Allendale Lane meets US 41 a few miles south of I-70. Keep heading south on that same highway and turn onto Oregon Church Road. Half a mile in is Fowler Park, Vigo County's oldest park. On two December evenings each year, its Pioneer Village lights up for the Christmas Walk. The cabins there were taken down in Owen, Greene, Vermillion and Daviess counties and rebuilt log by log beside Ruble Lake.
This year the walk runs Friday, December 4 and Saturday, December 5, from 6 to 9 p.m. both nights. Admission is free. Both nights include the village, the Mercantile and a visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus. Only Friday has carriage rides and Santa's reindeer.
Two Nights, One With Reindeer
The Vigo County Parks and Recreation Department lists the 2026 schedule on its homepage. Here is how the two nights compare.
| Friday, Dec. 4 | Saturday, Dec. 5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Hours | 6 to 9 p.m. | 6 to 9 p.m. |
| Admission | Free | Free |
| 19th-century Pioneer Village | Yes | Yes |
| Village Mercantile handmade gifts | Yes | Yes |
| Santa and Mrs. Claus | Yes | Yes |
| Carriage rides | Yes | No |
| Santa's reindeer | Yes | No |
The department also lists the walk as a volunteer opportunity for "December 4 & 5." Questions about either night go to the department's Natural Resource Programmer at 812-462-3392.
The Friday advantage matters more once you know what you're walking through. The carriage rides and reindeer are the extras. The village is what the department has spent more than five decades assembling.
A Village Built From Other People's Land
Fowler Park started in 1967, when the county bought 140 acres in south-central Vigo County from the Peabody Coal Company to create its first county park. The department dedicated the park to the memory of Eugene Fowler. The Pioneer Village grew there one donation at a time. Today it has 20 log buildings, a log barn, a gristmill and a covered bridge.
The department's Pioneer Village page and village history booklet trace where the buildings you'll pass on a Christmas Walk evening came from:
- Woods Cabin. Built in 1822 in Lockport, now Riley, Indiana. The children of Dan and Iva Wood donated it in 1969. It was rebuilt at the park's original entrance to serve as a gatehouse. When it was finished in 1970, it became the first cabin of the village instead.
- Irishman's Covered Bridge. C.W. Bishop built it around 1847 over Honey Creek on Ferree Road, northwest of Riley. It was moved to Fowler Park in 1971 with money raised by the Girl Scouts, the Vigo County Historical Society, area residents and employees of Columbian Enameling and Stamping Company. It now crosses part of Ruble Lake, so it still carries people over water.
- Log Barn. Built in the early to mid-1800s west of St. Bernice in Vermillion County. It was moved to the village in 1976 and enlarged in 1996, when the Mercantile gift shop was added.
- Church. Built in 1848 east of Staunton, with about a third of its logs from Sullivan County. It was donated in 1986.
- Gristmill. A replica built in 1991. Indiana State University's School of Technology led the project as a community effort.
- Dogtrot Cabins. These first stood at Hawthorn Mine, south of Dugger. The Fowler Village Folk volunteer group bought them from the Peabody Coal Company for $1,525 in 1996. That's the same company the county bought the park land from in 1967. They were finished in 1999.
- Blacksmith Shop. Built in 2008 from logs donated by J.A. Spears.
- Foltz Cabin. Originally stood in Vermillion County. The Donald E. Foltz family donated it in 2009, and it was rebuilt by 2010. It sits directly across from the Log Barn.
- Schoolhouse. Funded by the Educational Heritage Association of Vigo County. Construction started in 2007 and finished in 2014. The association still sponsors the building for village events.
The covered bridge almost wasn't saved. It is the last covered bridge left standing in Vigo County. Vandalism at its original site was costing the county money in repairs, and moving it to the park was how the county protected it. In 2019 the department hired covered-bridge engineer Dan Collom of Square and Level Construction to restore it. A commenter on the department's earlier Christmas Walk page recalled Santa and Mrs. Claus posing for photos on that bridge.
The Volunteers Behind the Lit Windows
According to the department, a volunteer group called the Village Folk brings the village to life for three annual events: Mini Pioneer Days, Pioneer Days and the Christmas Walk. Before the 2021 walk, then–Natural Resource Programmer Sean Sluyter told WTWO/MyWabashValley that the group had "probably about 25, 30 members" and that "they help take care of our cabins and they help put on these events."
Some of that work is literal rebuilding. The Cochran Cabin was built in 1825 or 1826 by Campbell and Jane Cochran in Owen County and reconstructed in the village in 1995. A fire in fall 2017 destroyed most of it. The department saved the foundation and chimney. The Haywood Trust then donated a similar cabin from Plummer, in Greene County, and staff and volunteers rebuilt it to the original Cochran specification.
The new cabin was introduced at a Christmas Walk. The Tribune-Star reported that at the department's 35th annual walk, families watched volunteers work a primitive forge in the blacksmith shop, make crafts in the log barn and sing carols in the church. The rededication of the Cochran-Plummer Cabin drew the biggest crowd of the evening. The paper also reported that an unusually cold November had made it hard to set mortar while the crew pushed to finish in time.
What Past Walks Have Included
These details come from earlier years:
- Music in the cabins. The 2023 event page said the Wabash Valley Dulcimer Possey would play live Christmas music.
- A Christmas Tree Trail. In 2023 the department opened its first Christmas Tree Trail in the Log Barn, with trees adopted and decorated by local organizations.
- Hot drinks by the barn. WTWO reported in 2021 that cookies, coffee and hot cocoa would be sold outside the Log Barn.
- Fires and handwork. A commenter on the department's earlier Christmas Walk page described a lantern-lit path into the village, a blacksmith cabin, gospel music in the chapel, and fires burning in the cabin fireplaces with hot apple cider made over them.
With 20 log buildings plus the barn, mill and bridge, the village takes more than a quick lap, especially with a stop in the Mercantile, so the three-hour window is worth planning around.
Getting There From Allendale, and Coming Back
The country club's own directions show that Allendale Lane runs off US 41. Fowler Park is at 3000 E Oregon Church Road, half a mile off US 41. The whole route is one highway and one turn.
The village keeps going after the Christmas Walk, too. The department opens it for walk-through tours every third Saturday of the month in summer. The Blacksmith Shop hosts an Intro to Blacksmithing class, led by two volunteer blacksmiths, every fourth Saturday from April through October. Tours for individuals and groups are available year-round on request. If one December evening at the forge isn't enough, there are more chances to come back next year.
When I list a home, I spend time on what makes a place hard to leave, and a free night in a lantern-lit village down the road is part of that story. If you're curious what your Allendale home might be worth before the holidays, Andrew Southard can put together a clear, local estimate for you. Get Your Free Instant Home Valuation.
