Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: 500 Block of West Washington Street / Eiteljorg Museum

This 1953 view shows the 500 block of W. Washington Street as it appeared in 1953. (Courtesy of The Indiana Album: Photographed by J. Parke Randall) This week we share another 1953 photograph of Indianapolis...

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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: Irvington School of Music, 269 S. Audubon Road

Photograph owned by Sandy Burton courtesy of Vintage Irvington The most common research request I hear from old house owners is “How do I find an old photo of my home?” You just know that...

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Posted in: Then & Now Then and Now: The Star Store and Indiana Government Center South, 360-70 West Washington Street

L. S. Ayres & Company, Wiliam H. Block, and H. P. Wasson are the most beloved and remembered Indianapolis department stores, but many smaller stores catered to the middle class. One of them was the...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then & Now: 10th & Delaware

With deepest thanks to Jeff Congdon for the generous donation of a scanner. Without the immense contributions of the Jewish community throughout Indianapolis history, the city would not have become the place we currently know,...

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Posted in: Then & Now Then and Now: St. Clair Theatre, 802 Fort Wayne Avenue

This unidentified Indianapolis Fire Department negative dated 1946 appears to document an accident near the intersection of Fort Wayne Avenue, Saint Clair Street, and Alabama Street. This view looks northeast on Fort Wayne Avenue. Fortunately,...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: The Singing Blacksmiths at 110 W. Georgia Street

From “Songs of the Streets and Byways” by William Herschell, 1915 While sources such as city directories and maps are among my favorite research tools, their lack of depth about the personalities of people and...

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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: In the Park Saturday In the Park: Broad Ripple Park

There’s something magical about walking through freshly fallen snow. The crunch of each step breaks the winter silence as the snow gives way beneath your boot. Sunbeams reflecting off the white powder bask the chilly...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: A Hodgepodge of Indianapolis Christmas Scenes

Being the holidays, this column breaks from the usual then and now format to share views of Indianapolis at Christmas through the years. Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a year full of bliss...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: The Hammond-Wright House, 4150 Central Avenue

Last week’s Then and Now column about the Hammond Block Building at 301 Massachusetts led me to wonder about its builder, Rezin R. Hammond. Although Hammond sold the flatiron building to a physician within a...

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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...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: Polk Sanitary Milk Company, 1100 E. 15th Street

1925. Courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society, Bass Photo Company neg. 91531 What better way to promote your milk business than to construct a building flanked by two large milk bottles. Samuel O. Dungan, vice...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: Dr. Isaac Coe’s House / Columbia Club, 121 Monument Circle

Dr. Isaac Coe’s house, ca. 1850s 1850s: It’s hard to imagine Monument Circle as a dirt street, but this early image transports us back to a time before the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument when Circle...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: SE Corner of Ohio Street and Capitol Avenue

This series of photographs shows the progression of the southeast corner of W. Ohio Street and Capitol Avenue from the 1890s through the present. Located opposite the Indiana State House, the block has progressed from...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: West Indianapolis at W. Morris Street and Blaine Avenue

Time it was, and what a time it was, it was  A time of innocence, a time of confidences  Long ago, it must be, I have a photograph  Preserve your memories, they’re all that’s left...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: The Butler Bulldogs (RIP Blue II)

Left: “Shimmy” the original mascot as shown in the 1925 Butler Drift yearbook, courtesy of Butler University Libraries; Right: The current mascot, Butler Blue III (Trip) visiting NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C.; courtesy NPR With...

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Posted in: Then & Now Then and Now: 30th and Illinois – The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis

Locating historic photographs of certain intersections in Indianapolis is nearly impossible. They are either off the beaten path, building owners had not hired professional photographers, or existing collections have not yet been located. And sadly...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: Second Presbyterian Church and World War Memorial, East Vermont Street

Some of the earliest images of Indianapolis streets and buildings are found as stereoviews, two views of the same subject photographed from slightly different angles. When the mounted side-by-side prints are viewed with a special...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: Kraft’s South Side Baking Company, 915 S. Meridian Street

Today a drive on South Meridian Street between McCarty and Morris Streets gives few hints that this stretch was once a vital commercial corridor heavily populated by the Jewish community. In the past one could...

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