Boggstown combines a cabaret with buildings that tell different parts of the town’s history: the grain trade, residential life, church architecture, and agriculture. When planning your trip, you can first decide whether an evening show is the main reason for your visit or whether you are primarily interested in architectural history. For a performance, the date matters; for the buildings, their use, style, and period are the main considerations.
Cabaret and evening entertainment
The Boggstown Cabaret opened in July 1984. It continues to offer a varied program featuring different shows and performers. Known as the Boggstown Cabaret BC Supper Club, the venue pairs original shows with good food. This combination gives the cabaret evening a clear focus: the show and the food go together here.
Buildings with different purposes
Gibson’s Hall is associated with Casterline A. Gibson’s grain business. The preserved, two-story brick building served as a grain warehouse and office. It therefore brought storage and office work together. Those interested in the history of commerce will find a different perspective here than at a residence: the building’s use points to the grain business with which it was associated.
The Dr. Stephen Strickler House is a notable, large Queen Anne-style residence. Its architectural features include a porte-cochère, a covered carriage drive at the house. Compared with Gibson’s Hall, the difference in purpose is clear: this is a residence, while the other building served as a warehouse and office. The style and porte-cochère give the House a different architectural character from the plain building type of a grain warehouse.
The Boggstown Methodist Episcopal Church on London Road can also be identified by its architectural style: it dates from 1900 and was built in the Romanesque Revival style. The Boggstown Grain Elevator on Boggstown Road is a vernacular structure from 1916–1917, associated with agriculture and commerce. Different themes thus stand side by side: a named church style on the one hand, and a structure from everyday agricultural and commercial life on the other.
Layers of history and trip planning
A Seventh-day Adventist congregation was established in Boggstown in 1887. The Methodist Episcopal Church, dating from 1900, and the Grain Elevator, dating from 1916–1917, came later. These dates relate to different aspects of the town’s history: a religious community, church construction, and agriculture and commerce. Transportation history is another part of the picture: Boggstown was on the Martinsville and Cincinnati Railroad.
If a particular cabaret performance is to be the highlight of your stay, check the current schedule first and plan your travel dates around it. You can then search for hotels for your chosen dates. If you are more interested in architectural history, the different building types and their dates can help you decide what to focus on during your stay: residential architecture, church construction, or the links between the grain trade and agriculture.
For the broader travel overview: Shelby County.
