Posted in: Friday Favorites Friday Favorite: Mischief, Murder and Miscellany

Not first, second or even third… In 1891 the FOURTH Marion County Jail was constructed at the intersection of Alabama and Maryland Streets at the cost of $150,000. It was designed to house 150 prisoners....

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Posted in: Friday Favorites Friday Favorite: Bright Idea, Snuffed!

Who Am I? From 1863 to 1867 this tall and gaunt young man drifted around the Midwest as a “tramp telegrapher.” He bounced along, moving through larger and larger cities, using telegraphy jobs as a means of support —...

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Posted in: Friday Favorites Friday Favorite: Naming this City

  It was a prickly problem. (almost) “Welcome to Suwarrow, Indiana — home of the world-famous Suwarrow 500!” (almost) That might well have happened if Indiana’s early legislators hadn’t been prone to the time-honored political tactic of...

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Posted in: Friday Favorites Friday Favorite: “Hidden Gems”

Towering stained glass windows… Marble and finely carved woods… Beautiful, hand painted works of art… Is it a cathedral or an art museum about which I wax poetic? No. I opine about the Indiana State Library...

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Posted in: Friday Favorites Friday Favorite: Haunted Hannah House

Other-worldly scratch, scratch, scratching… A chill in the air… Directionless whispers… A glimpsed apparition… The stench of decomposition… *Cue the creepy music* Touted in numerous books on the paranormal and celebrated in campfire stories for generations,...

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Posted in: Friday Favorites Friday Favorite: Indianapolis Makes the Big League by Playin’ the Blues!

Many a (field of) Indy dreamers has hoped for a major league franchise to lead off from the Circle City. For one fleeting year, 1878, the Indianapolis Blues were members of the National Baseball League...

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Posted in: Friday Favorites Friday Favorite: The National Horse Thief Detective Association

George Kerr of Washington Township was inducted into the Washington Township Horse Thief Detective Association in 1891.  Many townships and villages of the time had constables dedicated to recovering stolen horses. Living in 21st Century Indianapolis, it...

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Posted in: Friday Favorites Friday Favorite: Thirsty Scholar & The Penn Arts Building

Of the “8 million stories” in our naked city, a 90+ year old building originally designed with 80 apartments has seen its fair share. The same can probably be said for most large apartment buildings....

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Posted in: Friday Favorites Friday Favorite: Growing up in Broad Ripple

Have you ever contemplated writing down your life story? If you’re like most of us, you entertained the thought for all of 10 minutes before saying to yourself, “Who would be interested in MY life?” Writing...

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Posted in: Friday Favorites Friday Favorite: Driven to the Grave

  The Chevrolet Brothers – Louis, Arthur, and Gaston – were destined for greatness in automotive history but sadly, not wealth. Louis Chevrolet Unless you’re a racing enthusiast, Lois Chevrolet is probably best known to you as one of...

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Posted in: Friday Favorites Friday Favorite: Fall Creek Cemetery and Ebenezer Lutheran Church

It’s a Small (After)world…* Fall Creek Cemetery, a true Indiana pioneer graveyard, can be found at approximately 4100 Millersville Road, just east of Keystone Avenue — tucked between an aging urban business district and the contrasting beauty...

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Posted in: Friday Favorites Friday Favorite: Laurel Hall

The Millersville Millionaires –  Now tucked away behind gates amongst old growth trees and more contemporary homes, sits the 1916 estate of Stoughton Fletcher, the Millersville millionaire. The Jacobean Revival-style manor designed by Herbert L. Bass (noted architect of...

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Posted in: Friday Favorites Friday Favorite: Millersville Masons

Millersville Lodge No. 126, F. & A. M. Some one has blended the plaster, And some one has carried the stone; Neither the man nor the Master, Ever has builded alone. The verse above by...

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Posted in: Friday Favorites Friday Favorite: Millersville Memories

Mills, Mayhem and Masons… Oh My! The village of Millersville is located on the border of Washington and Lawrence townships in northeastern Marion County. It is roughly defined by Kessler Boulevard, 56th Street, Emerson Way, Fall Creek...

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Posted in: Friday Favorites Friday Favorite: What’s In Store?

What’s in Store for the Historic General Store at Millersville? While chatting with a friend on a Facebook page devoted to local history buffs just a few weeks ago, I was introduced to a photo of...

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Posted in: Friday Favorites Union Chapel Cemetery

The Union Chapel church and cemetery grounds 1929. Click to enlarge picture. Established 1822 Located at 8306 Union Chapel Road in the Nora area of Indianapolis, Union Chapel cemetery and its nearly 11,000 graves (some...

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Posted in: Friday Favorites The Accidental Fireworks “Show” of 1926

The Newby gas station and general store once stood at the very rural southeast corner of Westfield Road and East 86th Street in the days before Indianapolis claimed the area. Newby Gas Station and General...

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Posted in: Friday Favorites Sherwood Forest

Scrapbooks of the Forest 1959: It was a different era, though many readers will remember it well. It was a time before the conveniences of the Internet and social media, when people were social in real...

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Posted in: Friday Favorites What Exactly is… Nora?

Defining “Nora” is a little bit like nailing jello to a tree: slippery, frustrating and inefficient. However, today we persist! Regardless of whether you describe the Far-Northside Indianapolis location (generally considered to be contained within Meridian...

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Posted in: Friday Favorites The Consolidated Building (aka Lemcke Annex)

When you see a stately old building in a vintage postcard, do you wonder (with furrowed brow) if the building still stands? This venerable old brick and terra cotta edifice, née the Lemcke Annex, was an addition...

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