Posted in: General, Then & Now Superior Design: Pembroke Arcade

Original architectural rendering of Pembroke Arcade, Washington Street by Vonnegut & Bohn What would it be like if Indianapolis created such superior architectural design, it made us a destination for tourists and seekers of manmade...

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Posted in: Mailbag HI Mailbag: Wood Lawn and Fletcher Place

Reader’s Question:  I am interested in the history of Wood Lawn, Calvin Fletcher’s farm.  By all accounts, the Fletchers came to Indianapolis in the 1820s, and the land that had been their home was known as Fletcher...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: 871-75 Virginia Avenue / Fountain Square Gateway

While walking on the Indianapolis Cultural Trail near Fountain Square last week, I was reminded of one of the benefits of taking a stroll:  really seeing the landscape that is overlooked when whizzing by at...

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Posted in: Vintage Flats Flats Saved: Virginia Avenue

Renna, 1912, Bass Photo Co., courtesy Indiana Landmarks What’s your favorite bar or shop on Virginia Avenue?  Chances are it’s a two-story building that used to contain flats or rooms for rent on the second...

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Posted in: Vintage Flats Flats Saved: The Woessner

Corner facade, 2013, (c) photo by Kurt Lee Nettleton The Woessner Building, located at 902-910 Virginia Avenue and 843-849½ Grove Street, was built in 1915. The building is named after Jacob Woessner, a prominent Southside...

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Posted in: Vintage Flats Flats Saved: the L’Avon

What’s your favorite flatiron building downtown? This apartment building is a potential contender–one of the oldest apartment buildings in Indianapolis. Six years after the Blacherne was constructed, the L’Avon was built in 1901 at 615...

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Posted in: Friday Favorites Friday Favorite: Statuary on Penn

This one is a favorite, but a bittersweet one. If you’ve ever walked north on Pennsylvania Street, you may have noticed a little threesome along the southern wall of 241 North Pennsylvania. If you need...

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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: Building Language Building Language: Muntin

Steel windows with muntins, Virginia Avenue State Bank building, 630 Virginia Avenue Muntin. I was recently asked about this architectural term and figured it would be a great one to feature for today’s Building Language....

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Posted in: Sunday Ads Sunday Adverts: Round-Up Bar, Virginia Avenue

Anyone ever heard of this one? Looking at google maps, 828-839 Virginia appears to be approximately where the Virginia  highway bridge goes over I-65.  Wonder who played there? And was there a mechanical bull?...

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Posted in: WTH WTH Weds: Lots–I

One of the most common WTH’s that we find are the cases where we think, “What the hell, they tore down that for this???” Quite often, this reaction is caused by the “this” being a...

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