Editing Corydon, Indiana (section)

==History==

===Early settlement===
[[File:Map of Corydon, Indiana from 1876 atlas.png|thumb|left|Map of Corydon from 1876 atlas]]

During the [[American Revolution]], [[George Rogers Clark]] captured the surrounding area of what became the town of Corydon from the [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]], bringing it under the control of the fledgling United States government.<ref>Griffin, p. 8</ref> The first American settlers entered Harrison County in 1792 and included the families of [[Harvey Heth]] and [[Squire Boone]], who settled south of Corydon, and [[Dennis Pennington]] and the Harbisons, who settled east of Corydon.<ref name="Griffin, p. 9">Griffin, p. 9</ref> The region was in the midst of the [[Northwest Indian War]] during that period and the families were forced by Native Americans to leave the region and return to Kentucky.<ref name="Griffin, p. 9"/> The families returned to the area in 1800 following the creation of the Indiana territory.<ref name="Griffin, p. 9"/>

The territorial government completed the land survey of what would become Corydon in 1807, and the first official land purchases occurred in April of that year.<ref name="Griffin, p. 11">Griffin, p. 11</ref> In 1803, Edward Smith and his family became the first Americans to settle in what would become Corydon. Following the completion of the 1807 land survey, he purchased the tract of land he had already been living on; at that time his family were the only recorded inhabitants of the future site of the town.<ref name="Griffin, p. 11"/> He purchased land at the edge of a fertile valley near a large spring, which is the site of the present-day [[Harrison County, Indiana|Harrison County]] fairgrounds.<ref name="Griffin, p. 11"/> [[William Henry Harrison]], the first [[Governor of Indiana|governor]] of the [[Indiana Territory]] and a future president of the United States, often stopped to rest at the Smith's home while travelling to and from [[Vincennes, Indiana|Vincennes]], the territorial capital.<ref name="Griffin, p. 15">Griffin, p. 15</ref>

In 1804 Harrison purchased a tract of land where Big Indian Creek and Little Indian Creek join to become Indian Creek and decided to build a town on the site.<ref name="Griffin, p. 14">Griffin, p. 14</ref> Harrison built a two-story home in the town, but sold it in 1809.<ref>Griffin, p. 156</ref> The town gets its name from "[[Pastoral Elegy (hymn)|The Pastoral Elegy]]," a [[hymn]] that celebrates the death of a shepherd named Corydon.<ref name="Griffin, p. 14"/><ref name="Taylor-169">{{cite book |author1=Robert M. Taylor Jr. |author2=Errol Wayne Stevens |author3=Mary Ann Ponder |author4=Paul Brockman |title=Indiana: A New Historical Guide |publisher=Indiana Historical Society |year=1992 |location=Indianapolis |page=169 |isbn=0871950499}}</ref> Tradition says that Harrison asked Edward Smith's daughter, Jenny, to name the town and she chose the name from Harrison's favorite [[hymn]], "The Pastoral Elegy."<ref name = fwp181>{{cite book |author=Works Project Administration, Federal Writers' Project |title=Indiana. A Guide to the Hoosier State |year=1947 |publisher=US History Publishers |series=American Guide Series |page=181 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8iFZ90Uw3jEC |isbn=1-60354-013-X}}</ref>

Harrison sold the town site to [[Harvey Heth]] in 1807.<ref name="Griffin, p. 14"/><ref name="Taylor-169"/> Corydon's official founding date of 1808 commemorates the year when Heth, a U.S. government surveyor and landowner, platted the town. Heth donated the town square for public use and sold individual lots to settlers and the territorial government.<ref name = fwp181/> When Harrison County was established in 1808, Corydon became its county seat of government.<ref name="Griffin, p. 14"/> The town originally consisted of 185 lots.<ref name="Griffin, p. 15"/> In 1809 Corydon was connected by road to Doup's Ferry, {{convert|15|mi|km}} to the south at [[Mauckport, Indiana|Mauck's Port]], providing access to the [[Ohio River]] for trade.<ref name="Griffin, p. 17">Griffin, p. 17</ref> The first county courthouse was built at the northwest corner of the town at the summit of High Street.<ref name="Griffin, p. 17"/>

Corydon quickly grew into one of the most important early settlements in Indiana, in large part due to the political successes of its early inhabitants and as one of the main stops on the only land route to the territorial capital of Vincennes. During the [[War of 1812]], Corydon sent a mounted militia company nicknamed the [[Yellow Jackets (Indiana)|Yellow Jackets]] to support the territorial army. The company fought in the [[Battle of Tippecanoe]], where it suffered more casualties than any other unit.<ref>Griffin, p. 35</ref>

