About Us

The Ball family moved to Muncie in 1887, along with its emerging Ball Brothers Glass Manufacturing Company, to take advantage an “unlimited” supply of natural gas to fire their glass furnaces. The gas boom ended in the late 1890s, but the Muncie Community had become home to the Ball family.

In 1894, sites were selected on the banks of the White River to build the Ball family homes. The Ball sisters named the site Minnetrista, combining a Sioux word, “mna” with the English “tryst” (an agreed upon meeting place). Thus the family “gathering place by the water” was established. Today, many of the Ball family homes still stand, and serve as historic meeting places and museums for the Minnestrista Cultural Center.

William C. Ball was the original owner of this house. The red brick Georgian-style mansion was built in 1898, and he resided here with his wife, Emma, and son, William Hudson. “W.C.” died in 1921 at the age of 69.

By necessity, W.C. Ball, company salesman and secretary, spent many nights lodging in nondescript hotel rooms. In 1984, his former home was refurbished to accommodate business travelers for Ball Corporation and successive companies in a setting more comfortable and enjoyable than a hotel room.

More recently, in 2017, Ball Brothers Foundation leased the home to Ball State University to manage and operate for housing for Indiana University School of Medicine students coming to Muncie to complete their educational requirements at I.U. Health Ball Memorial Hospital. The partnership between Ball State University and Indiana University School of Medicine is used to promote Muncie and East central Indiana as a location to live and practice medicine, as well as offering a location for immersive learning opportunities for Ball State University students