Hoagy Carmichael was a famous jazz pianist and composer from Bloomington, Indiana. This document provides background on jazz music and describes a self-guided walking tour of locations significant to Carmichael's life in Bloomington in the 1920s. The tour includes 10 stops, such as his childhood home, places he frequently performed music (like the Book Nook café), and Indiana University buildings. The document aims to give readers a sense of Carmichael's environment and musical influences during his formative years in Bloomington.

1. Hoagy
Carmichael ‘s Jazz
Years in Bloomington
Self-Guided Walking Tour
“Lady, if you don’t know what jazz is,
don’t mess with it!”
Fats Waller
Monroe County History Center
202 East Sixth Street
Bloomington, IN 47408
(812) 332-2517
mchm@kiva.net
www.kiva.net/~mchm

2. What is Jazz?
Before beginning any discussion on Hoagy Car-
michael’s life in Bloomington, a single word needs
to be addressed—jazz. Jazz became an im-
portant part of how Hoagy defined himself, but
what is jazz? Jazz is music originally invented by
African-American musicians in New Orleans. Ear-
ly jazz evolved from a combination of African
rhythms, African-American work songs and field
hollers, the music of New Orleans’ parade, march-
ing and funeral bands, as well as elements from
European music including many of the instru-
ments and some harmonic and melodic ideas.
Essential Elements of Jazz
Swing The music’s relentless forward momentum, em-
phasized by the rhythm accents falling slightly in front of or
behind the beat—a phenomenon called syncopation.
Improvisation Jazz musicians invent a significant por-
tion of the music on the spot, especially when they improvise
extended solos over a song’s chords.
Distinctive Voices Good jazz depends upon the indi-
vidual voices of the players, distinguished by their selection
and placement of notes, their tone, and their rhythmic sense.
Styles of Jazz
New Orleans (early 1900s) Swinging, syncopated
rhythms, collective improvisation, based in spirituals, blues,
work songs, assorted European music.
Midwest Territory Bands (1920s) Precursor of big
band swing featuring star soloists, battling horn selections,
driving, bluesy rhythms.
Big Band Swing (1930s-1940s) Sophisticated ensemble
jazz by bands with 12 or more members. Tight arrange-
ments spotlight star soloists.
Bebop (1940s-1950s) Fast, frenetic jazz with complex com-
binations of chords, melodies and rhythms.
Latin Jazz (1930s-1990s) Merger of jazz with assorted
Latin influences—Cuban, South American, Caribbean.
Cool Jazz (1950s) Smooth melodic West Coast brand of
jazz.
Hard Bop (1950s—early 1960s) Gritty, bluesy ‘50s de-
scendant of ‘40s bebop, made by some of the same musi-
cians plus several new ones.
Avant Garde/Free Jazz (1960s forward) Avant garde
is experimental jazz that often has elaborate structure. Free
jazz is where anything goes.
Fusion (late 1960s forward) Blend of jazz with soul, rock
and funk elements, usually utilizing electronic instruments.
Contemporary/Smooth Jazz (1980s forward) Light,
instrumental pop that some critics feel shouldn’t be labeled
jazz at all—although some of its players have genuine roots
in jazz.
Acid Jazz (1990s) A blend of 1960s soul-jazz with 1990s
techno and hip hop, not really jazz in the traditional sense.

3. Jazz in Indiana in the 1920s
Indiana was not a root-source of jazz, as were New
Orleans, the rural South, or the great show business
capitals of New York or Chicago. Its particular place
was earned by its development of a style—its inter-
pretation of music from other places.
The style might be called for lack of a better name -
”Midwestern Jazz.” Predating the well-known
“Chicago” style by several years, it was an authentic
“hot” style, so evident in the number and variety of
college bands which embraced it, beginning about
1920.
Carmichael’s contributions are many, but perhaps
most important in this formative period was his intro-
duction to campus music of what he (and others)
called “sock–time.” Merrill Hammond gives a defini-
tion of what this was: “Sock time was an expression
used by musicians on the East coast as well as Indi-
ana for a medium tempo with a heavily-accented
first beat, with two and four light, and three some-
where in-between.
Welcome to the Self-Guided Tour
This “tour” highlights just a few of the places related
to Hoagy Carmichael’s life in Bloomington. Some of
the buildings discussed are not open to the public or
do not exist anymore, but were included to give a
1920s “sense of place.” A street map is included
with each stop marked. The stops can be done in
any order.
1. Childhood Home
Hoagy was the son of Howard and Lida Carmi-
chael. He was born on November 22, 1899 and
he had three sisters. The family lived at 214 N.
Dunn Street at the corner of
Dunn and 7th. His mother
had taken a fancy to the last
name of Harry Hoagland, a
railroad surveyor, who lived
with Carmichael relatives,
and named her son Hoa-
gland Howard. His mother
and grandmother always
called him Hoagland.
Hoagy‘s father was an elec-
trician and did not like to
stay in one area too long, so
the family moved frequent-

