A Popular Indiana Travel Website is Now a Book

On the John Mellencamp scale of who’s small town, Jessica Nunemaker easily passes the test. The keeper of LittleIndiana.com and host of a segment on public TV’s “The Weekly Special” grew up in a small town (DeMotte), lives in a small town (Rensselaer), works from that small town, and expects some day, well in the future, to die and be buried in, well, you know. She hasn’t seen it all in a small town, but she’s observed more than most, and she’s compiled the best of her knowledge in a new book, Little Indiana, that shares what she’s found in towns of 15,000 or fewer. “No matter how small a town is,” she says, “there’s something there. It might not be a restaurant, it might not be a shop. It could be a pioneer cemetery or it could be the tallest waterfall in Indiana. But there’s something there. You just have to know how to find it.”

Here are a few of her recommendations:

Roadside Snack
The fries at Dan the Man’s Taco Stand in Rossville. “From the moment you walk down the plank boardwalk to place your order, the beach theme here is apparent,” Nunemaker says. “Ice cream is available at the tiki hut, but the fries! Mmm … the curly variety and drenched in cheese.”

Small-Town Museum  
The Clay Township Historical Society Museum in Greens Fork. “Greens Fork High School closed in 1962, but local historians preserved its trophies, desks, chalkboards, and books at this tiny attraction,” says Nunemaker. “People come from all around the world to see it.”

Summer Fun in Winter
The indoor “beach” in Covington. “It may lack water,” Nunemaker says, “but the place makes up for it with 65 tons of sand for walking, frolicking, and beach volleyball.”

Downtown Feature
The waterfall in central Williamsport. “At 90 feet high, it’s the tallest in Indiana,” Nunemaker points out. “Try to visit a day after rain or melting snow for the best activity.”