Throughout 1937 and 1938, a photographer from the Bass Photo Company documented the construction of the new International Harvester factory buildings along Brookville Road in southern Irvington. Inadvertently, he captured many structures no longer standing. Houses, a tavern, filling stations, and even Butler University appear on the margins of the photos. The Indiana Historical Society has uploaded 31 panoramic views of the construction of the complex. I have provided a link below to one of these images so that you can conduct your own investigations.
Lost Houses: The Shimer Farmstead
The Shimer family predates Irvington. They had owned land along Brookville Road since 1829. In 1873 they built a beautiful Italianate home near what is today the intersection of Brookville Road and South Audubon Road. International Harvester officials purchased their land in 1937 and eventually demolished all of the structures on the former farm.
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| Corydon and Hettie Shimer sold their farm to the International Harvester Company in 1937. Both of them lived long enough to witness the demolition of their beautiful home located on Brookville Road near South Audubon Road. (courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society) |
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| Builders began clearing the Shimer land in 1937. The Shimer home on Brookville Road near Audubon Road had just a little while longer to stand. (photo courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society) |
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| A Bass Photo Company employee stood atop a ladder or on a rooftop and captured one of the last photos of the Shimer home located on Brookville Road near South Audubon Road in 1938. The home had been completely surrounded by the new International Harvester factory. (photo courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society) |
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| The 1927 Baist Map of Indianapolis shows the Shimer farm located on Brookville Road near South Audubon Road. (IU-Indianapolis Digital Collections) |
Lost Houses: 5400 Block of Brookville Road
For several years, Herman (Harry) and Louise Grabhorn lived next to the Shimer farm at 5451 Brookville Road. Mr. Grabhorn ran a music printing business next to his house. Their lives changed when the bulldozers and earthmoving crews arrived to build the International Harvester factory next door. Factory officials would eventually buy the Grabhorn residence along with several other homes and demolish the structures as the factory grew.
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| Herman (Harry) and Louise Grabhorn along with their children lived in the pretty house at 5451 Brookville Road seen in this photograph. They witnessed the rise of the International Harvester factory from their dining room windows in 1937 and 1938. (photo courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society) |
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| Herman (Harry) Grabhorn was a printer and advertised on this building (demolished) behind his home at 5451 Brookville Road. Ghosts of workers can be seen in the foreground. (photo courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society) |
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| The Grabhorn home at 5451 Brookville Road along with several others were demolished. They used to exist on the south side of Brookville Road just east of South Irvington Avenue. (Google) |
Lost Houses: South Ritter Avenue
There used to be several homes in the 400 and 500 block of South Ritter Avenue. It was a diverse area of the neighborhood and home to a small black population. At one time, the pioneering black suffragist, Carrie Whalon lived in the 400 block of South Ritter Avenue. By the 1930s when these photos were snapped, the street housed a mixture of black and white families.
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| After Henry Cress, who resided on the west side of Ritter Avenue just south of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, died in 1901, his widow Mary sold off eight lots in the Chambers and Tomlinson Addition in the 400 and 500 block of South Ritter Avenue. The houses above were located just north of Brookville Road on the west side of South Ritter Avenue. Heavy equipment and trucks were parked along the nearby streets on March 18, 1938, for the construction of International Harvester on Brookville Road. (photo courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society) |
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| George W. and Willa Molden resided at 471 South Ritter Avenue in 1938 when this photo was snapped. That home was demolished for a series of commercial buildings. Mr. Molden worked for the city sanitation department. You can also see the filling station at 5506 Brookville Road also later demolished. (photo courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society) |
Lost: A Tavern and a Filling Station on Brookville Road
Although the construction sign for International Harvester blocks our view, you can still see the brick filling station at 5498 Brookville Road. (demolished). Maurice Kitterman operated the station. Joseph H. Meese managed a tavern in the larger white building at 5478 Brookville Road in 1938. (photo courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society)
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| 5478 and 5498 Brookville Road (both demolished) as they looked on March 18, 1938. (photo courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society.) |
Lost: Butler University
When the Bass Photo Company photographer snapped a long panoramic view of International Harvester on March 4, 1938, the employee had no idea that he was also documenting the last weeks of Butler University's Irvington campus. Opened in 1875, Butler University students attended campus in some of these buildings until 1928. For ten years, the structures sat vacant and fell to vandalism. Two weeks after this image was snapped, Butler officials razed the old campus for future redevelopment.
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| Abandoned Butler University buildings and the power station tower loomed ghostly through the trees in a panoramic view of the construction of International Harvester on March 18, 1938. (photo courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society) |
The opening of International Harvester in 1938 changed the trajectory of Irvington. With the Great Depression in full swing, the factory offered relief for hundreds of people who found work during the difficult era. Employees, both labor and management, moved into the neighborhood and kept it a vital place. Many of their descendants still live on the eastside of Indianapolis today. No panoramic photographer showed up in 2018 to document the demolition of the factory. The site is now a major distribution hub for the U.S. Post Office.
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| The Indiana Historical Society has 31 different views of the construction of the International Harvester. To see those images, click on the link below. (photo courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society) |
International Harvester Plant Construction
I wish to thank Kent Hankins and Anne Hardwick for their assistance with this story.
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