Posted in: General Preservation Denied: The Cleaveland Block/ Magnolia Building

Magnolia Building. Image: Bass Photo Collection, Indiana Historical Society  John B. Cleaveland was born five years after the city of Indianapolis, in 1826 in Quebec City, Canada. In his late 30’s, not long before the end of...

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Posted in: Mailbag HI Mailbag: Lux Laundry Fire

Reader’s Question:  I have recently moved back to Indianapolis after living most of my adult life in Virginia.  I still have vivid memories of a fire in a business near my family’s home, when I was about...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: Briggs Flats, 550 Fletcher Avenue

People gather to look at the fire-damaged Briggs Flats in this August 30, 1948 photograph. The brick, Romanesque Revival apartment building was constructed at 546-552 Fletcher Avenue in 1893. It featured an arched porch and...

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Posted in: Sunday Prayers Sunday Prayers: Oxmoor Apartments

(photo by Dawn Olsen) It was a sunny afternoon, and the breeze, though light, brought with it the scent of smoky decay. It breathed through the once boarded-up windows of the Oxmoor Apartments and engulfed...

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Posted in: Mailbag HI Mailbag: Curious Wall Lining West 52nd Street and Guion Road

Reader’s Question: What’s the story behind the concrete wall lining 52nd and Guion Road?  The property is now owned by a church, but the wall is too old and substantial for the church.  There was...

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Posted in: Mailbag HI Mailbag: North Meridian Street and Meridian Hills Boulevard

Reader’s Question:  On the northwest corner of North Meridian Street and Meridian Hills Boulevard, there is a wooded lot surrounded by a fence.  There were maybe two buildings on an aerial photo from 1962, but...

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Posted in: Mailbag HI Mailbag: The Tomlinson Family

Reader’s Question: I was wondering how much information you have on the TOMLINSON family and the history of Indiana?  Please contact me, so that I can find out more and fill in a lot of blanks...

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Posted in: A Room with a View Room With a View: Indianapolis Fire Museum, Mass Ave

If you’ve never been before, you may want to check out the remodeled Fire Station 2. The Indianapolis Fire Museum at 748 Massachusetts Avenue is a compact treasure trove/ memorial to all the brave souls...

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Posted in: WTH WTH Weds: Happy 4th, No fireworks, Let’s Burn Some History

What better way to celebrate your freedoms as an American citizen than defiling and burning a place, eh? With the fireworks ban in effect, clearly someone decided that they’d create their own sparklers by setting...

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Posted in: Indianapolis Collected Indianapolis Collected: Close Cover Before Striking

I was born in the early morning hours of my parents’ sixth wedding anniversary. As Dad would tell the story, my mom wanted an anniversary baby, and figured she could make that happen by refusing...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: Briggs Flats, 550 Fletcher Avenue

People gather to look at the fire-damaged Briggs Flats in this August 30, 1948 photograph. The brick, Romanesque Revival apartment building was constructed at 546-552 Fletcher Avenue in 1893. It featured an arched porch and...

Read More