Although it’s among the oldest buildings still standing, a Ball State University intern made a historic discovery. The foundation from a previous structure was under the original Moore-Youse Home Museum. There is also another building on the grounds. It operates as a library and offices for the Delaware County Historical Society.

Another way this Indiana museum is connected to Ball State University is through historian Dwight Hoover’s three-generation outline. The family story begins with the marriage of Charles Moore to Clara Wilson in 1861. They started their family in the four-bedroom, two-story house and gave birth to Mary Moore. As Mary’s parents aged, she remained in the house as a caretaker with her husband Will Youse. The couple’s daughter Mary Youse was born in 1896, and married Jack Mazan in 1946. The home remained in the family until Mary died and willed the property to the Delaware County Historical Society.

The home has been restored to appear the way it did in the 1800s. Specifically, most of the furniture remains unchanged. There’s even a photograph, which hangs in a bedroom on the second floor, that depicts Clara Moore rocking her granddaughter in the very rocking chair and other furnishings still in the house. One of the bedrooms upstairs in the Moore-Youse Home Museum has a small closet attached. This was unusual of home built at that time early in the nineteenth century.

Muncie, Indiana is only an hour’s drive from Indianapolis. The Moore-Youse Home Museum is near several other things to do in Indiana, including the Muncie Children’s Museum nearby, the Jay County Historical Society in Portland, the Quilters Hall of Fame in Marion or the Doctor James Ford Historic Home in Wabash. Along the route to Muncie from the Circle City, dozens of other day trip destinations can be found, like the Henry County Historical Society Museum in New Castle. For a short and sweet day trip from Indy, head out to Muncie and visit the historic Moore-Youse Home Museum.