Indiana Bicentennial Torch Relay was an Olympic-style torch relay to mark the 200th anniversary of the state of

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. The relay spanned 3,200 miles over all 92 counties in the state. It started on September 9, 2016 in Corydon, IN, the state’s first capital, and ended October 15, 2016 at the Statehouse Grounds in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

. The relay path included 17 state parks, 260 cities, 9 rivers and lakes, and 22 college campuses.

Torch

The torch for the relay was designed and built by a group of faculty, staff and students at

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

. The torch design is inspired by the

flag of Indiana The flag of Indiana was designed by Paul Hadley and officially adopted by the state of Indiana on May 11, 1917. It was the state's first official flag and has remained unchanged since then except for the creation of a statute to standardize the p ...

and contains two circles of stars. The larger circle is around the burner and similar to that in the flag contains 13 stars for the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of Kingdom of Great Britain, British Colony, colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Fo ...

. The smaller circle with 5 stars around the handle is for states that joined by 1812 before Indiana became the 19th state in 1816.

Torchbearers

Over 2,000 torchbearers were selected to represent their counties in the torch relay. *

Mitch Daniels Mitchell Elias Daniels Jr. (born April 7, 1949) is an American academic administrator, businessman, author, and retired politician. A Republican, Daniels served as the 49th governor of Indiana from 2005 to 2013. Since 2013, Daniels has been pr ...

, president of

and the former governor of

* Bob and Ellie Haan, co-founders of

Haan Mansion Museum of Indiana Art The Haan Mansion Museum of Indiana Art is a public museum in Lafayette, Indiana, housing the largest collection of Indiana art anywhere in the world. The museum is located in the Potter-Haan Mansion at 920 E State Street. The museum's collection ...

John I. Jenkins John Ignatius Jenkins, C.S.C. (born December 17, 1953) is a Catholic priest of the Congregation of the Holy Cross and the current president of the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. He previously served as its vice-president and associate pr ...

, president of

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

Tuck Langland Tuck Langland is a sculptor who lives in Granger, Indiana. His monument-size bronze figures are featured in hospitals, churches, private collections, museums, sculpture gardens, and dozens of other places. He is perhaps best known for his two po ...

, sculptor * Pamela Mow, president of the Indiana

Gold Star Mothers A service flag or service banner is a banner that family members of those serving in the United States Armed Forces can display. The flag or banner is officially defined as a white field with a red border, with a blue star for each family member s ...

* Betty Nelson, dean of students emerita at

* David Heighway, county historian of Hamilton County * Bob Shannon, a host at

WSCH WSCH (99.3 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a Country format. It is licensed to Aurora, Indiana Aurora is a city in Center Township, Dearborn County, Indiana, United States. The population was 3,750 at the 2010 census. Geography Aurora is ...

radio station *

Sharon Versyp Sharon Versyp (born December 3, 1965) is an American former basketball player who is the head coach of the University of South Carolina Beaufort women's basketball team and the former head coach of the Purdue University women's basketball team fr ...

, basketball player and head coach of

women's basketball team *

David Wolf (astronaut) David Alexander Wolf (born August 23, 1956) is an American astronaut, medical doctor and electrical engineer. Wolf has been to space four times. Three of his spaceflights were short-duration Space Shuttle missions, the first of which was STS-58 ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Indiana Bicentennial Celebration 2016

Indiana Bicentennial Torch Introduction video
Torch relays