Most Indiana U. students are familiar with Bloomington’s ethnic restaurants, football games and bars. However, the Wylie House Museum shares a different story about the city that offers students a glimpse into IU’s beginnings.
One of Bloomington’s oldest structures, the Wylie House was built in 1835 at 307 E. Second St. by IU’s first president, Andrew Wylie. Home to Wylie, his wife and 10 of his 12 children, the house was passed on to Theophilus Wylie in 1859.
The building is now owned by the University and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
A tour of the house, lasting about an hour, leads visitors through the historical home and into a history lesson about a time when Bloomington was still a frontier.
Jo Burgess, director of the Wylie House Museum, begins her tour near a mural covering the first-floor hallway. The painting depicts what Bloomington looked like in the days that Andrew Wylie inhabited the home. Horse-drawn carriages spotted the streets, and air conditioners and residence halls would have been considered futuristic.
Though the mural would not have been in the house during the time it was inhabited, the image gives context to the time period, Burgess said.
She pointed out a barn in the mural and said the museum purchased a 19th-century barn in Monroe County that is being relocated to the museum site.
The barn will house a new education center, she said.
“That will be a special place, and I am looking forward to that a lot,” Burgess said.
The tour begins on the first floor through a kitchen and master bedroom and continues up the stairs to more bedrooms and a balcony. A number of heirlooms and original pieces of furniture still fill the home. Some of the rooms in the house have been decorated interpretatively as the museum curators believe the rooms might have been used.
Burgess said residence halls were not built until the 20th century, and students often lived with families or professors around campus until the buildings were constructed. It is possible one of the bedrooms on the second floor was used for boarding students, she said.
Senior Michelle Bloomfield visited the museum for the first time Saturday. She said the experience taught her about the history of the University and the city where she has lived for the last three years.
“I thought the museum was really interesting and authentic,” she said. “All of the original pieces of furniture enriched my experience. Getting to see the history of Indiana University was also really cool.”
Bloomfield said she would recommend the museum to her friends as a short but fun way to spend an afternoon in Bloomington.
Burgess also encourages students and community members to visit the historical house.
“We have worked really hard in the last 12 years to revitalize the house, and our new barn is really special,” she said.