Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now Revisited: The Empire Theatre, 126 Wabash Street

With at least three active burlesque troupes in Indianapolis, we seem to be in the midst of a burlesque revival. While the average person equates burlesque with strippers, the art form started in the late 17th century as...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: National Surgical Institute / Imperial Hotel, Northwest Corner of W. Ohio Street and Capitol Avenue

The Imperial Hotel, 1904 (Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, 1904 glass plate negative made by the Detroit Publishing Company) This opulent Queen Anne/Romanesque Revival building, located north of the Indiana State House, has...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: Southeast Corner of Pennsylvania and Market Streets

Half of a circa 1876 stereoview looking south on Pennsylvania Street from Market Street (The Indiana Album: Loaned by Joan Hostetler) Merely a decade after the end of the Civil War, photographer John W. Pendergast...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: The Gatling Gun Club, 707-709 N. Illinois Street

If you’ve ever wanted to own a post-Civil War era house with a rich history, now is the time to buy the Tousey-Nichol house, better known as the Gatling Gun Club. After serving as a...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: Vienna Flats, 300-308 E. New York Street

Vienna Flats, 3 March 1910 (Courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society, W. H. Bass Photo Company, negative 18755) This view from 1910 shows the Vienna Flats, a 3 1/2 story brick, steel, and concrete apartment...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: Volney T. Malott House, 536-558 N. Delaware Street

In about 1867 David Macy and his wife built a house at 558 N. Delaware Street for their only daughter Caroline and her husband Volney T. Malott, who had lived with the Macys since their...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: 300 block of W. Market Street (now Robert D. Orr Plaza)

Courtesy of the Indiana Album: Loaned by J. Parke Randall, ia-30-17 J. Parke Randall was a young architect  in Indianapolis in 1953 when he received an assignment from his boss Edward D. Pierre: photographically document...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: The Payne House, 783 Middle Drive, Woodruff Place

The Indiana Album: Glass negative loaned by the Woodruff Place Civic League Woodruffian is a  tongue-in-cheek moniker used to denote one as a resident of Woodruff Place neighborhood. A ruffian (defined as “a strong and...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: The Waverley Company, 139 S. East Street

Indianapolis made national news last week with the announcement that by 2014 the city will have the largest electric car-sharing system in the country. The Bollore Group, a French company, plans to replicate their Paris...

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Posted in: Then & Now Then & Now: Millikan Flats / Barton Tower / Millikan on Mass, 500 Block of Massachusetts Avenue

Opinions abound over the development of “Millikan on Mass,” apartments now under construction in the 500 block of Massachusetts Avenue and the removal of the green space surrounding the Barton Apartments. Insight Development Corp., the...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: West Washington Street

Courtesy of the Indiana Album: Pat Ruegamer Collection Washington Street has historically been the main commercial corridor in Indianapolis. These photographs show changes in the busy block between Illinois and Meridian Streets. In the 1890s...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then & Now: 500 Block of Indiana Avenue

Indiana Avenue, the diagonal street angling northwest from the heart of the city, has historically been known as Indianapolis’s African-American business and cultural hub. The first black-owned businesses appeared in the 500 block of Indiana...

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Posted in: Then & Now Then & Now: Majestic Building / Charles H. Black’s Carriage Manufacturing / Century Building, East Maryland Street

Courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society, Herman List Collection The Herman List Collection at the Indiana Historical Society gives us a glimpse of Indianapolis at a time of transition around 1900 when the old one-...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: IOOF Lodge and John Koch Furniture / Interstate 65-70, 824-30 Virginia Avenue

Courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society, William H. Bass Photo Company Collection, Neg. 35980-F John Koch’s furniture store occupied this ca. 1900 brick building located between Fountain Square and Fletcher Place for over five decades....

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: Virginia Avenue at Prospect

Courtesy Indianapolis Fire Department Just one-and-a-half miles southeast of the Circle on one of our city’s original diagonal streets, Fountain Square is thriving today with unique restaurants, galleries, night clubs, and not just one, but...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then & Now: Arsenal Guardhouse, 1500 E. Michigan Street

Visitors entering the grounds of the Arsenal, be it the United States Arsenal in the 19th century or Arsenal Technical High School since 1912, first had to check into the guardhouse on Michigan Street. This...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then & Now: West Residence / Colonel’s Cupboard, 1500 E. Michigan Street

One of the city’s little-known gems is the Colonel’s Cupboard, tucked away on the grounds of Arsenal Technical High School. The restaurant, operated by high school students, is located in a brick Italianate house completed...

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Posted in: Then & Now Then & Now: 300 Block of Massachusetts Avenue

Courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society, NHPRC Cirkut Negative Preservation Collection Staff at the Indiana Historical Society dated the photograph as 1906 based on a date on a poster. Before Massachusetts Avenue was known as...

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Posted in: Then & Now Then & Now: Oriental Theater, 1105 S. Meridian Street

One of our city’s more interesting-looking theaters was the Oriental Theater. Owner Louis E. Burkhart built the fireproof brick building with a Pagoda-style entrance in 1910-11. It was located on the southeast corner of South...

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Posted in: Then & Now Then & Now: Better Babies Building and Hook’s Drug Store Museum, Indiana State Fairgrounds

Had you visited the Indiana State Fair between 1920 and 1932, not only would you have seen the usual judging of livestock, you could have also viewed the scientific judging of babies in the “Better...

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