The Story Behind the Story Inn – Story, Indiana

A couple of weeks ago (Feb. 25, 2017) we took a trip to Indianapolis for a meeting for my wife and daughter.

As is typically the case, I wanted to go along and drive some back roads.

I am always on the lookout for unique and interesting places to visit and we did find one on this particular trip. We visited a little community in Indiana called Story.

Story probably only has about 100 people or less in the village.  It was founded in 1851 by Dr. George Story who received a land grant from then President Millard Fillmore. By the 1880s the town had become one of the largest settlements in the area.  At one time it had two general stores, a church, a schoolhouse, a sawmill, a grain mill and even a post office.  However, the Great Depression took its toll on this town as families abandoned this hilly farm area in search of employment.

The village looks much like it did in the 1930s with a few rustic buildings.

In the center of it all is a unique little country inn called the “Story Inn.” This rustic building includes a little general store, a nice cozy eatery, and some historically rustic overnight accommodations all in a natural setting. They even offer a bed and breakfast.

They don’t have an extensive menu but they do have a few things that are interesting and so we ordered some of the food and had lunch there. My daughter Marissa had a salad with their homemade cilantro vinaigrette dressing. Julianne had a black bean burger and I had their “1851 Burger” that included “bacon jam.” I also had them bring a side of the bacon jam because I wanted to just try that by itself and see how it tasted. It’s essentially a jam type of condiment that has been rendered with bacon and some sugar cane and some other things. It was sweet and bacony.

The most unique things about the Story Inn is their motto which is “One Inconvenient location since 1851“.

The dining area is very rustic with wooden floors, old wooden tables and a few rickety old chairs. I actually had to use a chair from their outside deck because I was afraid to sit in one of their rickety chairs due to my size.

The entry area has some nice stained glass.  The shelves are decorated with period era bottles and medicines, etc.  The entry also includes a desk where lodgers can get registered and stay the evening if they wish…either in the upstairs hotel or in one of the out building cottages.  The place also serves as a Bed and Breakfast.

I did not go upstairs to see the rooms but Marissa and Julianne did and they said the rooms are nice but could be spooky.  We also heard some talk about spirits hanging around in the rooms. But, the only spirits I saw were down in the dining area where they have numerous fine wines and other spirits.

I did walk around the premises a bit and found a few unique things there as well. They have a sculpture made out of old car parts and gasoline stand parts including the gasoline pumps. There are restrooms on the outside that have some unique characteristics as well, including the signs that are shown below.