@libbycz
Retired lawyer/lobbyist. Kokomo native. Butler grad. Long-time resident of the historic Old Northside neighborhood. If you like Indy history, check out my blog at http://Indypolitan.com or my articles at https://historicindianapolis.com/author/libby.
The skeleton of the City-County Building rising behind the doomed Marion County Courthouse, one of many local treasures lost to the wrecking ball in the 1960s. From the front page of the Indianapolis Star, January 8, 1961.
Corner of Washington & Illinois streets, circa 1950s. If you look closely, you can see the signs for three long-gone hotels - Claypool, Lincoln & Hotel Washington.
The most interesting tidbit I discovered while researching my latest RetroIndy article was this: The front doors selected for the current residence actually came from an insane asylum. They were salvaged from the 1870s Women’s Building at Central State Hospital.
www.indystar.com/story/news/h...
The National Association of Union Ex-Prisoners of War met in Indy in September 1920 during the national encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic. Of the nearly 200k Union soldiers imprisoned during the Civil War, only an estimated 400 were still alive in 1920.
Ever wondered how Indy’s earliest residents celebrated the 4th of July? Hint: Alcohol and explosives were involved. www.indypolitan.com/post/clowns-...
In a 1916 Flag Day speech in Indy, VP Thomas Marshall said there were 2 types of Americans: “the American who wonders what he can do for his country and the American who wonders what the country could do for him.” JKF would later echo Marshall’s words at his 1961 inauguration.
OTD in 1777, the Stars & Stripes was adopted as the official flag of the fledgling United States of America. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation recognizing June 14 as Flag Day, and Indy’s citywide celebration was orchestrated by local Elks clubs.
Vice President Charles Fairbanks died this week in 1918, and the story of the Meridian Street lot where his home once stood includes prostitutes, presidents and a shady cancer doctor. Here's the dirt on this particular piece of land.
www.indypolitan.com/post/from-vi...
Wow! An entire clinic devoted to treating people who are allergic to Carmel. Fingers crossed it’s in my network.
The Guaranty Building on the SW quadrant of the Circle was nearly vacant in 1996 and faced demolition before it was purchased at auction and restored. Its neighbor was not so lucky. The building that housed White’s Cafeteria was razed in 1970 following a devastating fire.
The Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument was dedicated OTD in 1902. As part of the ceremony, elderly members of every regiment that left Indiana from 1861 to 1865 surrounded the tattered flags they once carried in the Civil War and marched to the Circle.
Historic Preservation Month-Demolished Landmark #9: The 1878 Hugh Love house at 1804 N. Meridian was the first house north of 18th Street to be built on Meridian. Razed in the early 1930s to make way for a gas station. Source: Indiana Landmarks Wilbur Peat collection.
Historic Preservation Month, Demolished Landmark #8: With the historic selection of the first Pope from the U.S., it seems timely to mention the 1998 demolition of the 174-year-old chapel at St. Joseph-Holy Cross Cemetery. Indy Star, 4/16/98; Indy News, 4/25/98
Historic Preservation Month-Demolished Landmark #7: Meridian-Kessler neighbors were outraged in 1979 when the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church demolished a circa-1900 house at 4010 Washington Boulevard to make way for a parking lot. (Indy Star, 10/28/1979)
But the good news is, the home that Butler University founder Ovid Butler built in the 1840s sits two blocks from the original site of the university and has been beautifully restored.
Historic Preservation Month, Demolished Landmark #6: The first home of Butler University stood at 14th & College. After the university moved to Irvington in the 1870s, the building was an orphanage & later a medical school. It was razed in 1910 to make way for "modern" housing.
Historic Preservation Month, Demolished Landmark #5: Caleb Blood Smith, who served in Lincoln's cabinet, built this stately home at 538 W. New York before the Civil War. Preservationists tried to save it, but the house was razed by IUPUI in 1971. (IndyStar, 5/29/77).
Historic Preservation Month, Demolished Landmark #4. The magnificent Emrichsville Bridge on 16th St. over the White River. Opened in 1907, razed in 1948 to accommodate growing Speedway traffic.
While some lobbyists sugarcoat their jobs with titles like Government Affairs Specialist, I never had a problem saying I was a lawyer-lobbyist, although these are 2 of the least respected professions joined by a hyphen. Here’s a history of lobbying in Indiana historicindianapolis.com/indianapolis...
Historic Union Station reopened as a festival marketplace on this day in 1986. Although there were a few nice shops and some interesting restaurants, the stalls selling schlocky trinkets and deep fried everything seemed jarring against the historic backdrop.
The FDA’s move to eliminate artificial dyes in food brings to mind the dark winter of 1907, when the local health board banned red dye and Indy residents were forced to slather their food with icky-looking brown catsup. historicindianapolis.com/indianapolis...
As the city makes plans to redevelop the former site of the Indiana Women's Prison on the near eastside, did you ever wonder how a prison ended up as the next door neighbor to one of Indy's most elegant Victorian neighborhoods? The answer might surprise you. www.indypolitan.com/post/strange...
Happy National Beer Day to my friends at the Statehouse, who will likely need one at some point today.
On April Fool's Day 1959, the city approved Project H, which would replace more than 200 downtown buildings with a cluster of high-rise apartments. But the joke was on them when the plan fell flat and hundreds of residents were displaced with no place to go. www.indypolitan.com/post/the-day...
The White River hit an all-time high OTD in 1913, but it was a new low for Indy. The Great Flood of 1913 swept away entire neighborhoods and left thousands of families seeking shelter.
www.indypolitan.com/post/march-2...
The selection of Edwin May’s design for the new Statehouse OTD in 1878 lit a firestorm of lawsuits and ugly accusations that stalled construction for several years. But take a stroll down its magnificent marble hallways, and you’ll see it was well worth it. historicindianapolis.com/indianapolis...
A 12-foot model of proposed Statehouse was built to help the commissioners see what the new capitol would look like. It was stored in the Statehouse basement for many years but has long since disappeared.
After Edwin May’s untimely death in 1880, architect Adolph Scherrer was hired to complete the design for the Indiana Statehouse. Scherrer was forced to make changes to May’s original plans (left) in order to keep construction within the $2 million budget set by the legislature.
Before Edwin May won the contract for the new Indiana Statehouse, the Indianapolis architect had already carved out a niche by designing jails and the state insane asylum. Not that either of those have anything in common with the home of Indiana General Assembly, btw.