Have you seen this building? College Avenue just north of Michigan Street. Looks like it has seen better days, doesn’t it? Haven’t verified the exact date of this cool apartment building, but have found many adverts circa 1910, advertising “modern four room apartments” at The Noble. These evoke a bit of San Francisco in Indianapolis and it would be lovely to see these rehabilitated.
If you were wondering where the name “Noble Flats” came from, wonder no more: College Avenue south of Mass Ave was formerly Noble Street. (Incidentally, north of Mass Ave before the thoroughfare became College Avenue, a short stretch was called Plum Street. )
There have been a number of notable “urbane” apartment buildings in the northeastern quadrant of the mile square and just north-northeast of it; Remember one building that was at 10th and Pennsylvania hat was unfortunately torn down in the last year or so…forget the name, but HI has posted it when it happened. Governor Noah Noble’s farm was east of this area (maybe southeast); hence the name Noble Street prior to Butler’s location at Ovid Butler’s “College Corner”, formerly Forest Lawn (I think; Calvin Fletcher’s wooded estate; Fletcher’s earlier farm was southeast, known as Woodlawn prior to the J M&I RR being laid into Indpls )…