Hickory, Hoosiers and where the movie was shot (Status: Kinda like a religious experience)

A short post that has nothing to do with Mid Mod goodies but this is a vintage basketball gym.  This is the gym that was used for the Hickory High School gym in the movie Hoosiers, it is located in Knightstown Indiana, between Indy and Richmond Indiana.

Yes, I took a few shots; no, I didn't hit many.  I wasn't actually expecting much when I arrived but as soon as I took a step into the gym... I was mesmerized.  You can rent the gym for $25 an hour to play ball and people come from all over the world to do just that. The volunteer guide told me about a man and wife who were visiting from Australia; the man thought it was neat, but had to literally drag his wife (who played ball in High School and college) off the court after she had been shooting for an hour (she kept telling him, "In a minute", "Just a couple more shots").  The guide also told me about a group of men who drive down from Michigan, rent the court for the day, shoot for an hour, sit in the bleachers and run lines from the film, shoot for an hour, run lines from the film- you get the idea.  One time a school district in Nebraska rented the gym and bussed in the Elementary, Junior High and High School basketball teams, letting each age group shoot hoops for an hour on then an hour off.

 This is the Hickory locker room and that is the black board where Gene Hackman drew up the plays.  Notice that there are no lockers, all that the kids got to use were hooks on the wall.  This gym was the Knightstown High School and Junior High gym until 1956 then only the Junior High used it  until 1965-ish.  It was mostly unused until being picked for use in Hoosiers.  This is a small gym in basketball crazed Indiana; Thirteen of the fifteen largest high school basketball gyms in the U.S. are located in Indiana, the largest is about 20 miles away in New Castle Indiana (it holds over nine thousand screaming fans)!