Posted in: Then & Now Then & Now Off 16th

Fredonia Allen started Tudor Hall at 16th and Meridian and the school moved multiple times, it seems. Tudor Hall eventually merged with Park School, which had started as Brooks School For Boys. Copied this off...

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Posted in: Then & Now Then & Now: Hawthorne School- 75 North Belleview Place

Circa 1911 or later – note the Carnegie Library in the background (courtesy HistoricIndianapolis.com) While it’s no longer called Nathaniel Hawthorne School Number 50, it still serves students today. Now the Providence Cristo Rey High School, the...

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Posted in: Then & Now Then & Now: Independent Turnverein, 902 N. Meridian

Postmarked 1917 Independent Turnverein Post Card, (courtesy HistoricIndianapolis.com) How lucky Indianapolis is that such detailed and well-crafted buildings still stand today–an unapologetic and ornate vestige of  yesteryear. This one, a magnificent red brick and limestone building...

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Posted in: Then & Now Then and Now: 19th and Delaware, Snowy

One wonders how the city of Indianapolis neighborhoods made it through snowy days 100 or so years ago. This photo at 19th and Delaware Streets (circa 1909) looks north into Morton Place and shows no...

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Posted in: Then & Now Then & Now: Zeunik’s Grocery, 777 Haugh Street

Courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society, P69 Haughville Collection In the early 1900s, hundreds of eastern Europeans moved to a near westside neighborhood known as Haughville. The Zeunik family, with Slovenian roots, immigrated in the...

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Posted in: Then & Now Then & Now Revisited: The Massachusetts Avenue Passenger Depot

The Massachusetts Avenue Passenger Depot, 1907 (Courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society, William H. Bass Photo Company Collection) This week’s Indianapolis Then and Now column was originally published on October 13, 2011 and now includes...

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Posted in: Then & Now Then & Now: American Legion Mall, East North Street

Courtesy of the Indiana Album: Elizabeth Laslie Collection Uniformed members of Greenfield Knights Templar Commandery No. 39 pose on E. North Street in Indianapolis, looking north toward the Indiana Institute for the Education of the...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: Charles E. Emmerich Manual Training High School

Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection (ca. 1900-1910) In the early 1890s the old Indianapolis High School (later known as Shortridge High School) was overcrowded and had spilled over into a...

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Posted in: Then & Now Then & Now: Buddenbaum Grocery / Santorini Greek Kitchen, 1413 Prospect Street

Courtesy of the Indiana State Library Fountain Square neighborhood on the southeast side is becoming one of the most desirable neighborhoods in Indianapolis with a mix of affordable housing, a thriving commercial district, interesting cultural...

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Posted in: Then & Now Then & Now: Twente Upholstery Company, 1010 Central Avenue

Courtesy of the Indiana State Library Among the thousands of businesses to call Indianapolis home was the upholstery shop of L. G. Twente located at what was then 8 Central Avenue (today 1010 Central Avenue...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now Revisited: Zaring’s Egytian Theatre, 2741 Central Avenue

Courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society, Bass Photo Company Collection #94388, 1925. This view looks east toward Central Avenue from 28th Street. After witnessing people jamming into packed movie theatres and sensing a good business opportunity,...

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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...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: The Other Benjamin Harrison House, 223 E. Vermont Street

Most everyone in Indianapolis is aware of the Benjamin Harrison’s Delaware Street home, known today as the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site, but did you know that he once lived in the Lockerbie Neighborhood? Born into...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now Revisited: Brenneke Dancing Academy Building, 602-606 N. Illinois Street

During the Victorian era when many of Indianapolis’s social elite had ballrooms in their homes, the city’s most popular dance instructor was David B. Brenneke (1855-1918). The German native lived for over a decade in...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: The Ayres Clock Cherub

Courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society, L. S. Ayres and Company Records, 22 November 1947 The L. S. Ayres cherub, one of the city’s most beloved little sculptures, makes its appearance every Thanksgiving eve and...

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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: Bicycles, Then & Now Then & Now: Kern Bicycle Shop/Crayton Confectionery, 1900 Block Howard Street

James W Kern’s Bicycle and Motorcycle Repair Shop at 1921 Howard Street, ca. 1915-1920. (Can anyone date these motorcycles?) This view looks southwest toward the intersection of Hiatt Street. James W. Kern is 2nd from...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: Roehm House, 1320 Villa Street

In this circa 1906 photograph, the family of Frank and Emma Roehm stand in front of their home at 1320 Villa Street. This south side street was located in a German neighborhood just north of...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: Askren-Rice-Eichacker House, 625 N. Edmondson Avenue

Thanks to local residents for submitting this historic photograph of their house, located just west of Shadeland Avenue at 625 N. Edmondson Avenue (formerly Rice Road) in Warren Township. The brick 1860s house  was part...

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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...

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