Currently Browsing: Historical Posts
City Market (Again): Maximizing the Tenant Potential.
Posted by Eric McAfee in Historical Posts on Dec 21st, 2015 | 33 comments
I first featured the plight of the City Market on my personal blog, American Dirt, back in 2009, when it was in dire straits, just as it had been for many years. Decades, even. It was a pretty grim place: most of the perimeter simply offered unnecessary seating, the central vendor stalls were only-half full, and the ambiance of the market was cavernous and sterile, even during the peak lunch hour. I specifically interviewed local businesses for their opinions on City Market—successful operations like Moody’s Meats and Goose the Market—but neither one had much positive to say: the former business...
Digital Archaeology through Google Street View
Posted by Eric McAfee in Historical Posts, Neighborhoods on Oct 21st, 2015 | 14 comments
“The apple that’s fresh is ripe to the core,
and I rot over time and I’m not anymore.” –Sloan & Pelling
I’m probably a day late and a dollar short on noticing the time-scroll feature available with Google Street View. Perhaps it’s been there for months—years even. I just figured it out its full potential few weeks ago. Most people might ponder what the point of it is: after all, if Google has provided a streetscape photo from 2015, why would we still need one from way back in 2011? But for those of us who use it on an almost daily basis, it represents a remarkable tool,...
Socialization Saves Places
Posted by Kevin Kastner in Historical Posts, Neighborhoods on Jun 3rd, 2015 | 5 comments
Recently a new movement has started in historic preservation circles called “Beer Saves Places.” It certainly sounds like a movement that I can get behind. I like beer, and I like historic places, so what’s not to like? The first meeting was in Indiana City Brewery, just south of Washington Street. This building actually used to house another brewery, the bottling house of Home Brewing Company:
Recently, another new brewery has popped up, this time in an old Catholic church located at College and North Streets. I was fortunate enough to visit recently, and I was really impressed. Of...
When the Best Preservation Efforts Go Up in Smoke
Posted by Eric McAfee in Historical Posts, Neighborhoods on May 7th, 2014 | 2 comments
One of our Urban Indy bloggers recently pointed out this lovingly restored double with Victorian touches, easily visible on Google Streetview as recently as the last camera run-through, waaaaay back in the summer of 2009. Even from the Google photo, it’s obvious that the restoration just took place; the paint is flawless, landscaping efforts haven’t yet begun, and a “for sale” sign stands in the tiny front garden. This address—105 and 111 9th Street—should be a solid investment: just a stone’s throw from the Indianapolis Public Library, only a twenty minute walk to the heart of downtown,...
The Sanctuary on Penn: breathing new life into one of Indy’s oldest churches.
Posted by Eric McAfee in Historical Posts on Feb 23rd, 2013 | 1 comment
As much as I try to avoid double-dipping with my blog posts, I had to include this reference to my latest post on my blog, American Dirt, because it is so Indy-centric. I featured it on Dirt because it is a follow-up on an essay from a few years ago.
When I first featured the First Lutheran Church on North Pennsylvania Avenue over two years ago, its condition was disheartening: marginally maintained, weatherbeaten, and vacant since 2006. Constructed in 1875, its aging, shrinking congregation had no choice but to close it, due to maintenance costs and its growing distance from where the population...