===Territorial capital (1813–1816)===
{{See also| History of Indiana|Corydon Historic District}}
[[File:Corydon old capital.jpg|thumb|[[Corydon Historic District#Old Capitol|Old Capitol Building]] in downtown Corydon|alt=]]

Corydon became the second capital of the Indiana Territory on May 1, 1813, when it was relocated from [[Vincennes, Indiana|Vincennes]] in [[Knox County, Indiana|Knox County]]. Opponents of [[William Henry Harrison]], the former territorial governor, wanted to move the capital away from his political stronghold in Knox County. Supporters of the move felt that relocation of the territorial capital to the east would provide a more centralized location for its citizens, especially after its western portion was reorganized to form the [[Illinois Territory]] in 1809.<ref name="Taylor-169"/><ref name = fwp181/><ref>{{cite book |editor=John D. Barnhart and Dorothy L. Riker |title=Indiana to 1816: The Colonial Period |publisher=Indiana Historical Bureau and the Indiana Historical Society |series=The History of Indiana |volume=I |year=1971 |location=Indianapolis |page=355}}</ref>

Corydon competed with [[Charlestown, Indiana|Charlestown]], [[Clarksville, Indiana|Clarksville]], [[Lawrenceburg, Indiana|Lawrenceburg]], [[Madison, Indiana|Madison]], and [[Jeffersonville, Indiana|Jeffersonville]] to become the new territorial capital.<ref>{{cite book |author=Ray E. Boomhower |title=Destination Indiana: Travels Through Hoosier History |publisher=Indiana Historical Society |year=2000 |location=Indianapolis |page=15 |isbn=0871951479}}</ref> [[Dennis Pennington]], a Harrison County representative and the speaker of the territorial legislature's lower house, helped secure the town's selection during the 1813 session of the Indiana Territory's general assembly. Pennington pointed out that Corydon would be an ideal location. The Harrison County court had approved a design for a new county courthouse on Corydon's public square in 1811 and it could be used as an assembly building for the territorial legislature. Pennington supervised construction of the limestone courthouse, which was nearly completed when Indiana's first state legislature convened at Corydon in 1816.<ref name="Taylor-169"/><ref>Boomhower, p. 17.</ref><ref>The limestone for the courthouse came from a nearby quarry. See {{cite book |author=D. F. Lemmon |title=The Ancient Capital of the State of Indiana, Corydon, Harrison County |publisher=Ledger Company |location=New Albany, IN |year=1891 |page=7 |url=https://archive.org/stream/ancientcapitalof00lemm#page/n3/mode/2up}}</ref> Prior to 1816, the territorial legislature met in the original county courthouse on High Street.<ref name="Griffin, p. 18">Griffin, p. 18</ref>

[[Paul and Susannah Mitchem]] became Quakers and immigrated to Harrison County from [[North Carolina]] in 1814, bringing with them 107&nbsp;slaves whom they freed after arriving.<ref name="Dick" /> Most of the former slaves then settled around the town of Corydon.<ref name="Wonning">{{Cite book |last=Wonning |first=Paul R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1rhTCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA145 |title=Guide to Indiana's Historic Sites - South Central Edition: Road Trips in South Central Indiana |publisher=Mossy Feet Books |isbn=978-1-310-39072-2 |pages=145}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Early Black Settlements by County: Harrison County |url=https://indianahistory.org/research/research-materials/early-black-settlements/early-black-settlements-by-county/ |access-date=February 14, 2022 |website=Indiana Historical Society |language=en-US}}</ref> Although some of the former slaves left, the group became one of the largest communities of free blacks in the state.<ref name="Dick">{{cite book |author=Dick, Otis Amanda |title=Corydon:Images of America |year=2000 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |isbn=0-7385-6050-2 |page=34}}</ref>