4. 2. Dunn Meadow
From Hoagy’s autobiography: “Played baseball
with the Dunn Meadow Demons. Game rained
out one day. While sitting in the parlor disconso-
late, I heard Mr. Foley tolling Indiana Franjipani on
the student tower bells. When Mr. Foley had fin-
ished I went over to the piano and with one finger
started picking out the notes. And suddenly I was
amazed. I was picking them out correctly. I hadn’t
thought about doing it but I had done it. The Dunn
Meadow Demons lost an incompetent sixty-pound
third baseman that day. Baseball was gone. The
piano had me.”
ly. While in Indianapolis, the family lived in the
Lockerbie area and were neighbors with James
Whitcomb Riley. Young Hoagy also lived in Mis-
soula, Montana and Bedford, Indiana. No matter
where he lived, Hoagy always considered Bloom-
ington home.
Hoagy started his freshman year at Bloomington
High School, but was kicked out for saying
“something” to a little girl. The family moved back
to Indianapolis in 1916 and Hoagy started to at-
tend Manual High School. Unfortunately he did not
like it and dropped out. Skinny but strong, he la-
bored on a construction crew (he helped build Un-
ion Station), at an assembly line making chains, at
a slaughterhouse, at a cement mixer, and on an
adding machine for an insurance actuary.
Hoagy inherited much of his musical talent from his
mother, Lida, an excellent pianist. During the 1910
-1920 period, at various times she had a small
band, which played for IU fraternity dances. She
also accompanied silent movies, first at the Vau-
dette Theater and Wonderland Air Dome, and later
at the Princess Theater on North Walnut.
First band in 1919, Hoagy (at the piano) was still in high school.

5. 3. Ma Robison’s House
Hoagy tried several times to get into the Army dur-
ing World War I. He was finally accepted on No-
vember 10, 1918, but it was too late, as the armi-
stice was signed the next day.
In January of 1919 he went back to Bloomington to
live with his maternal grandparents Alex and Mary
Robison. He re-entered high school and lived at
907 E. Atwater.
4. Beard House
The single most common memory Bloomingtonians
have of Hoagy Carmichael involves his obsessive
piano thumping. Typical is the story told by Russell
Beard. Beard’s mother took in student boarders
during the 1920s at the family house (523 E. Smith)
at the corner of Grant and Smith streets. Hoagy
was one of the boarders for about a year; he want-
ed to be near his girlfriend, Katherine, who lived
nearby. “My mother had an old upright piano. He
would thump on it for hours. Mother got sick of it.
He was not playing tunes, just improvising, fooling
around.”
The house site is now an apartment complex.
The house site is now the Atwater parking garage.
5. Kappa Sigma House
Hoagy lived in the Kappa Sigma house while he
was in law school. It was located at 720 E. Third.
His nickname among his best friends was “Hogwash
McCorkle.”
Hoagy graduated from law school in 1926. He
received an honorary Doctorate of Music from
Indiana University in 1972.
Fraternity building is no longer there.

6. 6. Limestone Fence and Star Dust
Some sources state that Hoagy and his friend William
Moenkhaus started working on Star Dust in the early
1920s, but they could never get it right. Eventually, the
effort paid off. One evening in 1926, Hoagy was sitting
on the lover’s wall at the college thinking about his lan-
guishing relationship with Katherine Baker, who would
shortly marry a trumpet player in his band. He began
whistling the “Star Dust” tune and as he put it “the demon
of creation became stronger than love.” He ran to the
Book Nook and asked owner Peter Costos if he could use
his piano.
Lover’s wall, also known as the “spooning” wall refers to
the low stone wall on the south side of campus. It runs
along E. 3rd St. near the corner of Indiana St.
Hoagy’s own lyrics to Star Dust
(no pick up notes)
Stardust melody, you hold a charm
Through the lonely years;
Stardust strain, beautiful refrain
I hear you ringing in my ears,
But the world goes by, paying no attention to you;
To me you’re everything in life and in love
I know, ‘deed it’s so,
(wa ba do dah….”doodling” for 8 bars)
Stardust melody, I love you heart and soul I do-o-o
‘Deed I do.
Star Dust was finally
published in New York
with lyrics by Mitchell
Parish (as we know
them today). It’s in-
teresting how much of
Hoagy’s original lyric
still remains.
Hoagy is sitting in front of the Kappa Sigma House with his fraterni-
ty brothers. He is in front of the second column from the left.

