Official State Stone of Indiana - Limestone
Indiana designated limestone as the official stone.
Even prior to Indiana’s admission to the Union in 1816, a light-colored, fine-grained native stone had been used by pioneer settlers for cabin foundations, door sills, milling burrs, and memorials. The stone was quarried with use of long star drills and wedges to separate blocks from the main deposit. The first organized quarrying effort of record was established in 1827 in Southern Indiana.
The Cotton Exchange Building in New Orleans was the first major project in which limestone was shipped from Indiana, cut ready to set. In the mid-1890s, George W. Vanderbilt set up a complete cut stone mill to fabricate Indiana Limestone for the Biltmore, his summer retreat in Asheville, North Carolina. The quarry in which the blocks were produced is still operating. from the History of Limestone
Children’s Museum of Indianapolis
One of the more whimsical museums is the Indianapolis Children’s Museum with Dinosaurs running amok. If you don’t have a child in tow it is still worth a roadside stop.