Historic New Carlisle, Inc. has embarked on several projects over the years to promote the history and architecture of the town. One of the earliest projects was receiving a grant to get the downtown and older residential area listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The group embarked on a major project in 1998 when it rescued and rehabilitated the Jeremiah Service Home (The Old Republic) The home had sat vacant for nearly thirty years and was threatened with demolition by the owner. Historic New Carlisle, Inc. worked with the town and together filed a receivership action asking a judge to give temporary ownership to HNC. The                                                                                        owner finally agreed to sell and we purchase the house on November 18, 1998.                                                                                            Over 1.4 million dollars was invested into the rehabilitation through grants,                                                                                                    donations, and many hours of volunteer labor. The Old Republic became HNC's                                                                                              home which included an office, local history museum, first floor event space where                                                                                      we rented out for weddings, showers and other special events. The second floor                                                                                            was operated as The Inn at the Old Republic with five bedrooms for overnight                                                                                                guests. The house served us well for nearly 20 years, We made the decision to put                                                                                        the property up for sale as we wanted to downsize, yet find a location where we                                                                                            expand the local history museum and get more foot traffic. We purchased one-                                                                                              half of the old Miller's Home Cafe Restuarant in 2018 to rehabilitate for our new                                                                                            museum and sold the Old Republic in 2019 to a family for use as a home.                               

                                                                                   

                                                                                    Another rehabilitation project we undertook was the rehabilitation of the                                                                                                        historic Casaday house. The original home was believed to built in 1863, but it had                                                                                        later changes made to the exterior in the 1920s. Our organization was concerned                                                                                          that it might be purchased and used as a rental. We wanted to rehab and "flip" it                                                                                            selling it to a single family. We purchased the home with a low interest loan from                                                                                          Indiana Landmarks who had also loaned us the money to purchase the Old                                                                                                    Republic. The Casaday House was rehabbed entirely with volunteer labor. 

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We began work on our current museum/office in February 2019. The building will provide a much larger area for the local history museum and the gift shop with archival storage in the basement. The building was constructed circa 1886 and after years of changes and additions, the project was a total gut and redesign. We removed several layers of carpeting, tile and underlayment to uncover the original hardwood floors. All new plumbing, electrical and hvac were installed. An office, two ADA bathrooms and a kitchen were designed. The exterior was the most anticipated part of the project as a 1970s facade covered original details that were thought to be underneath as historic photos showed. In removing the facade, we uncovered original cast iron columns, brick, and a beautiful and intact pressed metal cornice.  The building will provide much needed space for the museum displays, exhibits and programming. 

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