General Lew Wallace Study & Museum – Crawfordsville, Indiana

General Lew Wallace Study & Museum – Crawfordsville, Indiana

You probably have either read the book or seen the movie "Ben-Hur".  The author of this book was an interesting man from Indiana, General Lew Wallace.  Now his personal study building is available for the general public to visit.  The National Historic Landmark was designed and built by him.  He lived from 1827 – 1905.

The Museum is filled with personal mementos from his years of service to his country.  He served as the Minister of Turkey from 1881-1885 under the appointment of President Garfield, before that President Hayes appointed him the Governor of New Mexico Territory form 1878-1881. He served as a military judge at Abraham Lincoln’s assassination trial and at the court-martial of Henry Wirz, commandant of Andersonville prison.

He wrote his first novel, The Fair God, which was published in 1873.  His second novel, Ben-Hur, was published in 1893 and was adapted into a stage play and opened at the Broadway Theater in New York City in 1899.  The movie was first released in 1925.

General Lew Wallace’s study is a separate standing building that was constructed fifty yards north of his residence in Crawfordsville, Indiana. The study was built between 1895 and 1898 and cost the then remarkable sum of $30,000. The building is an eclectic combination of three types of architecture: Romanesque, Byzantine, and Periclean Greek. The building is composed of a concrete and steel undercarriage, brick walls, limestone for friezes and porches, and capped with a copper roof and cupola.

The inside of the study was complete with electric and gas lights, a gas fireplace, coal furnace, an on-demand water system, and restroom. The main room contains white oak bookcases on three of the four walls. A frosted and stained glass skylight diffuses natural light into the main room.

A few other details about the study are important to note. The limestone frieze that wreaths the study contains four faces, one on each side of the building. The faces represent characters from Wallace’s novels Ben-Hur and The Prince of India, with the face Wallace approved for Judah Ben-Hur carved over the entrance to the study.

Today, Wallace’s study sits on 3.5 acres, which is entirely enclosed within a brick wall, which was an addition after Wallace’s lifetime.

General Lew Wallace’s carriage house was built ca. 1875 on the north side of his home at 514 East Wabash Avenue in Crawfordsville, Indiana. His residence is no longer standing, although one to three rooms are incorporated in an existing 1937 dwelling. The carriage house is one of only three known extant buildings designed and constructed by General Wallace. The other two are the Study itself and the Blacherne Apartment building located in downtown Indianapolis. Wallace actively used the Study and the Blacherne for approximately the last ten years of his life. However, he used the carriage house on a regular basis for 35 years.

Wallace’s carriage house is situated in a residential neighborhood, known as the Elston Grove Historic District, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. The structure is a heavy timber frame construction with elements of the Queen Anne style. The carriage house was used as a stable, hayloft, and workshop, as well as for carriage storage. It is likely the site where the majority of General Wallace’s eight U.S. patented inventions originated. His hobby of making violins might also have begun in the carriage house.

At the Study & Museum there are picnic tables and handicapped-accessible restrooms available.

Location: 200 Wallace Ave., Crawfordsville, Indiana 47933

Admission: $3 adults and students are $1

Hours: Business Hours
Monday – Friday • 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Tour Hours
Wednesday – Saturday • 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Sunday • 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Tours available Monday and Tuesday available by appointment only.
 

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