In Anderson, natural gas was discovered on March 31, 1887. Many enterprises, most notably the glass production industry, hurried to establish themselves here after this discovery. Natural gas was cheap and readily available, which caused population growth.
This city is in a great position and offers many enjoyable amenities. Anderson’s parks, which have been greatly enhanced, are one item you’ll undoubtedly adore.
The Christian denomination’s affiliate Anderson University is located in Anderson, which is also the location of the Church of God (Anderson) headquarters. The Gruenewald Historic House and the city’s historic Paramount Theatre are among its centerpieces.
Numerous other community services are available, including the farmer’s market, the Excel Center, an adult high school, and free canoeing at a nearby park.
This post explores some of the best and most enjoyable locations to visit in Anderson, Indiana.
Things to Do in Anderson, Indiana
1. Harrah Hoosier Park
Credit: HarrahHoosierParkRacingandCasino / Facebook
Caesars Entertainment owns Harrah Hoosier Park, formerly a filthy oval harness racing track, when it first debuted as a casino destination for the Indianapolis region in 1994.
Live harness racing is still popular here from April to November. The Dan Patch Stakes, which had a $325,000 prize at the time of writing, is a major event on the calendar.
After installing a sizable single-level casino floor in the 2000s, the track transformed into a full-fledged, year-round racino.
This offers 2,000 modern slots with values ranging from a cent to $100 and is open twenty-four hours a day. Additionally, a high-limit gaming section features brand-new electronic blackjack with multiplayer, high-stakes slots, and video poker.
Location: 4500 Dan Patch Cir, Anderson, IN 46013, United States
2. Madison County Historical Society
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The Madison County Historical Society, which operates a charming museum with the help of volunteers, has received a donation for a mid-century modern building in the city.
If you’re interested in anything related to Anderson and its surroundings, here is the place to start. You might be surprised by the sheer amount of artifacts and historical information here.
Before We Were Madison County, a recent exhibition, featured fascinating displays of fossils, native artifacts, and arrowheads found nearby at Mounds State Park.
The interactive WWII County Heroes and Home Front looked at local life and notable military people during World War II. Anderson got its name at the same time as a fascinating new ongoing display in the Delaware community.
Location: 15 W 11th St, Anderson, IN 46016, United States
3. Gruenewald Historic House
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This cute house at 626 Main Street is one thing that can catch your eye in Anderson. The Gruenewald Historic House is divided into two wings when you turn to the side.
The large French Second Empire townhouse that welcomes you on Main Street is from 1873, while the earlier, simpler east wing is from 1865.
Once a log cabin, the property is on Lot 3 of Andersontown’s original plat. The structure is still used today as a historic house museum, with 12 rooms displaying furnishings and household items from the turn of the 20th century.
The Dr. J. B. Nicholson Museum Room also has a collection of relics from Anderson’s early years.
Location: 626 Main St, Anderson, IN 46016, United States
4. Shadyside Memorial Park
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This peaceful park along Killbuck Creek was built in 1897 as a personal relaxation area for interurban train company Union Traction workers.
In the 1920s, the city bought Shadyside Memorial Park and dedicated it to the war soldiers of Madison County.
A few years later, local nurseryman Milton H. Gaar landscaped a magnificent stone terrace, adding the park’s most well-known monument.
The terrace, formerly known as the Japanese Gardens, is a popular location in Anderson for wedding pictures.
The park also features a variety of other standard recreation amenities, including a children’s playground and a cycling route along a creek. The Works Progress Administration built several man-made caverns during the Great Depression.
Location: 1112 Broadway St, Anderson, IN 46012, United States
5. Indy Scream Park
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You might be relieved to learn that one of Indiana’s best-haunted house attractions is just a few minutes south of Anderson’s downtown.
Indy Scream Park, which has six attractions in one place, was created by two professionals with years of expertise in the haunted house business.
Even if you don’t already fear clowns, Killgore’s 3D Circus will give you nightmares in a large tent as you navigate through a power plant over the gates of hell in one attraction called Nightmare Factory.
The closest you can come to battling your way through a zombie apocalypse is Zombie Paintball Assault.
Location: 5211 S New Columbus Rd, Anderson, IN 46013, United States
6. Mounds State Park
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The attractive Bronnenberg House, a five-bay, four-story Federal-style home constructed for the local landowner around 1850, is located close to the visitor center in Mounds State Park.
This is the remaining building from a large farm that formerly had a barn, smokehouse, corn crib, summer kitchen, and several other outbuildings.
The man who built this house, Frederick Bronnenberg Jr., appreciated the historical value of the mounds on his property and protected them from looters and plow damage.
This diligence left a legacy that finally allowed the state park to be established in 1930. The conserved home has an interpretative board in front, and tours are available on the weekends during the summer and around the holidays when it is decorated festively.
Location: 4306 Mounds Rd, Anderson, IN 46017, United States
7. Rangeline Nature Preserve
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This 180-acre riverbank natural park, located immediately downstream from Mounds State Park, is owned by the city.
The extensive network of mountain bike paths, which make the most of the stunning topography and varied vegetation, makes Rangeline Nature Preserve famous.
One of Indiana’s most challenging trails, the six-mile black expert path features drops, skinnies, log crossings, teeter totters, and other challenging crossings.
Additional two- and three-mile-long beginner (green) and intermediate (blue) trails are available. Arrows are used to designate each path.
Location: 1200 S Rangeline Rd, Anderson, IN 46012, United States
8. Anderson Speedway
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Less than five minutes southwest of Anderson’s downtown is a quarter-mile, severely banked oval for stock car racing enthusiasts.
