Early Color Photograph Along Oak Avenue--1948

One can only imagine the excitement when Charles Vogt, Sr. pulled into the family driveway at 5733 Oak Avenue to show off his new 1948 Buick.  I could imagine that the entire family likely packed themselves into the car for a drive around Irvington.  At some point, one member of the family--most likely Mr Vogt--grabbed the camera and snapped a color photo of the car.

Although the Buick is the obvious subject of the picture, two houses across the street at 5740 and 5802 Oak Avenue loom in the background.  These beautiful homes had already graced the street since the 1890s and early 1900s.  In 1948, Robert and Edith Drum dwelled at 5740 Oak Avenue.  The Drums had already lived in the house for nearly forty years when this shot was taken.  Next door, J. Gordon and Florence Ramsden lived at 5802 Oak Avenue.

5740 and 5802 Oak Avenue can be seen behind the Vogt Family Buick (5733 Oak Avenue) in 1948.

5740 and 5802 Oak Avenue in 2013

Although the Buick is long gone, the two homes remain important anchors along meandering Oak Avenue.  Both homes have been recently renovated.  The Vogts, Drums, and Ramsdens would have no problems recognizing their homes today.  Contemporary images show the same view in 2013.  The historic image is courtesy of Chuck and Joyce Vogt.

Mirrored Dutch Colonial Homes Along Oak Avenue

Two interesting homes have graced Oak Avenue since 1920, but the origin of their design and site location still remains somewhat of a mystery in 2013.  The homes are mirrored plans.  In other words, if you pushed the houses together they could form a larger dwelling.  Furthermore, the original builder sited them at angle so that both structures faced a majestic oak tree. (still present in 2013)  Perhaps one clue to the unusual setting may be in the first occupant of 5733.  Walter T. Lents, a local architect, and his wife Clara lived in the home for nearly ten years.  Did Mr. Lents design the properties?  More research is still needed.  5729 sat vacant for two years after its construction.  Charles B. Davis, the Secretary-Treasurer of the Davis Coal Company on Ritter Avenue, was the first to call the twin structure home.  Tragedy struck the Lents family in 1930 when their only child, Mary, passed away.  The couple eventually resettled at 5247 Brookville Road.

By the 1940s and 1950s, Charles and Betty Vogt moved into 5733 and Edward and Madonna Hecker took up residence in 5729.  An examination of the historic photos of 5733 and contemporary images of the two houses reveal that both homes have been changed over the years.  5733 still hosts its original porch columns, but not the brackets along the lower roofline.  5729 does not appear to have the original porch columns, but does have the brackets.  A room has been added in the upper story of 5733 while 5729 still contains an original upper porch with lattice work.  5733 still has its clapboard siding visible, while 5729 is now sheathed in vinyl siding.  Both places no longer have the casement windows in the upper dormer.  Although the homes are in the Dutch Colonial Revival style, the dwellings also had front porches that remind one of a Japanese pergola.  The older photos, taken in the 1940s, certainly reveal what was popular in and on houses of the 1920s.

The Vogt Family dwelled at 5733 Oak Avenue throughout the 1940s and 1950s. This photo was taken in the winter of 1947.  

5733 Oak Avenue in the summer of 1947 or 1948.

New Bike!  Chuck Vogt received this beautiful new bike in 1947.  He would need it for his paper route delivery. (160 customers!) Behind the bike, you can see 5729 Oak Avenue.  The Heckers dwelled there in the late 1940s.  

5733 (left) and 5729 (right) Oak Avenue on March 30, 2013.

The top historic images show 5733 Oak Avenue in 1947 and 1948.  The third historic photo was taken of Chuck Vogt's first bike in 1947, but also shows a wonderful view of 5729 Oak Avenue.  The contemporary picture shows both homes on March 30, 2013. The historic images are courtesy of Chuck and Joyce Vogt.

Easter Photo Along Oak Avenue--1947

Siblings Jane and Chuck Vogt were dressed in their Sunday finest when the top photo was snapped on Easter Sunday, 1947.  The Vogts dwelled at 5733 Oak Avenue.  Behind the well-dressed children, you can see the house across the street at 5728 Oak Avenue. You can also see the towering oak which still shades the street in 2013.  In the middle photo, likely taken in the same year, the entire Vogt family posed for a photograph. Charles Vogt worked for Allison's Motors and later for Monarch Buick.  Betty Vogt worked at Wolman's Drugs on the northwest corner of East Washington Street and Ritter Avenue.  The third historic photo shows Jane and Chuck Vogt on a warmer day most likely in 1947.  Mr. Vogt reports that the car behind the kids belonged to his Grandfather and when the elderly man passed away, sixteen-year-old Chuck paid his Grandmother $75 for the car.  He then proceeded to paint the car red with a paintbrush!  Stay tuned as we have more historic images from the Vogt Family Collection.

