Brown County

Nine years before Abraham Lincoln was elected president, Story came into being. In 1851, Pres. Millard Fillmore granted a land patent to Dr. George Story for the creation of this little town. Tucked into a scenic spot near the Hoosier National Forest, 13 miles southeast of Nashville, Indiana, Story lies deep in the heart of historic Brown County. And Story is just one reason to visit Brown County, also known as "the Art Colony of the Midwest." Amid forests, rolling hills, and winding country roads, charming Nashville is home to more than 120 shops, art galleries, and artists' studios and neighbors two villages quaintly named Gnawbone and Bean Blossom. The beauty of Brown County has always attracted artists and history buffs. Wander back roads across covered bridges that have spanned sparkling streams for more than a century to retrace the paths taken by artists seeking to capture the county's beauty.

Rick Hofstetter is an attorney and avid historic preservationist. Hofstetter is the owner of the Story Inn in the town of Story, one of the best examples of a pre-Civil War Indiana village still in existence. Jane Ammeson is a writer who specializes in travel, personality, and food. She has written several other books about southern Indiana, including Holiday World, Madison, and Indiana's Lincolnland.