For Saturday nights packed with action from multiple classes, including legends, mini cups, late models, midgets, and winged and non-wing sprint cars, Anderson Speedway draws sizable audiences during the summer.
A winged sprint car established the quarter-mile paved oval world record lap time of 10.28 seconds in 2010.
This track hosts a sizable event yearly to commemorate the Fourth of July, complete with nighttime fireworks and a fun race program that includes school buses and trailers.
Location: 1311 Martin Lthr Kng Jr Blvd, Anderson, IN 46016, United States
9. White River Paintball
Credit: WhiteRiverPaintball / whiteriverpaintball.com
The biggest outdoor paintball facility in the state is located on the same grounds as Indy Scream Park. With up to 12 unique themed fields to choose from, White River Paintball has been a go-to paintball destination for the Indianapolis region for more than 20 years.
These locations include intriguing titles like Omaha Beach (which contains a full-size landing craft), Skid Row, The Alamo, Jungle, Cambodia, and Airstrip, which has a real Sikorsky helicopter in combat Vietnam.
Players have access to a wide variety of rental gear, and every weekend there are open play sessions where you can jump straight into the action while playing games like the president, capture the flag, medic, ambush, and frozen tag.
Location: 5211 S New Columbus Rd, Anderson, IN 46013, United States
10. Exhibition @ Mound State Park
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A state park guarding mounds created by the indigenous Adena culture more than 2,100 years ago is located east of Anderson, up the White River.
These 10 earthworks, which are of an astonishing magnitude and are now partially hidden in woodlands and accessible by trails, are likely to have been utilized for religious rites.
The Great Mound is the largest circular earthwork enclosure with a central platform 138 feet in diameter and over 400 feet across. There were many layers of clay and ash when the mound was excavated in the 1960s, showing a progression of usage eras.
You may look at informational exhibits at the visitor center on the mounds. In contrast, the nature center has fascinating exhibits about animals, a chamber where you can see wildlife, and enjoyable, interactive activities.
The park also features a campsite, a swimming area, and a boat launch for journeys in canoes and kayaks on the White River.
11. Anderson Downtown
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A great buzz can be felt in Anderson’s central business district, especially in the summer, thanks to pubs, restaurants, cultural centers, and regular community activities.
You may also follow the city’s history through these streets from the late 19th century to the middle of the 20th century.
Since 2006, 32 structures in downtown Anderson have been included on the National Register of Historic Places.
Other places to see are the Art Deco Tower Hotel (1930), the Anderson Bank Structure (1928), and the Union Building, the state’s biggest office building when it was finished in 1902. We’ll cover the Paramount Theatre, Carnegie Library, and Gruenewald House below.
Summertime outdoor events like the Anderson City Market occur in Dickman Town Center, a plaza next to the Paramount Theatre.
12. Paramount Theatre
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This cinema palace opened its doors in 1929 and is a beautiful landmark in Anderson. The Paramount Theatre was a component of the chain of cinemas operated by Publix and owned by Paramount Pictures, thus the name.
This Spanish Revival-style structure is a traditional atmospheric theater with a fanciful design in the auditorium that evokes a patio in a Spanish town beneath a starry night sky.
When this monument was about to be demolished in the 1980s, Anderson’s residents stepped in to save it and restore it to its 1929 look.
A vintage film, a live performance, or a concert by the Anderson Symphony Orchestra may all be seen today. Here, the Festival of Trees gala auction has long been an Anderson Christmas custom.
Location: 1124 Meridian St, Anderson, IN 46016, United States
13. Anderson Museum Of Art
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A beloved museum focusing on contemporary art and Indiana art is housed in one of Anderson, Indiana’s finest structures, a Beaux-Arts Carnegie library from 1905.
The Anderson Museum of Art was founded in the 1960s. Nellie Alford Hill, whose industrialist parents had immigrated to Anderson in the 1890s during the gas boom, was one of its earliest patrons.
There is a full calendar of exhibits throughout the year, including thematic exhibitions culled from the collection, regionally competitive exhibitions, and yearly exhibitions like the fall show of the Art Association of Madison County.
The museum regularly hosts seminars and classes for adults and kids in Anderson as part of its educational initiatives.
Location: 32 Hst W 10th St, Anderson, IN 46016, United States
14. Oakley Brothers Distillery
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Indiana is great for making whiskey since grains are so easily accessible there. A gloomy old manufacturing building downtown in Anderson houses a distillery that creates artisan beverages.
For its bourbon, rye, and corn whiskey, the Oakley Brothers Distillery, which opened in 2018, solely uses grains from farms in Indiana.
Additionally, they produce well-produced vodka, blackberry liqueur, agave spirit, Indiana moonshine, and limoncello, with more on the way.
While you may visit the cocktail bar Tuesday through Saturday to sample the distillery’s concoctions, the distillery also offers instructional seminars about fermentation and distillation. On the weekends, there is live music, a delicious food selection, and activities like Jenga, shuffleboard, and cornhole.
Location: 34 W 8th St, Anderson, IN 46016, United States
15. Anderson Farmer Market
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Since the early 2010s, Anderson has hosted a farmers’ market every week from May until mid-October.
Every Saturday from 9 am to 1 pm, a wide variety of merchants is available in Dickmann Town Plaza by the Paramount Theatre.
Throughout the summer, the selection varies, but generally speaking, you may get locally grown fruit and vegetables, eggs, honey, baked products, coffee, plants, and a wide range of handicrafts.
Location: 402 N Murray Ave, Anderson, SC 29625, United States