Who Lived Here? The DeJarnatts of Rawles Avenue

Rawles Avenue sits along the southern edge of Irvington. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad abuts the properties all along the street.  Most of the housing stock in this area tended to be smaller and less grand than the rest of the neighborhood likely due to the proximity to a major rail line. The bulk of the construction along this street came in the 1910s and 1920s.  Matthew Frank and Gertrude DeJarnatt moved into their brand new bungalow at 5826 Rawles Avenue in 1925. Mr. DeJarnatt was really at the apex of his career as he served as the Chief of the Income Tax Division for the Internal Revenue Service in Indiana. In 1926, the forty-six-year-old accountant submitted a photo for a book on prominent residents called Fellow Citizens of Indianapolis. Mr. DeJarnatt had been involved with Republican Party politics in the Evansville area and moved to Indianapolis to take on his new position. Mrs. DeJarnatt passed away in 1933 at the age 52.  It was at this point that Mr. Dejarnatt decided to leave Irvington. He died in 1939 and was buried in Memorial Cemetery next to his wife. Numerous other people have called the modest bungalow "home" over the decades since the DeJarnatts first dwelled here.

5826 Rawles Avenue in 2015