Easter Photo:  Jane and Chuck Vogt posed for a photo in 1947.  They were standing in their front yard at 5733 Oak Avenue.  Behind them, you can see a towering oak tree and 5728 Oak Avenue.  

Vogt Family photo 1947:  Betty and Charles and their two children, Chuck and Jane, stood in their front yard at 5733 Oak Avenue for this photo.  

New Bike! Chuck Vogt posed with his sister Jane after receiving a new bike in 1947.  The kids are standing in the front yard of 5733 Oak Avenue.  Behind them, you can see a house across the street at 5728 Oak Avenue.  

5728 Oak Avenue in 2013:  Much has changed since 1947 as the porch has been enclosed, historic windows removed, and the clapboard siding is now covered in vinyl.  

The Vogt Family home at 5733 Oak Avenue in 2013.  

The contemporary photos show 5728 Oak Avenue, (visible in the historic photos) and the Vogt home at 5733 Oak Avenue on March 30, 2013.  (historic images will be posted soon)   These images are courtesy of Chuck and Joyce Vogt.

Traffic Patrol Boys at School #77--1942

Arlington Avenue could be a dangerous street even in 1942 so that is why School #77 commissioned patrol boys.  They helped to assist children across the street at major intersections near the school.  This former traffic patrol boy from Rushville, Indiana took his post very seriously as I worked the intersection of East 7th and Willow Street near my school in the late 1970s.  Patrol boys had to be in good standing with the school and deemed responsible by the administration before taking their posts.  In this photo, from Joyce Mitzner Smith via Ann Stewart, several patrol boys posed for a school photo in 1942.  Thankfully, we know the names of every child in this picture.  It is hard to believe that most of them are nearly 80 or older now.

Top Row:  Charles Lohman, John Farson, George Fisher, Dan Meininger, Carl Geider, Philip Smith

Bottom Row:  Bill Cowell, Paul Coutz, Jimmie McFerran, Charles Patterson

Ann Stewart remembers several of the boys in the photos.  She sadly pointed out that Philip Smith had the unfortunate diagnosis of polio while attending the school.

A special thanks to Joyce Mitzner Smith and Ann Stewart for this image and the names of the students.

Ellenberger Home Then and Now

The Ellenberger family first moved into Warren Township in the 1850s.  By the end of the Civil War, they had made enough money from farming to build a grand Italianate home along East 10th Street.  Their investment proved to be a wise one as the land was fertile for agriculture and later for profit as the demand for housing increased with the expansion of nearby Irvington.  Although they grew crops, the Ellenbergers made much of their income from hogs.  In the early days, the family had to drive the hogs to Cincinnati down the Brookville Road by foot.  Mr. and Mrs. Ellenberger lived out the remainder of their lives in the home.

In this image, taken in the late nineteenth century, family members gathered for a photo on the east side of the farmhouse.  Thelma Murphy, the granddaughter of John Ellenberger, recorded the names of the people in the picture.  Her mother took the photo.  The people are labeled as:

1.  Alice and Columbus Barker
2.  Jack and Ellenberger
3.  John Ellenberger (in chair) and the Wagner Family
4.  Eva and Flora Ellenberger
5. Johan Ellenberger (in chair)
6.  Ellie (Deel) and Charles Shearer
7.  Morehouse Family and "Lizzie"

The extended members of the Ellenberger family gathered for a photo in the late nineteenth century at their farmhouse. (5602 East 10th Street)

The Ellenberger Home on March 25, 2013

By the 1910s, the Italianate style for homes was considered old-fashioned and passé. Descendants of the Ellenbergers must have noticed the interesting Arts and Crafts, Tudor Revival, and Mission Revival homes just to the south of the farm.  After World War One, the family completely remodeled and changed the home to be more contemporary. They removed windows and added some.  They eliminated the Italianate brackets along the roofline.  They removed doors and added others.  They tacked on an enclosed brick porch and a porte-cochère with a new side entrance.  They completely stuccoed the entire house so that any vestige of the farmhouse was gone.  For nearly one hundred years, most eastsiders have only known this version of the home and it has looked like this longer than the Italianate style.  The home still sits on a nice plot of land although developers eventually bought up all of the meadows nearby and built houses and at least one church on several acres near the dwelling.  So would a preservationist restore the home to the vintage 1860s-era or keep the 1910s style?  These are the kinds of questions that one debates in the preservation world.

