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 Pleasant Run and east of South State Avenue. Roehm (1874-1954) , a son of German immigrants, made his living as house carpenter and contractor. He and his wife Emma Leota (Coble) Roehm (1875-1951 ) began their married life in this home where their three children (Robert, Frances Mary, and Dorothy Leota) were born. Typical of the area, the 1 1/2-story Folk Victorian cottage was plain, but ornamented with decorative brackets and gable vents, a side porch with gingerbread trim and turned posts, and gingerbread in the gable. After owning this home for about a decade, the Roehms moved four blocks west where the bought a larger house at 1230 Evison Street. The couple remained there the rest of their lives.
1320 Villa Street, shown in circa 1905 and 2011. (The Indiana Album: Loaned by Deedee Davis)
Today the house still stands, although the windows are smaller, architectural trim and details covered with siding, and the small porch with gingerbread trim has been replaced by a larger porch with brick pillars. The area bound by Prospect to the north, Keystone to the east, Pleasant Run to the south, and State Avenue to the west, is now known as the WECAN Neighborhood (West and East Churchman Avenue Neighbors). It is one of the many neighborhoods undergoing revitalization in the SEND area (Southeast Neighborhood Development) near Fountain Square.
Thanks to HI reader Deedee Davis for submitting this family photograph. Where did your Indianapolis ancestors live? Do you have photographs of their homes or businesses? We would like to copy them to help document the city’s many neighborhoods. Please email info@indianaalbum.com to learn how to share your photographs.