===Constitutional convention, 1816===
{{Main|Constitution of Indiana}}
On April 19, 1816, President [[James Madison]] signed an [[Enabling Act]] that provided for the election of delegates to a convention at Corydon to consider statehood for Indiana. Forty-three delegates, including five men from Harrison County, convened June 10–29, 1816, to draft Indiana's first state [[Constitution of Indiana|constitution]].<ref>"The Setting for the Convention, " in {{cite journal |editor=Pamela J. Bennett |title=Indiana Statehood |journal=The Indiana Historian |page=6 |publisher=Indiana Historical Bureau |location=Indianapolis |date=September 1999}}</ref><ref>Harrison County's delegates were John Boone, [[Davis Floyd]], Daniel C. Lane, [[Dennis Pennington]], and Patrick Shields. See Barnhart and Riker, pp. 441–42.</ref> The preamble of the constitution acknowledges the site of the historic gathering: "We the Representatives of the people of the Territory of Indiana, in Convention met, at Corydon, on Monday the tenth day of June in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and sixteen,..."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.in.gov/icpr/2778.htm |title=Full Text Of The 1816 Constitution |publisher=State of Indiana |access-date=October 24, 2014}}</ref>

The delegates met in an unfinished log cabin near the Harrison County courthouse, which had not yet been completed; due to cramped conditions and the summer heat, the men often sought refuge outside under a giant [[elm tree]], later named the Constitution Elm. Although the tree was lost to Dutch Elm Disease in 1825, a portion of its trunk has been preserved, surrounded by a [[sandstone]] memorial built by the WPA during the Great Depression in the 1930s.<ref>{{cite book |author=Earl L. Conn |title=My Indiana: 101 Places to See |publisher=Indiana Historical Society |year=2006 |location=Indianapolis |page=204 |isbn=978-0-87195-195-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Frederick P. Griffin |title=The Story of Indiana's Constitution Elm, Corydon, Indiana, June 1816 |publisher=General Print Company |year=1974 |location=Corydon, IN |pages=10–13 |oclc=3901490}} See also {{cite book |author=William P. McLauchlan |title=The Indiana State Constitution: A Reference Guide |publisher=Greenwood Press |series=Reference Guides to the State Constitutions of the United States |volume=26 |year=1996 |location=Westport, CT |page=2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a-RQI0gEscUC&pg=PA1 |isbn=978-0-313-29208-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://centerforhistory.org/learn-history/indiana-history/indiana-the-nineteenth-state-1816 |title=Indiana History: Indiana, the Nineteenth State (1816) |publisher=Center for History |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121027053723/http://centerforhistory.org/learn-history/indiana-history/indiana-the-nineteenth-state-1816 |archive-date=October 27, 2012}}</ref> The delegates completed their work in nineteen days, adjourning on June 29, 1816, when the newly signed state constitution went into effect.<ref>Barnhart and Riker, p. 460.</ref> As outlined in Article XI, Section 11, of the constitution of 1816: "Corydon, in Harrison County shall be the seat of Government of the state of Indiana, until the year eighteen hundred and twenty-five, and until removed by law."<ref>{{cite web |title=Constitution of 1816: Article XI |publisher=Indiana Historical Bureau |url=http://www.in.gov/history/2872.htm |access-date=August 3, 2016}}</ref>

Corydon's selection as the capital led to rapid growth of the town and a housing shortage. There were only three taverns for visitor lodging in 1813. A fourth and much larger tavern, the [[Kintner House Hotel|Kintner House Tavern]], opened in 1819. Many officials, including three successive Governors, and their staff moved to Corydon and built large homes in the town. The town hosted meetings from national officials, including an 1819 visit by United States President [[James Monroe]] and [[Andrew Jackson]].<ref>Griffin, p. 33</ref>

===State capital (1816–1825)===
[[File:Constitution Elm.JPG|thumb|upright|The Constitution Elm as seen in the summer of 2006]]
On November 4, 1816, the [[Indiana General Assembly]] met for the first time at Corydon under the new constitution and state government.<ref name="IH-Final-10-11">"The Final Steps to Statehood," Bennett, ''The Indiana Historian'', pp. 10–11.</ref> President James Madison signed the congressional resolution admitting Indiana as the nineteenth state in the Union on December 11, 1816,<ref name="BR-461-63"/> and Corydon began a new era as the first state capital of Indiana.<ref name="Taylor-169"/><ref>Lemmon, p. 5.</ref>