The information and photo are courtesy of Thelma Murphy via Bob Alloway.

Ellenberger Reunion 1914-- Repost With Names!

In 1914, the extended family of the Ellenbergers gathered for a reunion.  They sat for this formal portrait in front of the family farm house on East 10th Street.  (the home is still standing near the northeast corner of East 10th and Ritter Avemue)  The Ellenbergers owned acres of land and made money not only from their farm, but also by selling land for development for nearby Irvington.  The city of Indianapolis purchased nearly 31 acres of woods from the family for a future city park for $21,490 in 1910.

Four years later, the family gathered for this photo.  Thanks to one of our astute readers, we now have the names of several of the people in this photo.  I can only imagine how exciting it would be to stumble upon a photo of a long lost relative while doing genealogical research online!  In the 1970s and 1980s, the Irvington branch of the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library conducted oral history interviews with long-time neighborhood residents.  One of those folks recorded was Thelma Murphy, who descended from the Ellenbergers.  She took the time to list the names of the people in this photo.  Thanks to Bob Alloway, I can now share these names with you.  Some of the people in this photo dwelled in the Irvington area.  I have included the addresses of those folks.

The Ellenberger clan gathered at 5602 East 10th Street for a family reunion in 1914.  See names below.

Front Row:
Lloyd White
Paul Gates
Rolland Dove
Jessie Brisentine

Second Row:

Annie White
Charles Shearer (farmer southside of East 10th Street, east of Emerson Avenue)
Mary Shearer (same as above)
John or Johann Ellenberger, the family patriarch
Eva Tingle
Jack Ellenberger
Ellen Ellenberger
Ellen Dove (219 South Butler Avenue)
Lee Dove (219 South Butler Avenue)

Third Row:

Stella Longest
Stella White Longest
Edith White
Goldie Shearer
Ethel Shearer
Jerry Tingle
Ruth Dove Stevenson

Fourth Row and Back Rows:

Annie Brisentine
John Brisentine
Flora Johnson
Doris Evoy
Goldie White Apple
Laura White
Bess Johnson
Addie Springer (southside of East 10th Street, just east of Arlington Avenue)
Bertha Wagner Irwin
Joseph Irwin
Bertha Brisentine
Cora Wagner Gates
Ed White
Flora Wagner Perkins
--- Ellenberger
Wife of Charles Ellenberger
Charles Ellenberger
---Moorhead
---Moorhead
---Moorhead

   You may read the transcripts from these interviews or listen to the actual recordings by visiting the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library homepage.  Miss Murphy's interview is linked here courtesy of Bob Alloway.

http://digitallibrary.imcpl.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/ioh/id/35/rec/1

Birthday Celebration--1943

One of Irvington's lost intersections is that of East Washington Street and Arlington Avenue.  Local families built beautiful homes on each corner.  With the need for filling stations, developers eventually demolished or altered all four corners throughout the mid-twentieth century.  On the northwest corner of that now forlorn gathering of streets, sat two regal homes at 5930 and 5934 East Washington Street.  The Ruhsenberger family occupied 5930 and thankfully one of our faithful readers, Ann Hart Stewart, has sent us several images of what the area used to look like.  Today, we are transported to March of 1943, when three cousins gathered to celebrate the birthdays for the girls--Ann Hart and Mary Ellen Stokesbery.  A third cousin, Larry Dillard, joined the party.  All three children shared the Ruhsenbergers as their grandparents and young Larry and Ann actually dwelled at 5930.  Mary Ellen could easily walk from her home at 352 Burgess Avenue.  It must have been a cool day as the children were wearing coats and sweaters.  The home most visible in the photo is that of 5934 East Washington Street, which actually stood on the corner.  To see more images from this interesting Irvington family, click on the Ruhsenberger link below.  This historic image is courtesy of Ann Hart Stewart, who just celebrated a milestone birthday.  Happy birthday, Ann!

Cousins--Larry Dillard, Ann Hart, and Mary Ellen Stokesberry gather for a birthday party at 5930 East Washington Street (demolished) in March, 1943.  Behind them you can also see 5934 East Washington Street. (demolished)