La Porte, Indiana: Belle Gunness: Butcher of La Porte

Infamous local lady who was known -- too late -- for murdering her husbands (and dozens of other people, too).

I was pleasantly surprised to find the museum itself to be quite interesting. They have scenes with items from the late 1800s through to about the 1950s. Also they display some great antique cars.

The Belle Gunness exhibit includes her garden cart and the family shed that survived the fire. The exhibit is really interesting, but the whole museum was surprisingly amazing!

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.

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.