The Harrison County courthouse, now known as the Old Capitol, served as Indiana's [[Indiana first capitol building|first state capitol]] building. It housed state government offices from 1816 until 1825.<ref name="Taylor-169"/> Several other historic structures in Corydon date from the early statehood era, including the Governor's Mansion and the Old Treasury Building (Indiana's first state office building), which were built in 1817, and the Colonel Thomas Lloyd Posey home, among others.<ref>Colonel Posey was the son of [[Thomas Posey]], the [[Governor of Indiana|governor]] of the [[Indiana Territory]] from 1813 until 1816. See Griffin, pp. 19–21.</ref><ref name=CC>{{cite web |title=Corydon Capitol: About Corydon Capitol State Historic Site |publisher=Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites |url=http://www.indianamuseum.org/corydon-capital-state-historic-site |access-date=August 8, 2016}}</ref> Corydon's Grand Masonic Lodge, the first in the state, was built in 1819.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McDonald |first1=Daniel |title=A History of Freemasonry in Indiana from 1806 to 1898 |date=1898 |publisher=The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of the Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Indiana |location=Indianapolis, IN |url=http://mlmindiana.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/HistoryofFreemasryIndiana_McDonald.pdf |access-date=August 8, 2021}}</ref>

During the years Corydon served as a territorial and state capital, it was home to a number of politicians; notable residents during this time included [[Davis Floyd]], a prominent local politician; two governors of Indiana, [[Jonathan Jennings]] and [[Ratliff Boon]] (the state's first and second governors, respectively); [[Dennis Pennington]], the first Speaker of the [[Indiana Senate]]; and [[William Hendricks]], Indiana's first [[United States House of Representatives|U. S. Representative]], its third governor, and a [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]].<ref>Gugin, p. 54</ref>

The state constitution's provision making Corydon the seat of state government was not a popular one, especially among the citizens of rival towns. Others expressed concern that the town's geographic location in the extreme southern part of Indiana would become inconvenient as the state's population center shifted northward; however, Dennis Pennington and other Harrison County representatives to the [[Indiana General Assembly]] successfully resisted attempts to move the seat of government from Corydon until 1825.<ref name="BR-461-63">Barnhart and Riker, p. 461–63.</ref><ref name="IH-Constitution-12">"The Constitution of 1816," Bennett, ''The Indiana Historian'', p. 12.</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Charles Kettleborough |title=Constitution Making in Indiana: A Source Book of Constitutional Documents, with Historical Introduction and Critical Notes |publisher=Indiana Historical Commission |series=Indiana Historical Collections |volume=1 |year=1930 |location=Indianapolis |pages=118, 138–39 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1UUpAAAAYAAJ&q=Constitution+Making+in+Indiana |oclc=3654268}}</ref> Governor Hendricks signed a legislative bill in 1824 to move the state capital to [[Indianapolis]],<ref>{{cite book |editor=Linda C. Gugin |editor2=James E. St. Clair |title=The Governors of Indiana |year=2006 |publisher=Indiana Historical Bureau and Indiana Historical Society Press |location=Indianapolis |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780871951960/page/57 57] |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780871951960/page/57 |isbn=0871951967 |url-access=registration}}</ref> effective January 10, 1825.<ref>{{cite book |author=Donald F. Carmony |title=Indiana, 1816–1850: The Pioneer Era |publisher=Indiana Historical Bureau and the Indiana Historical Society |series=The History of Indiana |volume=I |year=1998 |location=Indianapolis |pages=112–13 |isbn=0871951258}}</ref>

===Post-capital period===
After the seat of state government moved to Indianapolis in 1825, Corydon continued its role as the seat of county government and a market town for the surrounding agricultural area.<ref name=SHAARD2>{{cite web |url=https://secure.in.gov/apps/dnr/shaard/welcome.html |title=Indiana State Historic Architectural and Archaeological Research Database (SHAARD) |publisher=Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology |format=Searchable database |access-date=April 1, 2016}} Includes {{cite web |url=https://secure.in.gov/apps/dnr/shaard/r/202b8/N/Corydon_HD_Boundary_Increase_Harrison_CO_Nom.pdf |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Corydon Historic District (Boundary Increase) |access-date=April 1, 2016 |author=Mary Ellen Gadsky |date=June 1988}}</ref> In 1826 a new County Clerk's office was constructed which remained the principal county office until 1848.<ref name="Griffin, p. 18"/> During the early days of the town, Big Indian Creek and Little Indian Creek were both used for drinking water, bathing, and sewage, which resulted in a [[cholera]] outbreak in 1832. Following the outbreak, the town only used the creeks for bathing and multiple wells were dug for drinking water.<ref name="Griffin, p. 15"/> In 1836, the town began spreading gravel on the roads, which had been dirt roads before.<ref name="Griffin, p. 23">Griffin, p. 23</ref>

