Blue River Quaker Historic District listed on the National Register - May 2025

The effort to list a large, rural historic district in the area northeast of Salem came to fruition when word was received the district, officially known as the Blue River Quaker Settlement Rural Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 19.

Work began mid-2021 when representatives from the neighborhood, Blue River Friends Church, Washington County Historical Society, and Indiana Landmarks met with staff from the state historic preservation office and toured the area to determine if a rural district may qualify for listing.

K. W. Garner Consulting was contracted to submit an eligibility request and National Register nomination for the district to the state historic preservation office, which was completed in June 2023. An informational meeting was held at the Friends Church in January 2023 to provide findings from research and information on incentives the program offers. The process at the state level takes about 18 months to work through reviews, the final one occurred on April 16, at which time the district received a recommendation for listing to the National Park Service, keeper of the National Register.

The Blue River Historic District contains approximately 130 buildings, structures, and sites in an area that spans over 1500 acres. The district’s historic period of significance dates from the earliest building, built about 1808, to the latest contributing structures built during the 1950s. The district is significant due to the role exploration and settlement played in Washington County, as well as the role agriculture and religion played, particularly in the Quakers’ participation in the Underground Railroad. Buildings of note are the Hicksite Meeting House, Friends Church, and their respective cemeteries.

The National Register of Historic Places is a function of the National Historic Preservation Act, established in 1966, to recognize sites and buildings that are important to our heritage. The program provides for rehabilitation tax credits and grants for qualifying work to homeowners and for-profit and non-profit entities, including churches and municipalities, respectively. The Blue River Quaker Settlement Historic District is one of only four rural districts listed on the National Register in Indiana, the other three being located in Monroe, Marion, and Carroll Counties. The project was sponsored by Indiana Landmarks Sacred Places grant program and through the Washington County Tourism Commission.