7. 7. Law School—Maxwell Hall
Seeing first hand the rough-and-tumble jazz life,
Hoagy was torn between his love of music and the
secure, respectable, and obviously more prosper-
ous profession of law. A suitcase of bootleg cham-
pagne allegedly financed his law school tuition.
Law classes were held in Maxwell Hall.
In 1926 with a law degree in hand, he headed to
West Palm Beach, Florida to open legal practice
with Wilbur Cook. One day sitting in his office, he
was astonished to hear his own tune coming from
across the street. Pat Nichols had recorded his
“Washboard Blues,” a song Hoagy had sold on his
way to Florida. According to friend Bud Dant,
Hoagy locked the door of his law office, put the key
under the door, and headed back to Bloomington to
resume his career in music. He came back to Indi-
ana and for a short while was with the law firm of
Bingham and Bingham in Indianapolis. Then he
returned to music for good.
In 1927 Hoagy formed another campus band which
played for fraternity dances and also performed
during intermissions at the Indiana Theater and the
Princess Theater.
During those days he acquired a topless Model T
roadster and a snub cornet, which he tried to learn
to toot. For a while, he carried the cornet with him
just about everywhere he went in town. He always
wore a crushed felt hat or a Sphinx Club beanie.
People remember seeing Hoagy driving down Fifth
Street and along Indiana through snow and howling
winds encased in a raccoon coat and holding his
hat on with one hand.
8. 9. Other University Spots
Hoagy frequently played in Assembly Hall. This
building was located just east of Owen Hall. The
building was built in 1896 and used as a theater.
Many of the spectacular annual Jordan River Re-
vues, staged by the fraternities and sororities, were
presented in this building. It was razed in 1938.
Sorority Row was also a favorite spot of Hoagy and
his friends. They would frequently serenade the
girls. There were four sororities on E. Third St. and
another four on Forest Place. Forest Place and its
houses were removed for the construction of Bal-
lantine and Jordan Halls.

8. 22
43
5
6
78
10
11
1220
19
18
2
1415
1
1621
17
9
23

9. 10. Book Nook
later known as The Gables
On a normal afternoon at the Book Nook, Hoagy
played the piano with Batty DeMarcuse on saxo-
phone. His other friends Wad Allen would watch
on, while Monk Moenkhaus composed poems.
Hoagy was friends with the owner Pete Costos and
the chef, Klondike Tucker.
At the Book Nook, Hoagy was a star member of an
irreverent, prankish club of students, some of them
musicians, all of them avant garde thinkers. The
group called themselves “The Bent Eagles.” Some
of the booth debates they had and the capers they
pulled at the restaurant and elsewhere were clas-
sics.
Hoagy is reputed to have written Star Dust at the
Book Nook. When asked how to write a song,
Hoagy said “If you knew how to compose you
wouldn’t be a composer. You don’t write the melo-
dies. You find them. They lie there on the keys
waiting for you. They have been there for centuries
and you are a composer or a writer if you know
when you’ve found one.”
Map and List of Stops
1. 214 N Dunn Childhood home
2. Near Woodlawn
and 10th Dunn Meadow
3. 901 E Atwater Ma Robison
4. 523 E Smith Beard House
5. 720 E 3rd Kappa Sigma House
6. 3rd St and Indiana Spooning Wall
7. Maxwell Hall Law School
8. East of Owen Assembly Hall
9. East Third and
“Forest Place” Sorority Row
10. 114 S Indiana Book Nook/Gables
11. 205 S Walnut Elk’s House
12. 114 E Kirkwood Indiana Theater/Buskirk Chumley
14. Princess 206 N Walnut
15. 207 N Walnut Stardust Bar and Grill
16. College and 7th Wonderland Air Dome
17. Register Parking Crescent Theater
18. 120 W 6th Neeld’s Hardware
122 W 6th Breedens
112-118 W 6th Wicks
19. 121 N College Howe’s Candy Kitchen
20. 105 W Kirkwood Vaudette Theater
21. 910 W 7th Irene Campbell’s House
22. 4th and Elm Rosehill Cemetery
23. 6th and Washington Monroe County Historical Society