During 1848, a new two-story federal style brick office building was constructed on the east side of the county courthouse. This second office building remained in use until 1881.<ref name="Griffin, p. 19">Griffin, p. 19</ref> On September 11–14, 1860, the first annual county fair was held on Corydon's {{convert|36|acre|ha|adj=on}} fairgrounds. It has been an annual event since 1860, making it the longest consecutive-running annual county fair in the state.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.clarionnews.net/Articles-News-i-2013-07-10-226220.114125-154th-Harrison-County-Fair-begins-Sunday.html |title=154th Harrison County Fair begins Sunday |newspaper=Clarion News |date=July 10, 2013 |access-date=October 24, 2014}} See also {{cite web |url=http://www.corydondemocrat.com/Articles-News-i-2012-08-07-225097.114125-Fair-abuzz-with-activities.html |title=Fair A-Buzz With Activities |author=Alan Stewart |work=The Corydon Democrat}}</ref> The fairgrounds, established in the southwest corner of town, are bordered on the south and west by a large ridge that served as a natural grandstand until the first grandstand was built, circa 1910.<ref>Works Projects Administration, Federal Writers' Project, p. 184.</ref>

===Battle of Corydon (1863)===
{{Main|Battle of Corydon}}
[[File:Corydon Battlefield entrance.jpg|thumb|Battle of Corydon Memorial Park]]

During the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], Corydon was the site of the only "official pitched battle" fought in Indiana. On July 9, 1863, [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] [[Brigadier General|brigadier general]] [[John Hunt Morgan]]'s cavalry of more than 2,000 men crossed the [[Ohio River]] into Indiana to begin what is known as "[[Morgan's Raid]]". The Confederate troops opposed about 450 members of a hastily assembled home guard at the [[Battle of Corydon]] outside of town, but the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] forces were quickly defeated and the town surrendered.<ref>Taylor, et al., pp. 169, 171.</ref>

Corydon was sacked in retaliation for Union looting in Kentucky, the town's treasury of $690 was seized, and the inmates of the local jail were released. General Morgan demanded $600 to $700 in ransom from each mill and shop owner to keep their buildings from being burned. Tradition says one Corydon miller overpaid by $200; Morgan promptly returned it to him.<ref>{{cite book |author=Shelby Foote |title=The Civil War: A Narrative, Red River to Appomattox |publisher=Random House |volume=III |year=1974 |location=New York |isbn=0-394-46512-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/redrivertoappoma00foot}}</ref><ref>Works Project Administration, Federal Writers' Project, pp. 181–82.</ref>

===Post-Civil War Period===
[[File:Corydon in 1896.jpg|right|thumb|Corydon in 1896, looking southward from Walnut Street]]

In 1871 local journalists began to bring the condition of the first Indiana statehouse to public attention. The building had become filthy and infested with fleas and other pests such that many people refused to enter it. Their campaign proved successful, and in 1873 the building was given a major renovation. The walls and ceilings were replastered, a new staircase and furnishings were installed, and the building was thoroughly cleaned.<ref name="Griffin, p. 23"/>

In 1881 the county began construction of its third office building after demolishing the prior building. The building was completed in June 1882 and remained in use until 1929.<ref name="Griffin, p. 19"/> The state of Indiana purchased the 1816 courthouse to preserve as a state historic site following the move.<ref>Griffin, p. 24</ref> Beginning in 1882, the [[Louisville, New Albany and Corydon Railroad]], an {{convert|8|mi|km|adj=on}} spur of the [[Southern Railway (U.S.)|Southern Railway]], connected Corydon to other towns in the region.<ref name=SHAARD2/> Southern Railroad's main line ran across northern Harrison County at [[Crandall, Indiana|Crandall]], and remained open to passenger traffic until 1996. As of 2008, the line was owned by [[Lucas Oil]]. A major fire broke out in 1871, in which the Kintner House Tavern was destroyed, along with the entire block from Cherry to Beaver Streets. The county jail also burned in the blaze. A second major fire broke out in Corydon on April 20, 1883, in the west end of Corydon; seven businesses, stables, and multiple homes were destroyed. The fire would have spread further, but it slowed as it spread through a lumber yard containing only freshly cut timber that did not burn easily. This allowed the townspeople to get the upper hand and extinguish the fire, but most of the western portion of the town was burned. It was not until 1922 that all the lots were rebuilt.<ref>Griffin, p. 25</ref>

