Posted in: DeJa Vu Deja Vu Tuesday: 1835 letter sheds light on worst legislative fiasco in state history

In an old Saturday Night Live sketch, a rugged frontiersman named “Johnny Canal” travels to the White House in 1820 to pitch his idea of connecting every city and town in the country by an...

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Posted in: Then & Now Then & Now: Laycock Manufacturing

Recognize this view? If you frequent the canal, it will look familiar, as a view from Bugg’s Temple. Ever wonder what may have preceded the current shiny newer business buildings? For this site, it was...

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Posted in: Penny Post Penny Post: The Importance of Being Ernest

I only stay in a city 3 or 4 days. Aqueduct, Indianapolis, Ind. Runners, bikers, and paddle boats are commonly spotted along Indianapolis’ Central Canal as it stretches from Broad Ripple to the downtown Canal...

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Posted in: Historic Miscellania Riverside Pumping Station

Citizen’s Water Co. Riverside Pumping House at 1201 Waterway Boulevard – Photo by Ryan Hamlett Looking north from West 10th Street by the IUPUI/Eskenazi Health campus, a lonesome, grand municipal building peers back from the...

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Posted in: Mailbag HI Mailbag: Broad Ripple Cemetery

Reader’s Question: Can you confirm or debunk that there used to be a cemetery in Broad Ripple where the firehouse now is, on the northwest corner of Westfield and Guilford? I used to have a...

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Posted in: Historic Miscellania A Brief History of Downtown Indy’s Canal

In the early 1800s, transportation and trade in Indiana and the United States as a whole was extremely limited.  People mainly traveled by foot, horseback, wagons pulled by animals or by water when possible.  Hoosiers...

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Posted in: Family Tree Family Tree: Irish in Indianapolis

Poster recruiting workers for the Central Canal, via the Indiana Historical Society As a few HI readers pointed out last week, it’s hard to talk about early Indianapolis immigrants without mentioning the Irish. So today...

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Posted in: Vintage Flats Flats Lost and Saved: The Lower Canal

Before the Canal District we know of today, the one filled with contemporary art, public spaces, statues, and monuments, the canal functioned primarily for businesses – water supply, waste removal – along downtown’s west side....

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Posted in: A Room with a View Room With a View: Romantic Canal View

Who isn’t a smidge envious of people who live on the canal or have a water view and easy access to all the fun offerings of downtown? This view from a friend’s flat is fabulous!...

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Posted in: Sunday Ads Sunday Adverts: Indianapolis Water Company – Canal Bridges

Considering all the recent talk of selling the Water Company (and what is being done with some of the funds), it seemed an ideal time to feature this old advert of Canal Bridges–at West and...

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