10. 12. Indiana Theater
Here Hoagy and his friends, sometimes provided mu-
sic for the comedies and newsreels. Students would
gather in the front row and would pelt the good musi-
cians with peanut shells.
Harry Vonderschmidt who owned the Indiana Theater
and the VonCastle in Greencastle conceived of a pro-
motion, a contest between the orchestras. The follow-
ing ran in the Greencastle paper. “Mr. Vonderschmidt
says it was the biggest stunt ever attempted in his
Bloomington theater and was a grand and glorious
success. He says that the Bloomington people, with
all due respect to the splendid music of the Carmi-
chael orchestra, simply ‘went wild’ over the local musi-
cians (The Black and Gold Collegians) and they were
asked to play at five dances before they returned
home. In the grand finale, both orchestras played the
closing number together, and as the last note died
away the audience nearly ‘ tore the house down,’ to
11. Elks House
The Elks House is one of the few venues where
Hoagy played that is still standing. The Elks
House is located at 205 S. Walnut. It is currently
a law office.
Book Nook in the 1920s

11. 15. The Stardust Bar and Grill
The Stardust Bar and Grill (or Café) opened in 1936
at 205-207 N. Walnut St. It was across from the
Princess Theater building and was the only business
named in honor of Bloomington’s favorite son. It
closed about 1959.
14. Princess Theater
The Princess Theater opened in 1913. Both Hoagy
and his mother, Lida, played piano here. Lida played
along with silent movies and occasionally Hoagy’s
band performed energetic jazz. The Princess Theater
was down the street from the Harris Grand Theater.
The main band of the Princess Theater was the Crim-
son Serenaders. Hoagy Carmichael’s crew (Bill
Moenkhaus, Wad Allen, Art Baker, Chet Decker,
Bridge Adrams, and Billy Little) would usually be
found at the Indiana Theater.
In the late 1920s, Hoagy and Bill Moenkhaus were
partners in an unusual taxi venture, calling it the
Hook, Line and Sinker Cab Company. The Ford road-
ster was their only car, and they accepted no paying
passengers. Their favorite operation point was the
Harris Grand Theater at Seventh and Walnut. There
they would yell “all aboard!” then jump into their cab
and clatter east on Seventh, laughing deliriously.
quote Mr. Vonderschmidt. The judge of the contest
pronounced it a tie, which pleased the crowd mighti-
ly.”
Caption reads The “Open Job”, Indiana U. 1922. Hoagy is
in the driver’s seat.

12. 18. Kappa Alpha Phi—First Job
Above Neeld’s Hardware
In Hoagy’s earlier years, he would often go to the Kap-
pa Alpha Phi rooms above Neeld’s Hardware (120 W.
6th) on the Square. This was Hoagy’s high school fra-
ternity. Sunday nights were spent in the Kappa rooms
playing cards or shooting dice in the Observatory.
Hoagy made his first money from music when the
president of the KAP offered him and his friends $5
each to play for a
dance. The KAP
hall was 20’ x 40’,
and the dance
went so well, they
had to turn cou-
ples away. Other
popular dance
halls were above
Breeden’s at 122
W. 6th and Wick’s
at 112-118 W. 6th.
17. Crescent Theater
Hoagy’s high school gang often went to Crescent
Theater “a romantic place” to watch movies, but more
to hear the five piece band led by Hank Wells’ “hot”
fiddle. Later they would follow Hank to his Beta frater-
nity and on to the Candy Kitchen where a nickel would
start the music box.
Movie Tidbits:
Hoagy had roles in nine films including Canyon Pas-
sage, Johnny Angel, To Have and Have Not with Bo-
gart and Becall. He often played a honky-tonk piano
player.
Among the little know facts about Carmichael is that
author Ian Fleming had his sculpted visage in
mind,when he developed his legendary character
James Bond.
16. Wonderland Air Dome
From 1900 to 1930 Bloomington was a boom town
for theaters. At one time there were over 10 theaters
in the downtown area. The Wonderland Air Dome
was opened on May 16, 1908 and closed September
15, 1911. It was located at the corner of College and
7th (currently the Justice Building). Hoagy’s mother
played at the Air Dome.

