It just followed me home. Carl Lyles, a retired educator who lives in Evansville, Ind., grew up hearing tales of courage and triumph that make up the town's unique history. It's an impressive list, considering that the population of Lyles Station around the turn of the 20th century was about 600. Some residents still till the soil, others work in nearby towns, and nearly half are descendants of the original black settlers.
People are friendly.
We've never had a disturbance. I don't think you could live in a better place. Hardiman, whose white clapboard house stands across the road from the schoolhouse, is delighted the community is coming together to give the old building a new beginning. State and federal grants also are being sought with the help of members of Indiana's congressional delegation. The money will be used to convert the school into a community museum and re-enactment classroom where students from surrounding schools can experience education as it was practiced a century ago.