise, as well as tents, costuming, manpower and benches.
The Early Days Antique Club will also provide extensive support and manpower, as well as a meal for reenactors and popcorn for everyone.
The Dubois County Veterans Council is also assisting.
To learn more about the formation of this event and through a collaboration with Visit Dubois County, Matthew Crane wrote this featured article: History Comes Alive at Revolutionary Rendezvous (https://visitduboiscounty.com/history-comes-alive-at-revolutionary-rendezvous/)