13. 19. Howe’s Candy Kitchen
This was a popular hang out for young people in the
1920s.
20. Vaudette Theater
The Vaudette Theater was one door north of the old
Turner Hotel at the northeast corner of 4th and Col-
lege. Among the other early theaters (not already men-
tioned) were the Rex, Star, Theatorium, Nickalo, Men-
delsohn Hall, Bloomington Opera House, the Armori-
al and another in the basement of the old Monroe
County Bank.
21. Irene Campbell’s
House and Jazz
Hoagy was inspired to write the lyrics for “Rocking
Chair” by Irene “Granny” Campbell, a black woman
from Bloomington whose homemade beer inspired a
good many things. It became a theme song for Mil-
dred Bailey, who sang it, and Louis Armstrong, who
played it. This house was currently renovated by
Bloomington Restoration, Inc.
Additional Tidbits:
While living in Indianapolis, Hoagy discovered a won-
derful new kind of music from Reggie Duval, a black
pianist. Reggie demonstrated the dazzling sound
from New Orleans and taught Hoagy more than key-
board tricks. “Never play anything that ain’t right, “
Duvall told Hoagy. “You may not make any money,
but you’ll never get mad at yourself.”
Indianapolis, because of its central location, attracted
black jazz bands traveling from the South to Chicago.
Hoagy frequented the dingy clubs where they played
so he could listen and learn. It was in Indianapolis
that Hoagy first talked to jazz men and thrilled to the
emerging sounds of this new form of music. He ab-
sorbed all the jazz education Indianapolis had to offer.
He would then return home to practice the exciting
new techniques.
Hoagy’s open relationship with the black communities
of Bloomington, Indianapolis and elsewhere was very
much against convention. The 1920s were turbulent
and highly segregated, but Hoagy often visited the
black communities of Bloomington and Indianapolis
and his music reflects it.

14. Movies in Which Hoagy Carmichael Appeared
To Have and Have Not (1944)
with Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall. “Hoagy meets Bogey” -
and they did meet at Bacall’s dressing room. Humphrey didn’t
appreciate Hoagy hanging around. Carmichael’s character was
named “Cricket.” Included Hoagy’s songs “Hong Kong Blues”
and “How Little We Know.”
Johnny Angel (1945)
with George Raft, Claire Trevor, Singe Hasso. Hoagy played a
singing cab driver. Included Hoagy’s song “Memphis in June.”
Canyon Passage (1946)
with Susan Hayward, Dana Andrews, Brian Donlevy. Hoagy ap-
peared as Hi Linnet, wandering minstrel and friend to all. Hi sang
“Ole Buttermilk Sky.” Other Hoagy songs included “I’m Gonna
Get Married in the Morning” and “Rogue River Valley.”
Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
with Myrna Loy, Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Virginia Mayo,
Cathy O’Donnell, Teresa Wright. The movie won an Academy
Award for best picture of the year. Included Hoagy’s song “Lazy
River.”
Night Song (1947)
with Merle Oberon, Dana Andrews,
Ethel Barrymore. One of the best
scenes had Hoagy teaching Ethel
Barrymore how to play gin rummy.
Included Hoagy’s “Who Killed ‘Er?”
Young Man with a Horn
(1950)
with Kirk Douglas, Lauren Bacall,
Doris Day. One of Hoagy’s favorite
pictures, it was partially based on
the life of his friend Bix Beiderbecke, who died at age 28. Hoagy
played the character “Smoke.”
Belles on Their Toes (1952)
with Myrna Loy, Jeanne Crain, Jeffrey Hunter and Debra Paget.
The film was a sequel to Cheaper by the Dozen.
The Las Vegas Story (1952)
with Victor Mature, Vincent Price and Jane Russell. For this pic-
ture, Hoagy learned a croupier trick of flipping two silver dollars
with one hand. Vincent Price told him to stop stealing the
scenes. Included Carmichael songs “I Get Along Without You
Very Well” and “My Resistance is Low.”
Timberjack (1954)
with Sterling Haydon,
Vera Ralston, David
Brain. While ifilming n
Montana, Hoagy visit-
ed the area where he
had lived briefly at age
10. Song by Hoagy,
“He’s Dead but He
Won’t Lie Down.”

