Drive into the Country--1945

As more people purchased automobiles in the 1920s and 1930s, they enjoyed venturing out into the countryside and into nearby villages.  A popular route for Irvingtonians was to head down the Brookville Road.  They could motor to New Palestine, Morristown, and down to Rushville, or if they were really up for an adventure then they could follow the federal highway all the way to Brookville and then to Cincinnati.  Not far from Irvington, the Malon family owned land at the intersection of the Brookville Road and Bade Road. Across the highway from the Malon home, Selma Malon Nau and her husband Will Nau operated a gas station.  In 1945, a member of the Malon-Nau family stood at the  petrol station and snapped an image of the home place. It appeared to be a rainy day.

Remnants of the gas station remained well into the 1980s, however, there is no evidence of it today as the highway has been widened.  The Malon-Nau home still stands although it too has been altered.   Nearby development south of Brookville Road has encroached upon the farmstead, but the area around the dwelling still retains the bucolic setting that mid-century Irvingtonians would have recognized.

Malon-Nau Home at 10236 Brookville Road in 1945

10236 Brookville Road in 2014

The historic image is courtesy of the Malon-Nau family via Ancestry.com