Posted in: Then & Now Then & Now: Zeunik’s Grocery, 777 Haugh Street

Courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society, P69 Haughville Collection In the early 1900s, hundreds of eastern Europeans moved to a near westside neighborhood known as Haughville. The Zeunik family, with Slovenian roots, immigrated in the...

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Posted in: Then & Now Then & Now Revisited: The Massachusetts Avenue Passenger Depot

The Massachusetts Avenue Passenger Depot, 1907 (Courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society, William H. Bass Photo Company Collection) This week’s Indianapolis Then and Now column was originally published on October 13, 2011 and now includes...

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Posted in: Then & Now Then & Now: American Legion Mall, East North Street

Courtesy of the Indiana Album: Elizabeth Laslie Collection Uniformed members of Greenfield Knights Templar Commandery No. 39 pose on E. North Street in Indianapolis, looking north toward the Indiana Institute for the Education of the...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: Charles E. Emmerich Manual Training High School

Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection (ca. 1900-1910) In the early 1890s the old Indianapolis High School (later known as Shortridge High School) was overcrowded and had spilled over into a...

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Posted in: Then & Now Then & Now: Buddenbaum Grocery / Santorini Greek Kitchen, 1413 Prospect Street

Courtesy of the Indiana State Library Fountain Square neighborhood on the southeast side is becoming one of the most desirable neighborhoods in Indianapolis with a mix of affordable housing, a thriving commercial district, interesting cultural...

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Posted in: Then & Now Then & Now: Twente Upholstery Company, 1010 Central Avenue

Courtesy of the Indiana State Library Among the thousands of businesses to call Indianapolis home was the upholstery shop of L. G. Twente located at what was then 8 Central Avenue (today 1010 Central Avenue...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now Revisited: Zaring’s Egytian Theatre, 2741 Central Avenue

Courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society, Bass Photo Company Collection #94388, 1925. This view looks east toward Central Avenue from 28th Street. After witnessing people jamming into packed movie theatres and sensing a good business opportunity,...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: Intersection of St. Clair Street and Massachusetts & College Avenues

With its prominent angling avenues creating many three-street intersections, it’s rather surprising that Indianapolis does not have any neighborhoods known as “Six Points.” But, newspaper searches and perusals of older history books reveal no such...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now Revisited: The Empire Theatre, 126 Wabash Street

With at least three active burlesque troupes in Indianapolis, we seem to be in the midst of a burlesque revival. While the average person equates burlesque with strippers, the art form started in the late 17th century as...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: The Other Benjamin Harrison House, 223 E. Vermont Street

Most everyone in Indianapolis is aware of the Benjamin Harrison’s Delaware Street home, known today as the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site, but did you know that he once lived in the Lockerbie Neighborhood? Born into...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now Revisited: Brenneke Dancing Academy Building, 602-606 N. Illinois Street

During the Victorian era when many of Indianapolis’s social elite had ballrooms in their homes, the city’s most popular dance instructor was David B. Brenneke (1855-1918). The German native lived for over a decade in...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: The Ayres Clock Cherub

Courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society, L. S. Ayres and Company Records, 22 November 1947 The L. S. Ayres cherub, one of the city’s most beloved little sculptures, makes its appearance every Thanksgiving eve and...

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Posted in: Then & Now Then & Now: White Castle No. 3, 660 Fort Wayne Avenue

White Castle No. 3, located on the northwest corner of Fort Wayne Avenue and Delaware Street, is the nation’s third-oldest surviving White Castle building. The small castle-shaped brick building, and hundreds of others across the...

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Posted in: Bicycles, Then & Now Then & Now: Kern Bicycle Shop/Crayton Confectionery, 1900 Block Howard Street

James W Kern’s Bicycle and Motorcycle Repair Shop at 1921 Howard Street, ca. 1915-1920. (Can anyone date these motorcycles?) This view looks southwest toward the intersection of Hiatt Street. James W. Kern is 2nd from...

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Posted in: Then & Now Then & Now: Brightwood Hall, 2345-2347 Station Street

Indianapolis Free Kindergarten class in front of the Brightwood Hall, ca. 1904 (Butler University, Irwin Library, Special Collections, Rare Books, and University Archives, Eliza Blaker Collection) Life would be much easier for archivists and historians...

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Posted in: Then & Now Then & Now: Billboards in Indianapolis

Billboards have had a long and sometimes controversial place in Indianapolis history and are in the news again as billboard companies lobby for a proposal to lift a decade-long ban on new and digital billboards....

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Posted in: Then & Now Then & Now: Criswell Mercantile Company/MacNiven’s Restaurant & Bar, 337-339 Massachusetts Avenue

Historic photograph courtesy of the Indiana Album: loaned by Evan Finch. / Modern photograph courtesy of MacNiven’s Restaurant & Bar For every Ayres or Vonnegut or Lilly, there were hundreds of business owners in Indianapolis...

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Posted in: Then & Now Then & Now: Finch Park and the 1700 Block of Fletcher Avenue

Playing football in what became Finch Park, ca. 1915 Finch Park, originally located on S. State Avenue between Spann and Fletcher Avenues, has long served the Fountain Square neighborhood as a playground and park. Photograph...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: Woodruff Place Gazebo, 800 block West Drive

“Woodruff Place ! … The whole addition is surrounded by a massive, artistically carved stone fence; all the streets laid with Nicolson pavement; all the sidewalks with stone; gas and water pipes to each lot;...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: Roehm House, 1320 Villa Street

In this circa 1906 photograph, the family of Frank and Emma Roehm stand in front of their home at 1320 Villa Street. This south side street was located in a German neighborhood just north of...

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