Prehistoric Porter County
Details
Dates: January 02 - December 28, 2019
Time: Check website for times
Venue: Porter County Museum
Address: 153 S. Franklin St., Valparaiso, IN 46383
Phone: 219-465-3595
Admission: Admission free
About
In 1909, Porter County farmer Myron Benedict was plowing his field when he came across what appeared to be a massive tooth. It was harvest season, and the busy farmer threw the tooth in a corncrib and forgot all about it. In April of 1949, Benedict unearthed parts of a skeleton, teeth, and tusks of a mastodon (Mammut americanum) while plowing a portion of his property that had never been previously tilled. Digging for the mastodon bones was delayed till the fall of 1949 so that the soil could dry out and ease to work involved in recovery and preservation efforts. These artifacts and others are on display in the Prehistoric Porter County exhibit. Children are invited to do a little digging of their own, and visitors are asked to think about what they would do if they found a tooth in their backyard.
