Dubois County Museum named finalist for best museum in Indiana

Dubois County Museum’s place among Indiana’s top three museums gives Jasper and the rest of Dubois County a rare statewide platform, with the chance to turn local pride into tourism, visibility and more foot traffic this summer. The museum is one of three finalists in Indiana Connection Magazine’s Best of Indiana readers’ choice awards for museums, alongside The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis and the Indiana State Museum.

Voting remains open through June 5, and supporters can help in several ways. Readers can cast a paper ballot, scan the QR code in the magazine, use the ballot available at the museum, or mail a ballot to Indiana Connection, 11808 Pennsylvania Street, Carmel, Indiana 46032. Indiana Connection says each category winner will be featured in its upcoming Best of Indiana feature, which raises the stakes for a museum that already serves as one of Dubois County’s most visible cultural anchors.

The recognition matters because Dubois County Museum is not a niche attraction tucked away on the side. The museum describes itself as the largest county museum in Indiana, with more than 56,000 items, more than 50,000 square feet of exhibits and annual visitation that exceeds 12,000 people. It was founded in August 1999 and has built its reputation on preserving and interpreting the history of Dubois County residents through displays that include 14 community murals, a 17-room Main Street Dubois County exhibit, a two-pen log house built in 1885, a wild game safari display and a model train display.

The museum’s finalist run also highlights the broader attention Dubois County is drawing in this year’s awards. Other county-linked finalists include Patoka Lake Brewing and St. Benedict’s Brew Works in the brewery category, Patoka Lake Modern Campground in campground, Lincoln Amphitheatre in live theater, Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari in places to take the kids, and Schnitzelbank Restaurant in restaurants. That kind of showing helps put the county on the map beyond one institution.

The museum’s role goes beyond collecting artifacts. Indiana Humanities highlighted a Voces Vivas program at the museum that drew more than 100 attendees, showing how the building has become a place for community programming as well as history. Visit Dubois County has also pointed to the work of volunteers such as Cheryl Sermersheim, who began volunteering regularly in 2008 and spends about 20 hours a week on exhibit work. Kathy Bachman has said the museum is operated entirely by volunteers, a reminder that the finalist nod recognizes not just a building, but decades of unpaid local labor.

The museum is at 2704 N. Newton Street in Jasper and is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., with Mondays closed. For Dubois County, the opportunity now is straightforward: vote, visit and keep the museum in the statewide spotlight long enough to turn recognition into lasting momentum.