Lost Irvington--Two Houses on East Washington Street

In these rare photos, James Thompson Layman and his daughter Isabelle Layman (5731 E. Washington Street) pose for photos in their side yard around 1916. Behind them you can see a large Italianate home that has been gone for decades. The early Baist and Sanborn maps give the home's address as 5783 (sometimes 5753) East Washington Street. You can also see the rear of 5803 East Washington Street (demolished) as well. The homes sat on the southside of Washington Street two squares west of Bolton Avenue. The Irvington Edition, a supplement to the The Indiana Woman (1897), lists John E. Smith as living in 5783. Mr. Smith apparently owned two acres of ground around the house and it looks like that land was still not yet subdivided by the time the Laymans posed for these photos. Today, mid-twentieth century commercial buildings occupy the once park-like setting. These images are courtesy of Isabelle Layman Troyer.