On Indiana's legendary shoe tree, Larry Bird's sneakers could be hanging next to yours

No one is really sure how the “shoe tree” started.

The generations-old tradition of tossing a pair of shoes into a large Sycamore tree in Milltown, Indiana is the stuff of legends.

The wild tales spun over the years rang from the extreme – a murder happened at the site and the victim's shoes were thrown into the tree – to the innocent – a man with worn out boots decided to hang them up for good. 

The most likely explanation, locals say, is that a group of boys left a creek and headed home barefoot after tossing their wet shoes into the tree.

Local legend says even Indiana basketball legend Larry Bird has a pair of shoes hanging from the tree.

But however it started, the tradition isn’t going away anytime soon.

"The tradition has been around longer than I've been alive," says David Chilcote, 21. "My grandfather told me about it when I was young. There have been multiple generations of families put shoes on the tree. I know I have a pair up there, but I couldn't pick which one."

In a Courier-Journal story dated May 30, 1984, then 84-year-old Sam Wright said shoes were hanging from the tree 25 years prior. A deputy sheriff in Crawford County, he even admitted, "I've hung 12 pairs up there myself."

You may like:Photographer finds beauty in Louisville's most decrepit places

The intersection of Devil's Hollow and Knight Road where the tree sits is more quiet than a falling feather. The serenity is broken only by an occasional mooing cow or geese honking as they take to the skies. Deer stand calmly in the middle of the road as cars are a rarity.

Old shoes hang like fruit for the picking. The ground around the tree is littered with old ones that have fallen down over the years. Some are event remnants from the first tree.

The original white oak "shoe tree" once stood nearby, but was struck by lightning and burned. Locals say metal cleats on a pair of baseball shoes attracted lightning to the tree.

So people started tossing shoes in a new tree, one so healthy that it's begun pollinating nearby trees. 

"It's been there since I got down here 60 years ago," Katherine Foster, who works at Maxine's Market in Milltown, said. "People just started putting their shoes on it until it became full."

More local legend says that good luck comes to those who toss a pair of old shoes into the tree.

Let's hope that recently added pair of turquoise Chuck Taylor high tops brings good luck to its owner.

Reach Pat McDonogh at pmcdonogh@courier-journal.com.