LaPorte, Indiana - Belle "Husband Killer" Gunness Exhibit

Yes, the county historical society's museum did eventually move out to the car museum (whose collection is still there as well). I say this as someone whose grandmother, as a kid, bought milk from Belle Gunness, who lived on an adjacent farm. [Peter Youngman, 12/15/2006]

I grew up in La Porte County and distinctly recall seeing a play in elementary school about Belle Gunness, complete with Belle hitting one of her husbands over the head with a coffee grinder. This was all followed by much discussion about Belle and her importance to the history of La Porte County (after all, not every county can claim a Lady Bluebeard).

It's been several years since I've visited the Gunness exhibit in the La Porte County Historical Museum, but it's peculiar enough to warrant a visit. There's a recreation of the Gunness farm and lots of photos and, if I recall correctly, the wheelbarrow she used to bury her dead husbands. The exhibit's small, only occupying a corner of the museum, but it's not something you see every day. [Dawn Comer, 03/25/2001]

[RA: Aug. 2003: Bill Angrick writes - "According to a newspaper article I read recently the Dr. Kesling Door Prairie Car Museum is building an addition and will then accommodate the entire La Porte County Museum, since the space is apparently needed in the County Court House."]