[[File:Corydon in old west bridage.jpg|left|thumb|Corydon's Old West Bridge in 1889]]
In 1889 an attempted murder in Corydon resulted in a lynching. A mob of 150 mounted men, led by twenty masked [[Indiana White Caps|Indiana white cap]] vigilantes, arrived at the county jail and demanded the release into their custody of two men (James Devin and Charles Tennyson) being held on charges of attempted murder. The leaders of the group demanded the keys to the jail, threatening to burn down the town if they were refused; after the sheriff refused to hand over the keys, the mob used hammers to knock down the jail doors and removed the two alleged assailants. The two men were dragged to the old Western Bridge, where they were hanged.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BJpuAAAAMAAJ&q=corydon%20Devin%20and%20Tennyson&pg=PP1 |title=Indiana's Birthplace: A History of Harrison County, Indiana |author=William H. Roose |year=1911 |publisher=The Tribune Company, Printers |location=New Albany, Indiana |page=62}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Strung to the Bridge, Corydon's MurderersLynched |url=https://newspapers.library.in.gov/cgi-bin/indiana?a=d&d=ISST18890619.1.4 |access-date=April 17, 2016 |newspaper=Indiana State Sentinel |date=June 19, 1889}}</ref>

In 1917 the state of Indiana purchased the historic capitol building with the goal of restoring it. The Federal-style building opened as a state memorial in 1929–30; it is a part of the Corydon Capitol State Historic Site. The Harrison County government also used the former statehouse until a new, three-story county courthouse was completed in 1929, located on the north side of the original 1816 courthouse.<ref name=CC/><ref name="Taylor-170">Taylor, et al., p. 170.</ref><ref>Boomhower, p. 21.</ref>

In 1960 a fire destroyed much of the Harrison County Fairgrounds, including its grandstand. A replacement grandstand was acquired from the minor league baseball team at [[Parkway Field]] in [[Louisville, Kentucky]], is still in use.<ref>Griffin, p. 36</ref>

In 1969 Corydon-born environmental historian [[Samuel P. Hays]] donated the {{convert|311|acre|hectare|adj=on}} [[Hayswood Nature Reserve]] to the county. Known as Hayswood Park, it is the county's second largest nature reserve.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.harrisoncountyparks.com/parks/hayswood-nature-reserve#about |title=Hayswood Nature Reserve - Harrison County Parks, Indiana |website=www.harrisoncountyparks.com |access-date=February 23, 2019}}</ref>

In 1973 a portion of Corydon's downtown area was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] as the [[Corydon Historic District]]. Initially, the district included major sites dating from the period when Corydon was a territorial and state capital: the Old Capitol/Harrison County Courthouse building, the Governor Hendricks' Headquarters, Constitution Elm, the first state office building, the [[Kintner-McGrain House]] (Cedar Glade), and the Posey House, among others. In 1989 the historic district's boundary was increased to include [[Kintner House Hotel|The Kintner House Inn]], among other commercial and residential buildings.<ref name=SHAARD2/><ref name=SHAARD1>{{cite web |url=https://secure.in.gov/apps/dnr/shaard/welcome.html |title=Indiana State Historic Architectural and Archaeological Research Database (SHAARD) |publisher=Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology |format=Searchable database |access-date=August 8, 2016}} Includes {{cite web |url=https://secure.in.gov/apps/dnr/shaard/r/25b93/N/Corydon_HD_Harrison_CO_Nom.pdf |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Corydon Historic District |access-date=April 1, 2016 |author=Frederick Porter Griffin |date=December 1972}}</ref><ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>

In 2008 Corydon celebrated its bicentennial anniversary with a year-long series of events that included the unveiling of a $200,000 bronze statue of Honorable [[Frank O'Bannon]], the late governor of Indiana and a former citizen of Corydon.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.clarionnews.net/Articles-i-2008-06-11-206909.114125_Corydon_celebrates_200_years.html |title=Corydon celebrates 200 years |author=Jo Ann Spieth-Saylor |newspaper=Clarion News |date=June 11, 2008 |access-date=October 24, 2014}}</ref>

A local attraction in Corydon was [[Butt Drugs]], a drugstore known for its unique name, service, and merchandise. The store opened in 1952 and closed in 2023.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wlky.com/article/indiana-pharmacy-butt-drugs-closing-corydon/43720888 |title=Indiana pharmacy Butt Drugs closing after 71 years in business |publisher=WLKY |date=April 27, 2023 |access-date=April 25, 2024 |author=Haley Cawthon}}</ref>