Posted in: Sunday Ads Sunday Ads: Music to Your Ears

Business:  Wilking Music Company Location:  120 East Ohio Street, near Massachusetts Avenue Years of Operation: 1922-1995 Notable: For over 70 years, Wilking Music Company was the place to go if you wanted that glamorous Steinway...

Read More 2 Comments

Posted in: Historic Miscellania Grasshopper Jails & Other “Monkey Business”

If you peek into newspapers from any decade, it doesn’t take long to find some downright strange human activity going on.  In spite of the often ego-stroking tales we tell ourselves, human behavior, of course,...

Read More 1 Comments

Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: Intersection of St. Clair Street and Massachusetts & College Avenues

With its prominent angling avenues creating many three-street intersections, it’s rather surprising that Indianapolis does not have any neighborhoods known as “Six Points.” But, newspaper searches and perusals of older history books reveal no such...

Read More 18 Comments

Posted in: Penny Post Penny Post: Mass Ave at Night

Postmarked: INDIANAPOLIS, IND. – AUG 1-, 1913 – 6-PM Message: 230 South Illinois St. Indianapolis, Ind Hello Everything fine. will write in a few days. Am going to stay a few days Orrine (?) L...

Read More 4 Comments

Posted in: Then & Now Then & Now: Criswell Mercantile Company/MacNiven’s Restaurant & Bar, 337-339 Massachusetts Avenue

Historic photograph courtesy of the Indiana Album: loaned by Evan Finch. / Modern photograph courtesy of MacNiven’s Restaurant & Bar For every Ayres or Vonnegut or Lilly, there were hundreds of business owners in Indianapolis...

Read More 10 Comments

Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: Columbus Day Parade on Massachusetts Avenue

Cabinet card looking south on Alabama Street, October 21, 1892. The house-like float is on Massachusetts Avenue and Vermont Street runs east and west at this intersection. (Courtesy of the Indiana Album: Loaned by Joan...

Read More 3 Comments

Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: Hammond Block, 301-75 Massachusetts Avenue

The Urban Dictionary defines a time suck as “Something that’s engrossing and addictive, but that keeps you from doing things that are actually important, like earning a living, or eating meals, or caring for your...

Read More 1 Comments

Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: The Circus comes to the 200 Block of Massachusetts Ave.

ca. 1911, Frank M. Hohenberger Collection, Indiana University This charming photograph of the circus coming to town has long intrigued me, but the records of photographer Frank M. Hohenberger did not include the location. With...

Read More 2 Comments

Posted in: Friday Favorites Friday Favorite: Decorative Iron

One of the things I miss most when encountering brand new commercial buildings is the lack of little surprises and details like those found on iron front  façades. This example, found on Massachusetts Avenue never fails...

Read More 1 Comments

Posted in: Sunday Ads Sunday Ads: The Mass Ave Hotel that Was

There was talk of a boutique hotel joining the Massachusetts Avenue scene where the Fire Department currently stands. While that particular plan wasn’t selected, the implementation of such an idea on the avenue would not...

Read More 1 Comments

Posted in: Vintage Flats Flats Lost & Saved: Mass Ave & Vermont Street

The Sanborn map above is of the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, Vermont Street, and Alabama Street in 1914.  Originally, the 400 block of Mass Ave was set aside for ‘religious purposes.’  However, by 1870, the...

Read More 4 Comments

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...

Read More 8 Comments

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...

Read More 11 Comments

Posted in: Building Language Building Language: Window Hoods

Window Hood on 1336 North Delaware Street Hood. You might see hoods every day, but not realize the feature has a specific name and purpose. A hood is the piece found above window openings, typically...

Read More

Posted in: Building Language Building Language: Battlement

Battlement on 725 Massachusetts Avenue Battlement. Although you might associate this term with medieval buildings or a castle, Indianapolis historic buildings feature battlements as a decorative motif. Historically, battlements served in a defensive function for medieval castles,...

Read More

Posted in: Then & Now Then and Now: The Little Depot and the Interstate

Although a psychic once told me that I “don’t have a psychic bone in my body,” as a local historian I sometimes see ghosts of Indianapolis’ past. Such was the case last week as I...

Read More

Posted in: Building Language Building Language: Corbelling

Corbelling found on 431/433 Massachusetts Avenue Corbelling. Corbelling derives from the use of a corbel, defined as brick or stone projecting from a wall, intended as a structural support. Corbelling occurs upon the succession of...

Read More