Billie Creek Village

 village, living history museum, interesting place

Travel back in time at historic Billie Creek Village. From one of the country's best Civil War Re-enactments to classic car shows to Christmas in the Village, there are entertainment and educational opportunities year-round.

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Billie Creek Village is a recreated, authentic, turn of the century village, farmstead, living museum and home to three of Parke County’s famous covered bridges. It is located one mile East of Rockville, Indiana on US 36.

It was in 1964 and 1965 that a few Parke County residents began a study to find a way to make the county more interesting the year-round. The Covered Bridge Festival and Maple Fair had offered proof that visitors enjoyed the scenery and friendliness they found in Parke County, Indiana. There was also evidence that these same visitors had tremendous interest in all phases of rural American history.

Thus the decision was made to buy a tract of land and create a “village” typical of a specific time period of the past. The “turn-of-the-century” was the general time period chosen. Parke County took a firm step “backwards” and began salvaging old buildings of the period and a “village” began to take shape!

The land obtained had a meandering creek, and adjacent covered bridge, wooded lands and offered an accessible location. The site itself is of historical value, lying between the original Pike’s Peak Highway (later called Ocean to Ocean) and the same route’s newer roadbed named US 36. This location, between new and old, symbolized the very idea of Billie Creek Village.

The plan for Billie Creek Village was to create a “living-museum”…a museum to “take-part-in”, not to just walk through…making history come to live! It depicts ordinary people conduction their day-to-day lives at a time when “work” was regarded as the mainstay of life.

In 1969 Billie Creek Village opened its doors to the public with less than ten authentic buildings/exhibits.

Currently, Billie Creek Village is Indiana’s only authentic recreated, turn-of-the-century village and farmstead with a total of 38 authentic buildings/exhibits.