Posted in: Historic Miscellania A German Firebug?

Most Americans know nothing about the time Nazi submarines stalked the Eastern seaboard of the U.S.  But if you’re ever on the Outer Banks of North Carolina and see anyone old enough to remember the...

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Posted in: Misc Mondays Misc Monday: Moses in Wonderland

One amazing local business coming to the rescue in the midst of the “food desert” of Indy’s East Washington Street corridor is Tlaolli, an incredible lavender house of tamales in a sea of post-industrial gray. ...

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Posted in: Misc Mondays Misc Monday: Burning Joan of Arc: The 1927 Indianapolis Arson Scare

John F. Hagel’s Mission-style church in the mid-1920s. (Source: “25th Anniversary, St. Joan of Arc Parish, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1921-1946.”) On May 13, 1920, Pope Benedict XV canonized Joan of Arc, the 19-year-old French soldier and...

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Posted in: At Your Leisure At Your Leisure: The Downfall of a Landmark

It would be unusual for a hotel to advertise that “*fill in the blank famous person* died here.” However, when tragedies occur, the general public tends to have a long memory, perhaps sharing in whispered tones what...

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Posted in: Then & Now Then & Now: White Castle No. 3, 660 Fort Wayne Avenue

White Castle No. 3, located on the northwest corner of Fort Wayne Avenue and Delaware Street, is the nation’s third-oldest surviving White Castle building. The small castle-shaped brick building, and hundreds of others across the...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: First Moravian Episcopal Church, 2502 N. College Avenue

Moravian Church and house at 666 E. 25th Street (The Indiana Album: Loaned by Dortha C. May) Us local history lovers frequently drive by empty lots in older neighborhoods and wonder what stood there before...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: Court Street and Anthony’s Tavern, 128-134 E. Court Street

Court Street is one of those funny downtown alleys that became a street. A city ordinance prohibited taverns and saloons from operating in Indianapolis alleys, so the easy work-around was to reclassify some of the...

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