92 County Walk- Whitley County

Farmers produce large crops of corn, hay and winter wheat in Whitley County, where more than 80% of the land is used for farming. Columbia City’s native son, Thomas R. Marshall, served as Vice President of the United States under President Woodrow Wilson; Columbia City is also known for the famous Majestic Cigar Store.  Fox Products, a reeded musical instrument company specializing in bassoons, has been based in South Whitley since 1949.

This piece depicts an ear of corn that alternatively resembles a cigar or a bassoon. It is wrapped with a bronze cigar band and capped by a feather-topped onion. The cigar band also doubles as the clasp of the bassoon.

Designers Jeff Laramore and David Jemerson Young of 2nd Globe, an Indianapolis–based artistic company, designed all 92 of the county sculptures featured on the outside of the Indiana State Museum. Their designs narrate the counties’ famous natives, historically significant events, or their cultural characteristics, and were fabricated and installed by various Indiana sculptors, carvers, glassworkers, metalworkers, and other artisans.