Centerville, Indiana Arches

Centerville, Indiana Arches


Platted in 1814, Centerville, Indiana is a very old Indiana town.

But it’s not called the “City of Arches” for nothing–there’s something very unique found on a handful of buildings.

Centerville, Indiana Arches

Once upon a time, the main drag through town was 100 feet wide (which is really rather big in case you didn’t know). That was changed to the current 65 foot width and folks along the road were able to add on to their homes.

Built between 1832 and 1836, you will find a series of five arches scattered around this perfectly scenic town. Unlike the majority of us Hoosiers, there aren’t really front yards in Centerville.

Instead, these arches gave folks access to their backyards and in some cases, let their horse through, too.

Centerville, Indiana Attractions

Centerville, Indiana Arches

Centerville, Indiana Arches


I woke up bright and early (and I mean EARLY) during our Wayne County trip so I could poke around and take images around the town without a bunch of cars or people in my way. This time I didn’t even take Kid #1–he was still sleeping!

Centerville is such a joy to walk through! The houses are so gorgeous and it’s just a lot of fun.

I ambled all over the place. Lucky for me I also had a map of where to find the arches that you can find at various points around the area. It took out a lot of the guesswork! Even though you know me and my map-reading abilities–I did just fine. I located everything I was looking for and plenty of things that I wasn’t!

Even so, without a map you will still do just fine. The arches are centered around the Historic National Road.

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Centerville, Indiana Arches

Centerville, Indiana Arches


There are many reasons to visit Centerville, Indiana. It’s on Indiana’s antique trail, it’s a lovely town, and there are all sorts of neat architectural elements dotted around the downtown.

Centerville has more than 100 buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places so it doesn’t look like your typical Indiana town either. Really, you need to see it!

Small Towns: Destinations, not Drive-Thrus! I’m Jessica Nunemaker and THIS is little Indiana!

Find pictures in Indiana on my Flickr photostream or on the new little Indiana Tumblr blog.

Just don’t forget to tell ’em that  little Indiana sent you!

Centerville, Indiana in Wayne County

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