15. Hoagy Carmichael wrote over 650 songs.
Below are some of the songs that made him famous.
Star Dust (1926)
There are many contradictory stories as to the where and why this
song was written. Despite the origin of the idea, Star Dust is one of
Hoagy’s best known songs and its beauty endures even after nearly
eighty years.
Georgia on My Mind (1931)
Stu Gorrell, Carmichael’s IU schoolmate, composed the lyrics. Pro-
claimed the state song of Georgia in 1979, Hoosiers swear it was
really written about Hoagy’s beloved sister, Georgia Carmichael Max-
well. Ray Charles receive a Grammy for his version, and Willie Nel-
son recently sang it all the way to the bank.
Rocking Chair (1929)
Hoagy wrote the lyrics for “Rocking Chair.” Inspired by Irene
“Granny” Campbell, a black woman from Bloomington whose home-
made beer inspired a good many things. It became a theme song of
Mildred Bailey, who sang it, and Louis Armstrong, who played it.
Lazybones (1933)
Composed in 20 minutes by Hoagy and lyricist Johnny Mercer,
“Lazybones” became an instant hit, selling 15,000 copies a day in the
middle of the Depression. Rudy Vallee popularized the song.
Wedding Waltz (1936)
This song was written for Hoagy and Ruth’s (Meinardi) wedding.
Ruth walked down the aisle to it. Bud Dant has written the new lyrics
for this never-released tune.
Little Old Lady (1936)
Composed for the Broadway revue, The Show Is On, it brought down
the house. Inspired by Hoagy’s grandmothers, Mrs. Taylor Carmi-
chael and Ma Robinson.
Washboard Blues (1925)
The lyrics were written by a local stonecutter, a poet named Fred
Callahan. A friend said the tune sounded like a woman washing
clothes, and Hoagy soon arrived at the title.
Riverboat Shuffle (1924)
Hoagy’s first composition, which he called “Free Wheeling.” Written
at the Book Nook, it was first recorded by Bix Beiderbecke and the
Wolverines. Fourteen years later, Mitchell Parish, the “Star Dust”
lyricist, wrote the words.
Hong Kong Blues (1938)
Modern college students may be surprised by sly references to drugs
in the lyrics. Hoagy sang it in the movie To Have and Have Not, alt-
hough he had composed it six years earlier.
Two Sleepy People (1938)
Bob Hope and Shirley Ross sang the song in their movie, Thanks for
the Memory, and “Two Sleepy People” became an instant hit. Frank
Loesser composed the lyrics.
The Nearness of You (1940)
One of Hoagy’s most enduring hits.; veteran lyricist Ned Washington
wrote the memorable lines. “It’s not the pale moon that excites
me...oh no, it’s the nearness of you.” It was written for the movie,
Romance in the Dark, but for some reason dropped before produc-
tion.
Can’t Get Indiana Off My Mind (1940)
Kate Smith turned this tune into a best-seller in 1940. Hoagy wanted
to write a song to honor his native state. Texan Robert DeLeon sup-
plied the lyrics.
Ole Buttermilk Sky (1946)
This song was nominated for an Academy Award, but did not win that
year.
In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening (1951)
This song was sung by Bing Crosby and it won the Academy Awards’
Oscar for “Best Song” in 1951.

16. 22. Rose Hill Cemetery
Hoagland Howard Carmichael who was born in
1899 in Bloomington , died in Rancho Mirage, Cali-
fornia on December 27, 1981. He was buried in
Rose Hill Cemetery on January 4, 1982. He was
buried beside his parents and younger sister.
He married to Ruth Meinardi and they had two
sons—Hoagy Bix and Randy. Hoagy Carmichael
left behind an incredible legacy. He wrote over 650
songs, several of which are timeless classics: he
acted in nine movies: he starred in his own CBS ra-
dio show and in two TV shows and he won the Os-
car in 1951 for “Best Song.”
The entrance to Rose
Hill is at the corner of
4th and Elm Streets.
The star designates the
site of the grave mark-
er.
For a list of
references and
sources of
photographs used
in this brochure
please contact
the Monroe
County History
Center.
Tapes and CDs of
Hoagy’s music
are sold in the
Museum Store.
23. Monroe County
History Center
The Monroe County Historical Society collects
artifacts and offers exhibits related the county.
The History Center consists of a museum and
store which is open Tues-Sat, 10 am—4 pm, Sun.
1-4 pm. The genealogy library is open Tues and
Sat., 10 am—4 pm , and Wed-Fri. 1-4 pm. Stop
by and check out the museum’s special exhibit on
Hoagy.
We hope you have enjoyed this self-guided
tour. If you know of additional stops that
should be added, please let us know.